Page 18 of Of Flame and Fury
Koda’s rock-steady features solidify further when Shayna squeezes his hand. Like me, they’re torn with what to do.
Tye shoves his way through. “Aric,” he growls.
Aric’s fierceness amplifies when Tye takes a step too close to Celia. “I’m sorry,” Tye says, tilting his head in respect. “Look, Destiny was scared when she rushed to fight whatever’s out there.” He jerks his head toward the entrance. “Something strong is holding her back. Do you understand the shitstorm you could be walking into?”
Aric doesn’t blink. “Do you understand the shitstorm in here?” he counters. “This thing, whatever it is, is not only powerful enough to take on Destiny, it’s strong enough to alter spells the most powerful head witches across the globe spent weeks building. There’re countless curses set in place to injure and plenty more that can kill us. I can’t allow Celia to stay.”
“I hear you,” Tye bites out. “But we can’t leave. Taran and I were glued to fucking walls and floors. But we survived. I can’t be sure we’ll survive if we try to leave.”
“Celia can’t stay,” Aric fires back. He rams his finger in Tye’s face. “That thing that attacked her, I didn’t see it, I didn’t sense it. If Taran hadn’t shot it and made it visible—”
Aric’s voice cuts off. He can’t bring himself to say Celia and their baby would have died in his arms. He doesn’t have to. The feeling is there, angering everyone who loves her and warning those in attendance that their hides are also on the line.
“It wouldn’t have ended well,” Aric finishes gruffly.
“I get it,” I say. “Except, Tye has a point.” My leg muscles ache from running, and I was seconds from collapsing. Funny how the fear of dying a miserable death can give you a second wind. “There could be more of those things that attacked Celia. There could be thousands, and you saw how hard they are to kill.”
Gemini scans the literal army ofweresat his disposal. “Would you be able to sense them?” he asks. “You did that creature.”
I glance at my feet when he motions to the nasty remains. My shoes remain miraculously in place, although they’ve seen better days. “I don’t know. I saw that thing when he was just a waiter. I didn’t sense anything different about him and dismissed him as a Lesser witch. It was only when he appeared to vanish and stalk toward Celia that I sensed something wrong about him.”
Genevieve huddles close with her witches, speaking low. Thewereslisten in, their sharp minds keeping up with every conversation that unfolds. Vieve leaves her sister clans and eases forward. “Your exposure to this foreign power worked in your favor, Taran,” she explains. “The more you experienced the darkness invading our magic, the more it ingrained into your senses.”
Notmysenses. She means Sparky, and me, as a part of her.
Tye glances in the direction of the door, his anguish over Destiny obscuring his harsh features. “I’m with Genevieve on this one,” he says, his attention returning to us. “Foreign or not, the longer you’re exposed to it, the more familiar it becomes.” He frowns, eyeing me closely. “My guess is, you’re also growing immune to it.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I interject. “It’s not like I sensed something there. It’s more like I didn’t sense it.”
“What do you mean?” Gemini asks.
“The crowd was dense, bodies everywhere.” I spread my arms. “That thing was invisible, more of an empty section of space than anything physical. As far as me growing immune, it didn’t feel that way when I was stuck to the floor. The first time it happened, my right arm wasn’t affected. This last time it was, and I could only move a few fingers.”
The Aussie witch scoffs. “It’s learning her power as she learns its’.”
“Fantastic,” I mumble.
Tye leans into his good foot. “How did you get farther than I did in the hall? I get that your magic is more potent than mine, but you’re not physically stronger. I ripped my skin off trying to break free. You continued ahead. Slowly, yeah, but you still kept going.”
“Destiny broke through the magic and gave us a way out of the suite,” I remind him. “That magic couldn’t have extended much farther into the hall. Maybe you caught the tail end of whatever she cast.”
“Maybe,” Tye says. His jaw tightens. “We won’t know until she returns.”
Ifshe returns. Destiny’s loss would be tremendous. She’s our friend, the strongest being we trust, and a force to be reckoned with on the side of good.
My thoughts dwindle when I notice Aric. He’s half a second away from barreling through the escalating number of beings in the foyer. Almost everyone is trying to abandon this house of horrors. “Say I am immune,” I begin, trying to keep his attention. “Or that I am developing a sensitivity to this foreign power. It’s more a reason to find Emme and Bren. They were exposed to it as much as I was, by now, likely more. There would be more of us to get a fix on these things and better ensure Celia’s safety.”
It’s the last bit I throw out there. The final decision to leave is theirs to make.
Aric grinds his teeth, taking in all the information he has. He’s making one of those hard decisions leaders like him are forced to make in situations like this, except this time, it involves everyone I love.
His gaze steels on me. No. Don’t even think about it. “Aric, I can’t,” I say before he asks.
Shayna’s hand grips the hilt of her sword. “Can’t what?” she asks. She glances between us, tears glistening her eyes. She knows what’s coming and already hates the plan.
“He wants me to lead Celia out,” I reply. It makes the most sense, but it means choosing between my sisters. “This way, I’ll sense an attack before it comes.”
Shayna releases her sword to clutch Koda’s hand. “Then I’ll stay here, Pup,” she tells him. “I’ll find Emme and Bren.”