Page 47 of Reborn
“That,” he said, charging another bolt of magic into his hand, “Was a grave mistake.”
“Get us out of here!” I yelled, and Colbolt snorted and started to move, only he didn’t rush deeper into Carnaby Street which was full of frightened people—instead, he headed for the road. Car horns blared and tires screeched as we entered the stream of oncoming traffic, but Colbolt was nimble enough to avoid hitting any vehicles as he ran.
“This was a really bad idea,” Gullie said, “A really bad idea!”
“We’re going to need another portal,” Valerian said. “Can you do that?”
A bolt of icy magic streaked past us and struck a black London cab. The magic crackled over the cab, transforming it entirely into something like an ice sculpture which exploded into a million shards of ice a moment later.
“Holy shit!” I screamed. “We’re going to have to lose this guy first!”
“You heard the lady,” Valerian called out. “Run, Colbolt!”
But I didn’t think that was going to be enough, because the spellcaster was hot on our heels, teleporting from place to place. I needed a clearing if I wanted to create a portal back to Arcadia, and at least a moment of concentration for me to be able to pull it off. But we were rushing through the middle of a busy, London street, and every second spent here could’ve meant minutes passing in Arcadia—maybe even hours.
Bringing us here once had meant the difference between life and death.
Bringing us back here a second time could’ve doomed us all.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Colbolt ducked and weaved past oncoming traffic like he had been born to do just that. He galloped hard and galloped fast, leaping this way and that, avoiding cars as they came toward him with all the grace a Maukibou could muster. He was quick, and strong, and capable—and so far, he was keeping us ahead of the spellcaster who wanted to turn us intopopsicles.
After the initial chaos Colbolt had caused by rushing out onto the road, traffic seemed to grind to a halt, allowing Colbolt to make much more calculated movements as he dashed through the street. Valerian hadn’t even needed to encourage him or tell him where to go; our Maukibou had told us in no uncertain terms thathe got this.
All we had to do was take care of the arsehole behind us.
“Get down!” I yelled, and all three of us lowered our heads just as bolt of magic came shooting toward us. This streak of blue light slammed into a traffic light, turning the entire pole and all the mechanics into ice in an instant. The ice shattered a moment later, small shards and chunks raining down on us as we zoomed past it.
People on the street screamed and began to get clear of us and the lunatic chasing us. That helped. The fewer humans there were around us, the smaller the chance that any of them would get sucked into the portal I was trying to get opened. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally pull humans into Arcadia where they could get lost, or worse, become Wenlow.
“We need to lose this guy,” I said, “I need to concentrate if I want to be able to take us home.”
“I don’t have any ranged weapons,” said Valerian. He then pulled one of his daggers out from one of his boots. “But I have this.”
I leaned to the left to give him a shot at the Fae chasing us. He wasn’t running, to be sure; he was keeping up with us by teleporting, bursting into a cloud of smoke in one place only to appear almost next to us the moment after. There was no way of knowing where exactly he would show up next, so Valerian couldn’t exactly line up his dagger for a decent shot.
“I need to get him to stop doing that,” he snarled.
“I could try to interrupt his magic,” I said, “But I need every ounce of my own power that I can muster if I’m going to send us back home. If we get stuck here, with my grandmothers in Arcadia… there’s no going back. Ever.”
“It won’t come to that.”
“Whatever we’re going to do, we have to do it fast. We’re on the clock.”
“I know. Let me think.”
The Fae on our tail teleported onto the roof of a car not far from where we were. He was about to launch a bolt of magic at us when Colbolt leapt into the air and soared over a car, leaving its driver entirely stunned. The blue magic bolt sailed right past us only to slam harmlessly into the side of a building a moment later.
“There!” I yelled, “Colbolt, over there!”
Colbolt turned his head to look at where I was pointing, then he rapidly changed course and moved toward an alleyway between buildings. For a moment I wasn’t sure if we were going to fit through the narrow gap, but Colbolt managed to squeeze through without losing any speed. Suddenly, we were in a long stretch, without a car or a human in sight.
“This is it,” Valerian said, “Do it!”
“Right,” I said, nodding. I pulled my hands up and began performing the necessary gestures, drawing my magic out of me and sending it directly ahead of us where it could begin to coalesce.
Queen Malys’ lackey, however, wasn’t done with us just yet. I wasn’t even halfway done summoning the portal when I felt him teleport behind us. Valerian looked over my shoulder, and without hesitating, he launched his dagger at the spellcaster. After I heard it clatter against solid ground, I knew, Valerian had missed.