Chapter 17 #2
With a flick of his wrist, Stellan summoned a dying ember from a smoldering patch of grass.
It hovered, trembling in the air above his open palm.
With a precise motion, he pinched it between two fingers and drew it upward.
The spark stretched and bloomed. In a heartbeat, it exploded into a blazing fireball, casting sharp orange light across his face.
The air crackled. Heat shimmered across Bridget’s skin as he launched the fireball straight at the nearest beast.
“Fire will destroy the beasts,” Stellan said, creating another ember. “But it’s going to take more than that to hold off the Wraith. Let’s hope that spell is reactivated sooner rather than later.”
Another blast of magic slammed out of the Wraith.
This time, Cade threw out his arm, magic pulsing from his core, before it reached them.
Bridget and Nylah were lifted off their feet, weightless for half a second, before they landed safely behind him, cushioned by a burst of Cade’s power.
Alexia and Archer crashed to the ground again.
A sharp zing pierced Bridget’s temple. She recognized Cade’s presence immediately.
Get her away.
With another pinch, he was gone. In her peripheral vision, she spotted him yelling another warning at Finn as one of the creatures tried to jump through the hole in the wall again. Pulling Nylah toward the train, Bridget dug her hand into her sister’s pocket.
“Hey!” Nylah protested, trying to wiggle out of her grip. “For someone who likes to pickpocket, I would think you would be a little less rough.”
“Where’s the stone? Those things might want it.”
Which meant it absolutely could not be in her sister’s possession when that happened. Bridget tried again. This time, the stone burned her skin. Muttering a curse, Bridget snatched her hand back.
“I swear I didn’t do that,” Nylah said, wide-eyed.
“I know you didn’t,” Bridget said. Magic had a mind of its own. The ancient rune clearly wanted to stay with Nylah. “Do not let anyone know you have this.”
Still looking stunned, her sister nodded.
“Over here!”
Delphine careened out of the wreckage of a twisted metal tube, stumbling over debris as she sprinted toward them.
Blood streaked from a gash along her temple, and black soot clung to the entire left side of her body.
She’d been near the blast, close enough to burn.
But she was alive. And the sight of her lit something in Bridget’s chest.
Relief broke free in a sob as Bridget launched herself forward. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”
Delphine caught her mid-lunge, arms wrapping around her in a crushing hug. “You have no idea how good it is to see you,” she whispered back, voice thick with emotion.
Her glassy gaze shifted to the girl behind her. “And I know exactly who you are.”
Nylah grinned. “It’s good to know I have a reputation.”
A thunderous crack split the air behind them. Bridget turned instinctively, just in time to glimpse Cade, Stellan, and Finn locked in battle through a thick curtain of smoke. Archer and Alexia lingered at her back, both tense and eyes darting.
“Please take her,” Bridget said, pushing her sister forward. “She needs to get away from this.”
Delphine’s smile faltered. “I…”
“Please,” Bridget said again, more desperate this time. “I know magic won’t be easy on her, but it’s the quickest way to get her somewhere safe. Where’s the king’s men? Is backup coming?”
Before Delphine could answer, Alexia stepped forward with a scoff. “What about me? This whole place is about to collapse—”
Bridget didn’t even glance at her.
Delphine pointed over her shoulder, where a pillar of smoke spiraled above the treetops. “There was another explosion near the river. The guard unit is trapped on the other side of the bridge. I think they’re close, but they’ll need a few more minutes to reach the city.”
At least some kind of help was on the way. Bridget nodded, already stepping back. “Then I’ll stay here. With Cade and the others. Just get Nylah to the palace.”
Delphine hesitated one last time. Then her jaw set, and she reached for Nylah’s hand. “There’s a back way through the city that I know. We’ll take that. It should be safe.”
Bridget pulled her into one more embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered, filing away the need to figure out the source of Delphine’s wariness for when they actually had time.
“I want to stay with you,” Nylah said fiercely, her fingers clutching Bridget’s sleeve. “We said we’d stick together.”
The desperate plea in her dark eyes almost broke Bridget’s resolve. “Not this time.” Kissing the top of her head, she shoved Nylah into Delphine’s arms.
Delphine gave her a last look, then pulled Nylah away. Her sister didn’t take her eyes off Bridget, even as the smoke swallowed them whole.
“Like I’m sticking around for this,” Alexia muttered, rushing after them.
A harsh reply was on the tip of Bridget’s tongue, but Cassia dug her fingers into her arm. With so much chaos and smoke around them, she’d barely registered her presence still hovering around the wreckage.
“Now is not the time to let her get to you,” Cassia said. “If you’re finally done chatting, we could use the help.”
Bridget glared at her. “And what exactly are you doing?”
Archer dropped a pile of sticks between them. “According to our very old friend, we need fire. It’s the only thing that will stop them.”
Before her and Cassia had a chance to respond, Archer dropped to his knees and started rubbing two sticks together. His brows pinched when he noticed their shocked faces. “I was a Boy Scout.”
Cassia looked like she was tempted to knock his makeshift pile over. “That’s an apartment complex,” she said, pointing at a five-story brick building behind them. “There are probably people inside that need our help, not to mention who else could still be trapped from the train.”
Bridget followed her gaze to the curling piece of metal that hung haphazardly over the two glass double doors that she guessed was the entrance. She could tell from the way it sagged inward that part of the roof had caved in. People were probably still trapped inside.
To her left, another fireball caught her eye.
This time, it was Cade’s. It wasn’t as large or incandescent as Stellan’s, but it hit the Wraith square in the chest, sending it reeling with a guttural hiss.
Bridget’s stomach flipped when she saw the blood running from Cade’s nose, crimson streaks cutting through soot on his skin.
“You’re right,” she said quickly, snapping back to Cassia and Archer.
“Besides, by the time you get that fire ready, Archer, it’s going to be summer.
Cade and Stellan know what they’re doing.
” Bridget grabbed him under the arm and forced him to his feet, despite his protests.
“You go with Cassia through the main entrance. Help her get that debris out of the way. I’ll check and see if anyone is trying to get out through the back. ”
She didn’t bother to check if they agreed before she took off running, boots pounding against cracked stone.
The air thickened with smoke as she rounded the corner, but the heat faded slightly with each step she took away from the central fight.
The screams and snarls of the creatures dulled to a distant echo in her ears, replaced by the thunder of her own pulse.
Bridget reached the far end of the building. It was long and shadowed, with no movement or sounds, just broken gutters and dark windows. The complex loomed above her, too still and too quiet. Had the power gone out? Or had the building already been evacuated?
Her steps slowed as she approached one of the windows. All the rooms behind the glass looked pitch black. There was no flicker of movement or signs of life. Standing on her tiptoes, Bridget knocked on a window and peeked inside. “Is anyone in there?”
“Why? Do you want to let me in?”
Bridget whipped around and found Quinn standing on the other side of the wall, barely visible through a jagged crack.
The Bloodstone shimmered at her throat like a dying star, casting an eerie glow on the hollows of her face.
The beauty Bridget had once admired was gone.
In its place stood something gaunt and unnatural.
Quinn’s once-luminous eyes had turned black and veined, stretching into the skin around them.
Her thick raven hair hung in limp, greasy strands across her cheekbones, framing the twisted grin curling her lips.
“Are your little minions not getting the job done?” Bridget jeered, reaching into her boot. Before the other girl could reply, Bridget flung her final dagger. It cut through the air with a sharp hiss and grazed Quinn’s cheek, drawing a thin red line across her waxy skin.
Quinn didn’t even flinch. She simply tilted her head, blood dripping lazily down her jaw, and smiled wider.
“Catch me if you can, Bee.”
Bridget’s stomach turned. Even though she hadn’t seen Quinn in months, the words didn’t sound like Quinn. The cadence was wrong. Too playful. Too sweet. And she’d never once called her Bee. In fact, the name brought a sharpness to her chest that she didn’t like.
Keeping her gaze locked on Quinn’s retreating form, Bridget jammed her foot in the crack and clawed her way to the top of the wall.
Leaping off, she landed in the Elder Woods with a thud.
Her teeth rattled from the long plunge. A laugh echoed through the trees.
One that sounded familiar, but still not Quinn’s.
With a growl, Bridget sprinted after the sound and toward the direction she’d seen Quinn hop off in.