Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights #9)(65)

The spell slammed into the onlookers before rushing for the thrones. Agonized screams drowned out the crackling of fire. Eyes popped out and bodies twisted. Bones broke, snapping as arms and legs curled in on themselves. Skin continued to melt from the other spell, and now it peeled away in strips, like from an invisible potato peeler.

“Go,” Emery said, grabbing my arm and yanking. “Go!”

I spun and pushed Penny forward before bending to haul Dizzy up to his feet. Emery helped Callie, and we sped for the door. A wall of elves waited for us, trapping us in.

Our magic together, Penny thought.

She’d handle the togetherness part, I knew, so I swelled my ice magic and readied to shove it in front of us. A spell wafted up, latching on to my power and adding it to the might of the natural dual-mages.

“Ignite with your fire,” she yelled back, clearly forgetting she didn’t need to verbalize her thoughts.

I did, starting with a spark and burning hot. That spark turned into an electrical explosion that likely meant Penny was close enough to Charity to borrow her magic too. A concussion of air blew out from Penny, crashing into the wall and flinging it backward. The doors got caught in the push, ripped from their hinges and frame. They banged and tumbled into the room beyond, squishing bodies as they did so.

In the waiting room, power surged and swords swung, four elves to every fae, and more coming into the room from the other side. The elves were attempting to subdue the fae somehow, maybe tie them up, I didn’t know, and I didn’t plan on sticking around to find out. The fae wouldn’t be killed. We would.

“I blame the Seers for this,” I said to absolutely no one, wasting no time, hefting Dizzy into a wedding-night hold and sprinting for the hall. Penny stayed close behind me, a natural runner, and Emery thankfully kept up, carrying Callie.

More elves ran our way. I crushed them with air, in no mood to spare anyone. They squished against the rug, and I jumped over the bodies. I heard Penny gag behind me. Around a bend and into a larger room, I eyed the windows.

“We need to get out of the castle—”

“Look. Watch out!” Penny screeched.

A jet of magic hurtled our way, ripping through my middle and trying to come out the other side. It wasn’t as strong as the royals’ magic, though, and I counteracted it with my own power. Spells rose from Penny and Emery even as Penny groaned and sank down. The spells must’ve been the tracking type, because they seeped through a cracked open door in front of us. Screams ensued.

“Let me down to fight,” Dizzy said, struggling out of my grasp.

“No! We’re not fighting, we’re running, and you don’t do that fast enough.” I squeezed him tighter.

“I feel ridiculous,” he shot back.

“You also look ridiculous. Just go with it!”

I barely stopped when I reached the tall but fairly thin doors, jumping with Dizzy in my arms and kicking. The wood cracked into the head of someone who was already sinking from Penny’s spell, the damage clearly internal, because I couldn’t see the effects.

“Using their magic against them. Nice, Turdswallop,” Emery said with pride.

The next room opened up to a space as tall as the throne room. It had tall windows along one side and doors on the other, plus a second-floor balcony looking down. I skidded to a halt, my eyes widening, my stomach dropping out of me.

“Turn around,” I yelled, trying to back-pedal and bumping up against Penny. “Turn around! This is a kill zone!”

“Too late.” Emery’s voice was suddenly rough, realization dawning.

Doors opened and bodies entered, their swishing clothes moving in the unseen wind, their outfits formfitting and made from tough material that would undoubtedly make them more difficult to kill. They stood in a line on the railing above, their position giving them a clear advantage. They poured in through the downstairs doorways and spread out in numbers.

This was the fighting force, and they had us surrounded.





Twenty-Two





“When I say go, run for the windows,” Reagan said in a low tone that made Penny’s small hairs stand on end. “Jump through and get out of here. They can’t have much of a force on the outside if they have all these people in here.”

She gave Penny a shove that also jostled Emery and Callie, who was uncharacteristically quiet in his arms. “There is no way we’re going to get through the windows,” Penny whispered at Reagan. “They’ll grab us before we do.”

“I’ll make sure that does not happen.” Reagan set Dizzy down and ushered him behind her.

“Right, fine, but then they’ll just chase us down. We need a new plan. We need to think—”

“No. Not all of us. Just you four,” Reagan said, and Penny knew she was speaking to Emery. “It’s me they want. They want you too, but they’ll let it go if it helps them get me.”

“No.” Penny grabbed Reagan’s shoulder as even more elves crowded into the room, their hands in front of them and their magic building. Penny could feel it. Trap. Kill. Destroy. The elves had a different goal for each of them, and none of them were good. “No, you’re coming too. We can get out of here. All of us can. Maybe if you yell for the shifters or—”

Reagan whirled and leaned in, her face now a foot from Penny’s, eyes lit with fire and determination. “You are here because of me. I will not let them have you,” she said, and Penny knew in her heart of hearts this was the start of a goodbye. Heat prickled her eyes as Reagan kept talking. “They won’t kill me right away. They see value in me. They’ll keep me alive until they figure out what to do with me. They will kill you, though. All of you. You cannot be caught, do you hear me? You need to run.”