Page 80 of Faerie Marked

I didn’t wait for him to continue his speech. All was not well at the Halflings Academy, and now I was more confused than ever. Magic sang through my bones as I called a spell to levitate Roman away from me without doing any physical harm.

The spell snapped like a striking snake. I sent him flying with a blast of power, all the way backwards into the side of the castle hard enough to knock loose bricks and rubble down to the ground.

Strange, it took him less than a second to get to his feet and charge me on a howl.

Yeah,not good.

My heart pounded and my ribs ached with every inhalation. Gradually my brain churned, slowly at first, trying to come up with a battle plan.

I was on my own, but I didn’t need to act like it. Roman had severely underestimated me this entire semester. Now it was time to show him why.

Roman’s spell rocked against me like a shotgun blast before I could dodge it. The rest of the air left my lungs in a startled cry and my heart squeezed itself into a tiny ball as his magic rushed over me. I bent over, cradling my chest, the pain holding me captive. My eyes rolled back into my head.

“Come on, Tavi. Tell me you didn’t learnthatspell?” Roman taunted. “Aren’t you thetop student? Do you know how hard it was to pretend I needed your help with levitation?”

I used the pain, drawing it into my veins, into the vessels and the capillaries until my whole body tingled with it. With unreleased magic. I threw it back to Roman with a yell and exhilaration lifted me up. Like I had suddenly grown wings.

Yes, I had magic too, asshole. And I was going to use it to crush him.

The blast hit him square in the chest but this time Roman stood his own ground with his arms out to the side. He rushed me again, one leg sweeping out to knock me off my feet. He grappled with me, using his momentum to slam a hand into my supposedly broken arm. Despite the healed bone and the added protection of the sling, it still hurt like hell.

I screamed. The sound pleased him. But he was close enough for me to grab his sweatshirt and smash my forehead into his face.

Blood burst from his nose. “You little bitch!” But he didn’t fall.

Roman roared again. He lunged forward and struck with claw-tipped hands, like the blow of a sledgehammer to the sides of my head, whatever potion he’d used to hide his nature allowing him to shift.

Then the jerktrippedme. He knocked me back, his muscles sinuous and strong, pushing me across the grass and onto my back. Seconds later he dropped directly on top of me, his knees pressing into my sternum.

Then the world decided to crawl sideways.

“What’s the matter? Having trouble breathing? Can’t get up?” Roman continued with the taunts, his thighs tightening.

I raised my legs and hit him in the back with my knees. It gave me just enough room to wiggle out from underneath him. He jerked his head, trying to shake off the sudden pain in his kidneys from the strike, then reared back and prepared to slice me open.

I rose to my knees, slammed my fist into his throat while hooking his thigh with my ankle. Roman toppled. Before he hit the ground, I scrambled back, spinning in an attempt to get away and clawing at the dirt to gain ground.

Roman stared at me, his mouth open, then slid forward and grabbed me around the hips to pull me back. I yelled as my fingers dug into the ground.

“Do you really think you can win?” His voice was low and growling. “I mean, honestly, Tavi. Do you think you have the upper hand here?”

Winning definitely wasn’t on my mind.Surviving, however…

A tingle of awareness shot through me and I knew we’d gotten closer to his glamour skill during the struggle. The undercurrent of his magic ran deep. It would take time to find a back door to it. To break through his spellcasting so I could find a way to release Wilson and the others under his magical thrall. It was time I didn’t possess.

“Let me go, you asshole,” I managed to get out. When I turned around to give him my most intimidating glare, his eyes glowed amber in the darkness.

Asshole wolf slimeball. The same type as Kendrick, the type who thought they could do what they wanted without a care for who they hurt along the way. Maybe Roman believed he did this for Mike but there were other ways to help your friends succeed. Ways that didn’t involvemurder.

Roman muttered a spell under his breath, sending me twisting into the air and landing hard on my back for the second time. I skidded a few feet before a tree broke my path.

I saw stars. It was a different kind of pain than the one in my arm, and different too from when he’d pushed me from the balcony.

The stars didn’t want to go away. I still saw them when I turned over on my side, coughing. They were scattered across the lawn and glowing sharply. A contrast to the dark dampness of the grass.

But the one closest to me wasn’t a star.

It cost me precious seconds to understand; the glimmer I saw was a piece of quartz from the exploded crystal ball. I was wearing the same clothes from last night, so shards must have fallen out of my clothing, stuck there even hours after the explosion.

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