Page 55 of Ash and Feather

Panic bloomed in chest, crowding against my lungs and making it hard to breathe. I couldn’t risk meeting anywhere private with him again—or being stuck in this city long enough for my disguise to wear off.

“Make sure she’s comfortable,” Andrel said. “I’ll be in to finish our meeting once everything settles down out here.”

“You aren’t taking me anywhere,” I snapped.

“We’ll see,” Blood Eyes replied, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forward.

Reflex snapped my hand forward, wrapping it around his forearm as he reached for me. He tried and failed to break out of my grip. The spell Zachar had laid over me had suppressed my magic, but it had done little to dull my divine strength.

I pushed my enemy away with relative ease, shoving hard enough that he stumbled back against Andrel.

Andrel threw him forward in a rage and Blood Eyes did his best to right himself, lunging for me.

I easily sidestepped his uncoordinated attempt to grab hold of my arm again. I twisted fully out of his reach and turned to run—

Only to be cut off by the second, sword-wielding soldier.

Sword Soldier lifted his weapon toward my throat once more, trying to threaten me back against the wall. Back into submission.

I parried the blade with my bare fist—a desperate move to knock it away from more vulnerable parts of me. It sliced through my skin, leaving a gash across my knuckles and spraying the ground with my blood.

My balance swayed, my vision momentarily blurred from the pain.

He tried to pin me with his fist, this time, snatching for the collar of my shirt. I clumsily ducked his reach and darted forward, sweeping a low kick toward his ankles as I went. He leapt, avoiding the brunt of the blow, but I still managed to catch part of his foot and knock him off balance.

While he staggered and caught himself against the building behind him, I ran, refusing to look back.

The commotion I’d caused had pulled some of the crowd away from my sister and toward me; I could feel their stares. But I couldn’t think about them now—and I couldn’t risk meeting my sister’s eyes by looking back. She would only slow me down.

I had to get out of this place while I still could.

Footsteps pursued me.

Andrel’s voice rose even louder than the building roar of the crowd: “STOP HER!”

The path in front of me was suddenly blocked, dozens of bodies converging onto it—soldiers who’d sprung into action from seemingly nowhere at all.

I spotted a narrow side street that remained unblocked and veered toward it. It turned out to be littered with trash and debris, each object I had to knock aside slowing my pace a little more.

Andrel didn’t follow me.

But as I careened around a corner, I found him already waiting for me on the other side.

I stumbled away from him, only to hear more soldiers closing in from behind.

I had nowhere to go.

Blood continued to pour from the gash on my hand. My pain became panic that rolled into fear before igniting into fury. I closed my eyes to try and ground myself, and I instantly had a vision of fire—of great wings of flame unfurling and wrapping around me. I felt myself sinking into their embrace, my own power fluttering as they did, rising up until…

Gasps sounded all around me.

I opened my eyes and immediately realized my mistake: There were little fires everywhere. Bits of trash had ignited, as had leaves and patches of grass. Embers swirled and sparked through the air.

It was a weak display, dampened by the Death magic spell, but it was obviously magic, and equally obvious that I had summoned it. Smoke trailed from my skin. Heat flooded the space around my body, intense enough to make the air ripple.

I couldn’t move right away, frozen with horror at myself for losing control.

Andrel snapped out of his shock faster than I did; I couldn’t maneuver quickly enough to avoid his hand.

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