Chapter 39 Quinn
Quinn
I wasn’t sure how long I’d faked unconsciousness, but crashing booms dragged me back. The cage was gone, and women climbed onto the ring.
The sounds of fighting erupted around me.
Everly came to my side looking like she wanted to wrap me in her arms, but unsure what part of me didn’t hurt.
“I’m alive,” I croaked, forcing a smile. “What’s happening?”
“We came to see you,” a woman a few years older than me said. A simple brown tunic and pants hung off her shoulders, and her short, light-yellow hair glowed. “This was supposed to be about free will. It’s not. We see that. We couldn’t just watch.”
Her words echoed my own doubts back at me, but instead of draining me, they filled me with strength.
I memorized her face before looking at the others.
The woman I’d seen between Seth and Hero stood just behind her, her large expressive eyes echoing the first woman’s statement.
Some nodded, some looked around wide-eyed, while others murmured words too softly for me to make them out.
They were all here for me because I could make a difference.
Everly snapped her fingers. “What she said. But now there’s fighting everywhere, and we’re in the middle of it.”
“Let me through, now. I do not want to hurt you,” Cayden snapped off to my left.
“Oh, thank God he's here.” Everly wrinkled her nose. “I never thought I’d say that about a Lawson.”
She made a path for Cayden.
“Heal her. I’m going to organize these bitches,” Everly commanded.
“Why else would I be here?” Cayden growled, though his attention was already on me, while Everly addressed her recruits.
I reached forward and hugged my best friend around my injuries. “I didn’t want to kill her.”
“You didn’t,” Cayden said softly. “She couldn’t live without her tree.”I wasn’t sure I believed him, but it eased the guilt clawing at my chest.
Everly clapped. “Balls of magic, yes! Even weak ones distract.”
A yellow orb smacked a man; he yelped.
Everly grinned. “New plan, target dots!”
The crash of steel against steel answered her, men bellowing, women shrieking, the chaos of The Pit pressing closer as the fighting spread through the stands.
Cayden gingerly positioned my leg so that he could draw on the spot behind my knee. Despite everything, a shiver went up my body from the contact.
Our gazes locked, both of us remembering our shared dream that was anything but a dream.
“I want that,” I said.
Cayden squeezed my now-almost-healed knee. “Me too.” He looked down at my side and peeled back some of the leather. “We’ll make it out of here, Quinn. And the next time will not be a dream for either of us.”
Dots of Everly’s blood-red magic blinked over the men’s heads, faint but deadly markers as they battered the raised platform. More appeared in the distance. Ravana slipped to Everly’s side, pointing out her allies while more and more women grew bold enough to pick targets and throw.
The pain behind my knee vanished.
“Can I stand while you do my hand?” I asked.
Cayden brushed his fingers across my side. “I was going to do your side next, but yes, if you can manage the pain, just don’t start throwing magic around. No matter how much you have built up.”
It was a lot of power, but with Ezra’s help, I’d taken the edge off. I agreed and slowly rose to my feet.
For a heartbeat, I thought we might win, then I saw The Pit.
A tide of men surged forward, crashing into one another in a frenzy of fists, blades, and magic.
Westwaters turned on Westwaters, destroying what little order Silas kept in the Pit.
Ezra carved through one flank, Brit and Joe slammed bodies aside, Hero and Seth held a wall, but the wave kept rolling, snarling and endless.
Thanks to Everly’s glowing dots, I could make out a few allies in the distance, Rowan and his brothers included, trying to cut their way in, but we were moments from being overrun.
I wasn’t the only one here anymore. The body snatchers would take all of us.
A woman screamed from the ramp, followed by a man grunting in pain. I turned just as a body careened into our defenses. Matt charged up the ramp, flanked by two body snatchers.
The women scattered, diving out of their way.
Cayden stepped in front of me, cursing and touching parts of his body, missing tattoos.
Matt skidded to a halt, a lecherous grin splitting his face. “Third time’s the charm, girly.” He held out his hand as if I would take it. “Be a doll.”
The dull ring of fighting dampened the world. I shook, remembering being hog-tied and helpless with his magic literally dragging me through the dark.
But I wasn’t helpless this time.
On either side of him, the body snatchers raised their arms, clearly intending to take me by force if I didn’t take his hand.
‘Stop.’ Alex’s voice thundered. My body froze, and so did The Pit. Blades locked mid-swing, screams caught in throats, the chaos of hundreds turned into awful, suffocating silence.
Then, soft and broken: ‘Dance.’
My feet jerked, bouncing to a rhythm only Alex could hear, until the entire Pit moved with me.
‘I didn’t want this,’ Alex’s voice said so softly in my head. ‘I just wanted a family.’
The compulsion to dance ended, but The Pit still seethed around to the sound of squeaking shoes and hissing clothing.
‘Get out of here,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll find you. We’ll be friends, I promise.’
Xan told me to follow Alex’s directions, and I trusted him, but I couldn’t leave Everly or any of the women who found themselves trapped because of me.
All the women stopped dancing.
‘Friends. Take them. Now.’ Alex demanded.
“Grab someone's hand,” I yelled. “Make sure everyone’s touching someone else.”
I didn’t wait to see if they followed instructions. So far. I’d accidentally teleported myself and two people. Each time was a result of emotional duress, and if this didn’t count, I’d go back to believing this was all a dream.
I grabbed the hand closest to mine before my gaze found Cayden.
My friend still danced, his body jerking to Alex’s command. He couldn’t reach me.
I looked at Chancellor Morgen’s stick, still going through my hand. I swallowed hard. This was going to sting. With a cry, I stabbed it into my friend's shoulder, pinning us together. Although it hurt, the hand already throbbed so severely that more was surprisingly manageable.
The sensation of cool sand slid down my neck distracting me.
Wisps of colorful smoke drifted from Alex’s collar as it dissolved, even as The Pit roared back to life with shouts, steel, and trampling feet.
Out of the haze, a dragon no bigger than a parrot burst free, wings snapping wildly in the chaos.
The creature perched on my shoulder, little claws sinking into my leather.
Dark, glistening scales shone in my peripheral vision, along with a twitching, spiked tail.
The collar—the last tie to Alex—crumbled. His death left no grief, no joy. Only numbness.
The dragon flicked its tail. I didn’t have time for my dragon byproduct inconsistencies. Matt stopped dancing. Someone yelled, and metal clashed with metal. I needed to teleport us now.
“Don’t even think about it,” Matt snarled, taking a step forward.
Matt reached for me just as a massive sword of cold fire severed his head. Blood sprayed, splashing my leathers.
Rowan locked gazes with me for a brief second before I pulled on the raw magic inside me and focused on the only place I’d ever felt truly safe.