Page 4 of Light

Not demons—the dark, wispy forms who stalked through the night seeking debauchery and malicious intent. These seemed bent on one purpose. She could only assume it was some natural phenomenon. Nature demanded balance, after all, and she was an unnatural thing, too powerful for this world.

Or perhaps it was because her soul was tarnished, marred by the death of her mother and father. Maybe they were angels coming to exact revenge against her wickedness.

Something hard smacked the wood at her back, reverberating against it, making her jump back.

Steadying her breathing, she raised both hands, casting them in a vibrant blue hue. Flames licked down her fingers, trailing along her arms. Wrestling her wild flames into submission took all her focus, but they were highly effective against the yellow-eyed creatures who hunted her.

The door shook again, a crack forming along the center.

It was strong. Stronger than the others she’d encountered. Another loud crack and the wood splintered straight up the middle.

She widened her stance, preparing.

A snap that sounded her demise split the door in two, and a woman with hair the color of blood materialized inside her foyer. She brushed splinters of wood from her arms, looking Adalaide up and down before ruby lips split into a wide grin.

“You’ve been more difficult to kill than expected.” The words dripped like honey from her perfect mouth. There was something otherworldly about her, and the power she exuded was intoxicating, drawing Adalaide in and sweeping her up in a warm embrace.

She swayed on her feet, caught in some imaginary tune that beckoned her to come closer. Shaking her head, Adalaide raised her hands, pulling at the ember of power buried in her chest, and the room glowed, suffused in sapphire blue.

The woman’s red hair shook as she took in Adalaide’s flame and tsked. “Not bad,” she purred, “but in my time, we were gods. How the line has been diluted.”

Adalaide struggled to make sense of the words rolling off the woman’s tongue in an accent she couldn’t place. “Why have you come?” she managed to ask.

The woman laughed, a musical sound that threatened to break Adalaide’s tenuous grip on control.

“I’ve come to kill you.”

The woman’s words cleared some of the fog in Adalaide’s mind, and she called on her air magic to cast herself in a bubble that would block the sound of her melodic voice.

The moment the world went silent, she drew in a deep breath, her mind clearing.

Her only chance would be to move the fight outdoors, where she could use air magic. She darted a glance through the split door to the darkness beyond. The woman hadn’t attacked yet. She was waiting for something. Or… looking for something.

As if in answer to her unspoken question, the amulet pressed against her breast warmed and pulsed.

Something in the woman’s yellow eyes changed, and Adalaide knew she’d felt its presence, too.

Wasting no more time, she dropped her air bubble and flung flaming arrows at the woman. The woman darted faster than Adalaide could track, clearing a path to the door.

Adalaide dived for it, crying out as the woman’s taloned nail scraped her skin, tearing fabric and slicing a sharp line down her arm. She cleared the door and thrust her hands to the ground, pressing all her energy into the movement.

She shot into the sky, and her stomach dipped as the ground disappeared below. “Blast it!” she cried as she began her descent.

She pressed her hands against her sides and pulled at the ember in her chest, forcing herself back up and angled her hands until she drifted toward her townhouse’s roof. The woman’s crimson hair streaked through the door of her townhouse, and within moments, she was on the roof, swiping for Adalaide’s ankles.

Adalaide let out a shrill cry, pushing off the rooftop. Soon, she was perilously high; with nothing to levitate over, she began another rapid descent.

The yellow-eyed woman trailed her motion to the street and raced back down to meet her.

Adalaide gave another powerful push of air magic and collapsed onto the roof of the adjacent building, panting, and pressed her hand to her shoulder where she'd been cut.

The woman shouted something and began her assault on the door of the building Adalaide was now perched atop. Adalaide leaned against the ledge, her heart galloping. With the woman’s speed, she could keep this up all night, and Adalaide would run out of energy before long.

She needed a new plan.

Chapter 4

Gabriel

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