Page 51 of Scalebound

I wanted to tell her to run–to leave me. But the words wouldn’t depart from my lips.

My limbs felt as if they were made out of lead, the weight in my body dragging me down, leaving me unable to move. I wanted to help Aurelia and save her, but instead, she was saving me, every single time.

Not knowing where to clutch to relieve the pain, my hands shook, grasping for some sort of relief. Discomfort erupted from deep inside of me. The burn stung deeper as my handsmindlessly and numbly grabbed at my back, only to find blood pooling down.

My stomach turned, and I retched the remains of it from the pain and the blood. An ache strained my wrists from holding my body weight on my hands and knees. My eyes traced a crimson-red color starting to pile underneath me, my clothing feeling damp and warm.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

My ears were fogged, and all I could hear was the drip, drip, drip sound of each blood drop splashing on the cement floor beneath me.

I was going to die. I could feel it in my veins and my bones. How soon was it going to be?

My body slammed to the ground, plummeting. The ache in my wrists couldn’t hold out anymore.

Was I going to meet Sebastia? Would she wait for me at the gates ofEzu1?

1.Ezu (Eh-ooh): Heaven

Chapter thirty-five

AURELIA

Screaming, I reached for Damian’s body, not caring that the man was still near him, and that he knew I would follow.

I held him in my arms, stroking my fingers along his face. The dark man reached for his other boot, grabbing a second knife.

The blood was pooling out of him. Just watching made the blood in my own face drain.

I realized that I cared for Damian and that I didn’t want to lose him. I couldn’t lose him.

The man moved his body to come down on me. The knife in his hand was crusted, tilted, and high in the air. I moved back, running into a chair. Its wooden legs scraped across the concrete, showing my location. Glancing at Belle, she shook her head. She couldn’t use her fire abilities or it would affect Damian. Her energy was also gone, her eyes drooped with weariness as her movements were sluggish.

The man smirked, knowing where I was. I then scowled back, the tension riding my shoulders. Thoughts of Damian beinghurt stretched through my mind. Rage encapsulated me, and I wanted the wretched man to die by my own hand.

Anger surged through me, igniting every corner of my being. It seethed within me, fueled by the injustice of his actions, not just against me, but against all who suffered in this despicable trade.

The energy had been drained from my body—depleting. My headache was pounding. The muscles in my arms and legs screamed. The cuts in my skin burned. But I wouldn’t let Damian die. And I wouldn’t die alongside all those that have also died in this trade.

A shimmering bubble enveloped me like a protective shield, its hues shifting from fiery reds to vibrant oranges. Panic surged within me, my screams causing the bubble to burst forth, coating both Belle and Damian along with me.

The red surged outward, the bubble growing larger, shattering as it broke the bounds that it held, sending the man backward. His body flew, the force taking his control from him as his head cracked against the back of the concrete wall. It hit so hard that I heard a distinct crack echo through the sticky walls. Slumping, his body fell exactly where Damian had fallen earlier, and blood seeped from his wound. His body was still–entirely unmoving.

Watching intently, I waited for his chest to rise and fall.

Nothing.

I had killed him.

I was a killer.

The bubble around me simmered down. I didn’t know that I had that much power inside me and that I was capable of doing that. Was it rage or was it because I cared about Damian, or both? If I did, why the sudden change? I couldn’t help but think that something stirred within my feelings, watching him come back to me.

The books in my room hardly talked in depth about Scalekind and the Old Religion, and I had never read anything aboutcreating an energy source such as that one. I was starting to realize that I was capable of a lot more than I originally thought.

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