Page 128 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Now.

She jumped but Rion sent a tendril of magic snaking after her. It wrapped around her ankle and yanked her right back to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees before flipping over and baring her teeth at him.

Rion looked up again, but Vairik and Niall were already gone, leaving their new pawn to either live or die. The male likely didn’t care either way. She was just another pawn in his games. Another piece he could move or discard without much thought or care.

Ellie’s magic shot across the space, but Rion summoned his own only to find the molten rock itself responding. He yanked it up to block the ice. It sizzled between them, and more steam clouded the air. Rion winced again from the heat, his skin feeling as if it would melt right off his bones.

He sprinted across the space, turning the molten liquid beneath his feet to solid rock. It did little to ease the heat and he swore the bottoms of his shoes were melting into his flesh.

Ellie’s eyes widened and she tried to step back, but Rion was faster. He snatched her wrist and forced it behind her back. Ice jutted from the ground, aiming for his body, but Rion summoned the earth to block it strike for strike. She swung her other arm around, but Rion grabbed it too, then shoved her tothe ground. He grimaced when her face collided with the hard earth.

Ellie screamed and bucked. Frost crawled up his hands and her fingertips reached for him. Rion encased them in earth. One touch and Ellie would disable him for the rest of his life.

The ice just kept coming and the frost on his arms was spreading. He couldn’t wait for the others. As much as he hated to do it, Rion gripped her hands with his magic, then slammed the side of her face against the ground. She went limp and the magic faded.

Rapid footsteps had Rion looking up in time to see Arianna charging for him, fury written all over her face. “Get away from her,” she growled. Rion didn’t hesitate. He released Ellie and took a single step back with his hands in the air.

“She’s fine. Kirian said to knock her out.” Arianna just stared at him, her eyes moving back and forth between his own, as if she didn’t know him at all.

The entire area shook again, the ceiling cracking above. A large chunk plummeted down, landing to his far right. The floor cracked beneath its weight, then collapsed as more molten fire spewed forth.

Ice suddenly coated the floor and Talon skidded to Ellie’s side, pulling the young female into his arms. “We have to go. Now.”

The floor cracked beneath their feet but Rion grabbed it, calming the fiery stone below. It writhed beneath his grasp and nearly pulled free. “Go,” he roared. Arianna didn’t move until Talon had Ellie draped across his back. Gavin stood beside them too, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t quite grasp the situation.

Talon ran and Arianna followed. Raevina draped her arm underneath Saoirse and she and the half-breed ran with his sister between them.

They made it past the center crack, his and Arianna’s magic holding everything at bay.

A rock crumbled from the ceiling above and Rion shoved his magic forward, jutting portions of the stone out to block it. Arianna looked back just as he was crossing the space himself. Her eyes were still—strange. As if she was surprised he was helping them at all.

What remained of the Dark Fae were running, many getting caught in the fire themselves. Their screams still echoed throughout the space. The Fae had fled behind Vairik.

Rion dodged and leapt over falling rocks. He caught up with the rest of them, still knocking falling debris away from their bodies. Wind whipped around the space, telling him even Zylah was using her magic to toss the stones aside.

The entire floor behind them collapsed and Rion spun to find the lava spraying up. It spilled over the edge, racing for them, consuming everything in its path. Rion yanked at the rocks around him, pulling the stones together until they formed a wall to block the molten rock. Rion gritted his teeth when the lava hit and began melting the stone from the other side.

“Out,” he yelled.

“No staying behind this time,” Saoirse called.

Rion stepped back, pulling more and more stone to replace the chunks in front of him that were disintegrating. He winced, feeling the heat beneath his feet again, searing against the burns that were already there. Then ice coated the ground around his feet and reached up to form a wall. Rion backed away as it thickened, retreating into the tunnel.

He turned to find Arianna standing with one arm outstretched, her wide frightened eyes meeting his in silent understanding. No matter what was going through her head right now, they had to survive. They’d figure out the rest along the way.

He nodded to her and the lot of them took off sprinting down the long, dark hall.

Chapter Forty-Three

Arianna

They zigzagged through the passages, running at breakneck speed, everyone following her as she made her way through the halls and back up the stairs. Alarms blared in the distance.

It was the very sound they’d feared might signal their capture and defeat. Now it was a countdown to destruction.

Arianna wasn’t certain exactly what had happened. She only knew her magic had been digging into the earth for some time. She wondered if the creature within her, Laoise, had known about the fire that rested within the earth.

She gritted her teeth. A lot of good it’d done. Even if they destroyed Ashling, they still had Vairik to contend with. And that was if they even got out of here alive.

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