Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(72)

“No!” he spat, his voice muffled through the water in my ears. I felt his hands pulse, and my body spasmed underneath the water, the electrical attack frying the tips of my nerve endings.

Pain shot through me in a million volts. It buzzed painfully around me.

My mouth opened as I yelled in agony. The sound waves of my scream reverberated through the water as they burst from me, the water splashing away and splattering Edmund’s face with scalding water. Edmund yelled as the attack hit him, but he flattened his hands against my skin and sent pulse after pulse of paralyzing energy through my body.

I screamed with a jolt that rippled down my spine, wave after wave they incapacitated me. I didn’t know how much I could take. I let go of his wrists, my mind struggling to send the command to the weak grip I now had. Slowly, my hands loosened as Edmund laughed maniacally, believing his attempt to kill me was succeeding.

My lungs burned for air as my hands flew toward Edmund’s face, the urge to kill him pulsing through me, my magic strong as it plunged into him.

Anyone else would have turned to ash, but I knew that with Edmund, this attack would never end in his death. The best I could hope for was a few lost fingers, maybe a singed ear lobe, and the time to get away.

He yelled out as the pain hit him, my energy a pulse that sent him flying through the air away from me.

I pushed myself out of the water, my magic taking over as I threw myself into the air. I hacked and gasped as I flung myself through the sky like a ragdoll, only to eventually right myself and quicken my pace as Edmund’s yells behind me increased.

I turned my body toward the green copper roof of St. Vitus cathedral, the golden arches of the south entrance glittering at me in the distance. The tall stone arches sparkled in the sun, the sandstone appearing as bright as gold in the setting rays of light.

I could hear Edmund yell from somewhere behind me. The sound increasing, he was getting closer.

Please let Sain have made it to the gates already. I didn’t have time to wait, and I was going to have to seal the gate once I passed through it. I just wished I had enough time to complete the process.

I dropped my body closer to the earth, my heart beating quicker when I saw Sain standing near the large golden stone work of the gate, a large earthen mug clutched against his chest.

“Run!” I screamed, when I was within distance.

Sain looked up at me, confused for only a moment before he turned and bolted down the hall, toward the large chapel.

I didn’t slow my speed for landing. I flew right into the courtyard, my hard landing exploding bricks into the air at the rough impact. I straightened myself and turned to face the courtyard just beyond the gates.

The few tourists in the courtyard looked through the rubble, for the most part, confusion covering their faces.

Edmund was right behind me. I set my jaw and raised my hand, a shimmering shield flowing from my fingers to cover the large opening of the golden gate.

My magic surged out of me as it spread in a curtain between the giant arches. I looked through the magical barrier to see Edmund change his course in order to intercept me.

Edmund was almost here, and the shield had not set yet. I pushed harder, my teeth clenching as I grunted through the pressure, yelling as the exertion hit its maximum and my magic pushed and pulled to escape from me.

My mouth opened as I screamed, the shield setting itself into the stone the moment Edmund’s body hit hard against the barrier. The impact of his collision rumbled through me, shooting me away from the shield and slamming me into the high wall behind me.

I straightened myself the same moment Edmund did, his jaw as set as mine as he turned to face me. Edmund’s eyes stared into mine, the whites blood shot with anger and power. I had never seen him this worked up. I could tell at once that this shield would only hold for a matter of minutes once he decided to come at me.

Edmund uncoiled his body as he faced me, his hand lifting to his face. A large chunk of his arm was missing, the edges blackened with ash. Even with all of my power, that was all I had been able to accomplish against him.

He smiled at me as he bit down on his finger, the one I had burned off all those centuries ago, the replacement forcibly taken from one of his many servants. He bit down on it and pulled, the flesh separating slowly, his hand dripping with blood as he ripped the finger from his hand.

“I have a present for you, Wynifred,” he sneered, his breathing shallow as some power-based insanity threatened to take over him.

“Keep it,” I spat, turning from him. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever he had to give me ever again.

I had barely turned my back on him before I heard the heavy clang of an attack against the gate.

I didn’t turn to see what he had done. I let the angry yells that Edmund filled the air with wash over me as I ran. The clangs and yells of Edmund’s attacks lessened the further I moved from the barrier, but I focused on them, knowing they would grow the second the shield collapsed.

I overtook Sain quickly, his pace quick in the panic that seeped off him, but his body not up to the strain.

“You will have to seal the door to the tombs. Otherwise we will not have enough time.” Sain’s voice was low as he spoke, his pace not nearly fast enough for us to get away.

“You think I don’t know that already?” I grabbed his arm, knowing he was too weak to move fast enough and pushed him forward through the ancient chapel we had entered.