Chapter 58
Chapter Fifty-Eight
I end up on top of him, the sound of bones breaking like music to my ears.
My arm is wrapped around his head and neck, making sure he is alive, although a little worse for wear right now.
His high-pitched wail drives me to drop him, and I shrink away from him with a wince.
The asshole can scream, I’ll tell you that much.
“Stop screaming!” Hissing at him, I slap a hand over his mouth to silence him.
My eyes flick around, ensuring I’m safe without anyone close enough to jump on me. Turning back to the whimpering mess, I glare at him. My hand can barely hold his mouth closed, the skin on his face slippery from the amount of sweating still coming out of his pores.
The human’s eyes are bloodshot and large as dinner plates while he stares up at me.
His body is rattling so much I can barely keep myself sitting on his chest. With a frown, I notice his skin having a gray pallor, reddish blotches like a mosaic spreading all the way down to his neck and disappearing under his shirt.
Lowering my face to his, I take a long whiff.
Nothing.
Apart from the funk of his sweat and some residual scent of the magic, there is nothing strange.
Come to think of it, his fear doesn’t smell normal.
The terror rattling his body is real but not aimed at me.
What the hell? Pulling away to look at him again, I see his eyes jerking to the side like he expects to get help at any second.
No. Not help, I realize. The terror he is feeling is from whatever lurks in the darkness around us.
The sharp bite of spice in the air is all the warning I get.
Hurling myself to the side, I roll continually for a few long moments, the blast of fire from the spot I was occupying a second ago scorching the hair on my arms and my clothing.
Crawling like a crab on all fours, I duck behind a pyramid of a broken building and plaster my back on it, the metal bars jabbing me in the kidneys.
Sticking my head out real fast, I try to see as much as I can in that fleeting moment.
Jerking back in astonishment, I can’t believe what my eyes see.
Leaning steadily on one arm, I lurk from the edge of the pile to assure myself that I didn’t imagine it.
The human is a pile of ash, and not a sound comes from him while he blazes like a supernova and dies.
I stay like this, unmoving, waiting to see if anyone will come to investigate.
There! A yard or two further from the pile of ash, a body slinks away in the shadows.
Rage bubbles up inside me. Whatever that sweat was that came out of the human’s pores, they must use it to create the magical blasts they’ve been throwing at us.
The poor guy was not the mage like I assumed.
He was just a poor shmuck that got the short end of the straw.
“April!” Sebastian’s roar is loud enough to wake even the ashy human from the dead.
Rolling my eyes, I slump back behind my pyramid of debris, rubbing my face tiredly.
This is all so fucked up. Why can’t Sebastian just let me deal with my own shit?
He had his own mage, damn it. I might not be an assassin like Andrei or as tough as Marcus, but I’m sure as hell a badass in my own right.
And I’m definitely no longer a sewer rat.
“April!” Sebastian hollers again, and I wince. There goes the moment of surprise for the assholes in the Council that I’m still alive and kicking and have not been added to the heap of ash.
“Stop yelling!” Hissing, I wait for him to join me. I know he heard me, just like whoever the mage is.
I watch in disbelief as three muscled bodies skulk through the rubble, coming my way.
Sebastian, Marcus, and Andrei position themselves in front of me like a protective circle, leaving the slabs of the broken walls to guard my back.
Hiding my face in my hands, I groan pitifully. This really can’t be happening.
“Just for the record, I had this under control.” My whisper is muffled through my fingers.
“You are injured.” Ignoring my comment, Sebastian yanks on my shirt, and I slap his grabby hands away in frustration.
“I healed, just like you.” When he reaches for me again, I slap his hand harder. “Stop pulling on my shirt!”
He squints at me like he doesn’t really believe me, but something on my face makes him drop the subject.
I stay glaring at him for a moment longer to make sure he keeps his hands to himself.
When one side of his lips quirks up, my hackles rise.
Luckily for him, the other two jerks finally turn my way.
“Why are you all here? Go, find your own mages. I’m sure there are enough of them around us.” Pointing an accusing finger at Sebastian’s nose, I clench my jaw. “You had your own.”
“I lost him.” Nostrils flaring, Sebastian sweeps his gaze around as if the hiding mage will wave at him from somewhere.
“When I got there, the feeling faded, and then it disappeared.” Those dark eyes lock on mine.
“I think they know where you are. They must’ve all flocked around here when the screeching of metal pointed to your position. ”
“The mage could’ve made the sound, you know. Why is it me that you blame straight away?” I know I sound defensive, but it irks me that he knew I did it and gave myself away. It doesn’t matter that he is right.
“They know any sound will get them killed. You, on the other hand”—displeasure blankets his face— “don’t give a shit if they hear you. You think you are invincible.”
Opening my mouth to tell him exactly what I think on the subject, his comment leaves the words stuck in my throat.
Putting aside this ridiculous argument, I look at all three of them in turn.
Marcus and Andrei had grins on their faces, as always loving it when Sebastian and I argue, but all humor is gone when our gazes lock.
“They are using humans.” Searching Sebastian’s face for an indication that he already knew tells me he is as baffled as I am. “The mages send them at us before hurling magic at them.”
“Is that what happened?” Lifting his chin, he points at the pile of ash somewhere behind us.
“Yeah.” Chewing on the inside of my mouth, I explain everything that happened until they joined me.
“…and I was surprised that my fangs were an inch from his jugular, but his terror was not from me. I will bet anything that the sweat and the red blotches mean something. I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I have this feeling that I’m right. ”
“There is one way to find out.” Sebastian doesn’t have to give orders. He glances at Marcus and Andrei, and both of them glide into the shadows, disappearing from sight.
“Why are you still here? Go, I’ll deal with it on my own.” I’m not done shooing him away before he shakes his head slowly.
“I’m not leaving your sight.”