Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(34)
The flames responded with vigor, standing and bowing before him as they devoured his offering.
“Do it,” he yelled to the sisters. “Do it now!”
A new level of panic tore through my body as the slab of rock began to tremble below me. I instinctively knew they were nearing the end of whatever the hell they were trying to do, and when they were done, everything was going to be different. Everything was going to be worse.
Dread filled the pit of my stomach as I wondered if I was going to make it out of this hole alive. If I was ever going to see Trace again. This couldn’t be how it all ended. This couldn’t be how I ended.
I refused to let it be this way.
I refused to let this be my dying of the light.
Fighting for my life—for my very next breath, I began thrashing my arms through the air, desperate to somehow break through the invisible barrier holding me hostage. Every time I wailed on it, it responded with a gust of fire that was meant to burn my limbs and flesh and hope. But I wouldn’t let it burn me down, I wouldn’t let it stop me; despite my scorching skin; despite the voices telling me this was a losing battle. I fought back with everything I had, with everything I didn’t have, and with everything I longed to become one day.
Adrenaline, fear and my will to survive melted into one another, becoming something stronger, becoming a part of me—of my fight. I still had living to do and I had people to love, people who loved me and words that ached to be set free. If I didn’t make it out of here, I would never see Trace again. He would never know what happened to me. He would never know that despite it all, despite the chasm in my heart, I still loved him so.
My blurred vision shifted to Dominic; Dominic who was still fighting desperately for our survival. If I didn’t find a way to break out of this, he was going to go to his death trying to save me. I’d never get to thank him for everything he’d done for me. I’d never get a chance to steal that kiss.
The tragedy of it all jolted me backwards. I was tumbling through my own mind, tumbling far past the life I’d always longed for and all the way down the rabbit hole to the life I was meant to live.
And then it happened.
Something inside of me snapped into place.
A force as fierce and native as the wind came crashing in on me, into me, soaring through my body as though it were a living breathing thing; awakening every cell in my being to its true calling, and then leaving my body just as quickly as it came.
Leaving my body, but not me.
Like magic, my power vibrated all around me, fluttering in and out of me like a hurricane I was meant to take control of. I could feel it twisting and bending itself to my will, molding itself against me as it waited for me to take the reins.
My feet lifted from the hole as a clap of red lightening crackled through the sky above us. Everything inside of me was warring with the outside world around me, and for once, I was winning.
Fearlessly, I hovered in the air, high above the flames and suspended by my own device. The electricity running through my blood was hotter than ever, making my skin glow as it buzzed all through my body. I could feel the power inside of me, aching for release—for freedom.
The sisters looked up and they knew. I knew. Even before I looked down at the silver runes blazing through my arms, I knew.
I’d just invoked.
16. BLOODY SKIES
“Annabelle!” shouted Arianna as she and Anita began backing away from the pit.
My feet hit the ground just as Annabelle bolted around the crater’s edge to her waiting sisters. Getting out of that hole had been as easy as making the decision to get out. The invisible forcefield around me was dead, and whatever power the sisters previously had over me died right along with it.
I glanced over at the three of them, and smiled. The tight lines in their faces told me they were scared to get close to me; petrified of going up against me. As strange as that seemed to me, I didn’t waste time mulling it over.
I had more important things to contend with.
Spinning around, I faced the death-pit. An unpleasant scratching sensation needled its way out of my belly and into the rest of my body. It was like whispers under my skin; whispers I couldn’t hear, but I could feel them inside of me—tugging me forward, urging me to destroy the pit; to bury it under earth and rubble.
My palms itched as the whispers reached my fingertips, and like a servant, I had to obey. Curling my hand into a ball, I crashed my fist against the bordering wall, rocking it to its very core with a show of power I didn’t fully understand yet. Jagged fissures zipped around the wall, weakening the structure before it collapsed inwardly and crumbled to the ground in a pile of earth and rock.
I had no idea why I did it, or how I did it, but it felt right.
For the first time in a long time, I felt together inside. I felt as though I were exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do. The why’s and how’s of it didn’t matter to me in that moment. Only that I was doing it.
Only that I was alive again.
I turned back to face the sisters, but they were already running away from me and the resulting wreckage, running as far away as their feet would take them, and I let them go. I had far greater promises to fulfill. Far more dangerous demons to take down. My gaze shuffled through the crowd of chaos until they settled on my target—on the only target that ever mattered to me.