Page 34 of Claiming Chaos

9

CHAOS

I shot a line of hellfire onto the ground and raised my hands. The flames surged, creating a barrier to counter the witch’s magic. My fire consumed her wave, turning it to steam the moment it met the flames.

“Impressive.” She crossed her arms. “I collect elementals, you know. Perhaps you’d like to stay.” Her gaze flicked to our right, where another witch hid in the shadows.

A single root ruptured from the earth and snaked toward Ash before looping around her ankle.

“Hecate on a Hellhound, this is getting old.” Ash shook her leg and then bent down yanking the root free. Another one shot upward to her wrist, but she easily removed that one as well. The Priestess might have collected elementals, but her earth witch was either very young or very weak.

Another root snaked toward Ash, and she stomped her boot on it, pinning it to the dirt. “Listen, you do not want to see me use my fire magic right now, because I will burn your entire coven house to the ground and it won’t even be on purpose.”

I held in a laugh, certain she meant that she would lose control of whatever fire she created. In reality, she could raze this entire city if she could summon the fury to counter the block her mother put on her power.

“So Salem does want war. We can accommodate that.” The Priestess pointed at Ash and turned her hand over, curling her fingers one by one toward her palm.

Ash gasped, and sweat beaded on her forehead before gushing from her pores. Tears rained from her eyes, and each exhale released a puff of steam.

I called my wall of fire back to me and stepped between them, blocking her magic from reaching my witch.

“She was dehydrating me.” Ash sucked in a giant breath. “I need water.” She lunged for the fountain, scooping the water into her hands and sucking down as much as she could.

The Priestess pointed at me before making the same motion with her fingers. “I’m the most powerful elemental on this continent. No witch can defeat me.”

This time, I didn’t hold in my laugh. “No, you are not, and I am not a witch.”

I unleashed my chaos magic in full force, sending it outward to cover the entire property. A panicked scream ripped from the Priestess’s throat, and the earth witch stepped out from the shadows, clawing at her face and making it bleed.

Ash tried to stand, but she stumbled, falling backward onto the cobblestone. With our adversaries going insane, I scooped her from the ground, bent her over my shoulder, and carried her through the gate.

“Turn it off.” She tapped my back. “It’s affecting me too.”

I took a deep breath and drew my magic inward. The force with which I had hit them would render them incapable of remembering the past four hours. Possibly the past twenty-four. When we reached the end of the block, I lowered Ash to her feet, holding her tightly until she regained her bearings.

“Will they survive?” She clutched my biceps and swayed.

I pulled her to my chest. “Their minds will recover, though they’ll have no memories of the events. I have no way of knowing what they did to each other while I held them.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I need water. Maybe a hospital.”

Her skin felt dry, and as I brushed my thumb across her face, it flaked. “You need a healer.”

“Well, Patrice is a thousand miles away, so…” Her pallor turned ashen.

“You said there is a light coven here. We’ll find it and ask—”

“No.” She pulled back, squinting her eyes against the sunlight. “No more witches. I just need a bag of IV fluids, and I’ll be fine.”

“IV fluids? What are they? Where can I get them?”

“A hospital, but that would take too long. I bet there’s an IV bar or three around here somewhere.” She turned and took a single step before swaying on her feet and clutching her head. “I can’t. I can’t walk; I’m too woozy.”

“I will carry you.” I made to pick her up as I had carried her before, but she shook her head.

“That’ll draw too much attention. I’ll have to ride piggyback.” She motioned for me to turn around, so I obeyed. With her hands on my shoulders, she lifted one leg toward my hip. “Pull me up.”

I helped her onto my back, and we ventured deeper into the city.