Page 146 of Owned

They moved fast, faster than I’d expected, but we were faster.

My knife was out, sharp and ready, and I felt the surge of magic through me, brutal and unstoppable.

Even shadows could bleed.

Bastian led with a burst of magic, blinding them as my blade slipped into flesh, warm and slick as it cut through, hitting and twisting through bone.

Valen’s magic wrapped around one like a noose, suffocating. Bastian’s smoke lashed out like chains, constricting and crushing. The guards clawed against it, gurgling, gasping.

They never stood a chance.

We left them in a pool of blood, glassy-eyed and slack-jawed, limbs broken, chests caved in.

Bastian looked down at them, and I noticed the dangerous light in his eyes. “Too easy,” he said, but there was a fierce edge to his voice, like he was just getting started.

We kept moving.

We took another set of stairs two at a time, reaching another long corridor. Long shadows spilled out like blood.

More guards. This time, they were waiting.

There was a moment of hesitation, of shock, then we were on them.

Magic flared, a wild flash of blue light, and I saw one of them drop with Valen’s knife in his throat.

Bastian's laughter was reckless and sharp as he burned through them with a searing wave of magic.

It was over quickly. Too quickly.

We were ready for more.

Wewantedmore.

A sharp left, a narrow hall, and the air vibrated with more magic, a brutal wall of force that knocked the breath out of us.

“Push through it,” Valen said through gritted teeth. “It’s thinner than it should be—”

I shoved my way past the magic, felt it tear at me, felt the raw burn of it.

Another group of cloaked guards. They didn’t wait for us to find them.

We hit them head on.

One grabbed Valen, but Valen turned his magic on him, a pale blue flare that dropped the man where he stood.

Another rushed me. I sank a knife deep into his gut. A hard twist made hot blood gush over my hands and he fell to the stone floor in a groaning heap.

Bastian was a force of chaos, all vicious movement and sharp edges.

I watched him pull a dagger from one man’s chest and drive it into another’s throat without even blinking.

We left a trail of bodies in our wake.

There would be none of them left when we were done.

A blast of black fire lit up the corridor, and Bastian grinned as the fallen men screamed and then were silent.

“More like it,” he said. The words were a thin sneer of triumph as the light from the dark flames flickered over his features.

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