Page 14 of Resisting the Wicked Orc

“You didn’t think the prince would let his prize just walk away, did you?” Lydia laughed. “The Kadhan clan’s little princess, running from her duty? Tsk, tsk.”

I lunged for the door. The muscle caught my arm, twisting it behind my back. Pain shot through my shoulder as he shoved me against the wall.

“Not so fast, princess.”

Rage and fear collided inside me. Fire erupted from my skin, engulfing my arms in crimson flames. The muscle yelped, releasing me as the heat scorched his hands.

I spun, hurling a fireball at Lydia. She dodged, but the flames caught my secondhand couch. Fire spread rapidly across the cheap fabric.

The muscle recovered quickly, moving to block the door with a wicked knife in his hand. Lydia shouted something about taking me alive.

Flames licked up the walls. I had no time to focus, no safe destination in mind. I just needed to get out. Needed to warn Zral.

I clutched the pendant to my chest and teleported blind, focusing on him and his scent. Easy smiles. Blackberries and woodsmoke. Instinct. Pure, desperate instinct.

The world dissolved into crimson smoke.

I hurtled through the darkness of space, reality stretching thin as I tumbled end over end. For a terrifying moment, I felt walls around me—inside me—and then I burst into open air.

I stumbled onto an empty street. Solid warmth steadied me, familiar arms wrapping around my waist.

“Rava? What the?—”

Behind him, Francis raised something metal that gleamed in the streetlight.

I shoved Zral aside, feeling white-hot pain tear across my shoulder as Francis’s blade found me instead. I grabbed Zral’s arm, panic overwhelming reason, and teleported again.

CHAPTER FIVE

ZRAL

Water flooded my mouth and nostrils as I clawed my way to the surface, sputtering and coughing. The roar of falling water hammered my ears. I wiped streaming water from my eyes, disoriented by the sudden shift from street to—wherever the hell we were.

“What the fuck!” I shouted, spinning around to find Rava treading water a few feet away. Her black hair plastered to her scalp, amber eyes wide with panic. “Are you trying to drown me now?”

“I’m trying to save your life, you ungrateful ass!” She slapped the water’s surface, sending a spray into my face. “Teleporting two people while bleeding isn’t exactly precision work!”

My eyes snapped to her shoulder. Dark liquid mingled with the water—blood. Gods, whatever had she mixed me up in now? Sneak attacks on the street, sudden dunkings without the joy of even a carnival prize. Fuck.

“You’re hurt.” I moved toward her, but she backpedaled, her tail creating ripples behind her.

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.” She winced, hand going to her shoulder. “We need to get out of here. They’ll be looking for us.”

“Whois looking for us?” I demanded, finally taking in our surroundings. We were in the pool beneath Silvermist Falls, the cascade thundering down in a curtain of water between us and the rest of the world. “And don’t feed me any more bullshit half-truths.”

Her jaw tightened. “Francis. Lydia. And worse.” She tried to swim toward the ledge, but her movements were stiff, pained. “They know who I am. They know about you.”

“Yeah? And who, exactly, are you?” I followed her, anger and confusion warring inside me. “Because all I’ve gotten so far is lies and abandonment.”

She rounded on me, water streaming down her crimson face. “I came back for you, didn’t I? I could’ve left you there!”

“After using me. Twice.” I blocked her path to the ledge. “No more running. I want answers. All of them.”

She bared her fangs at me, lifting her hand. A pathetic sputter of sparks fizzled at her fingertips before dying in the water. She tried again with the same result.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Having some performance issues there, Red?”

“Fuck you.” She tried a third time, managing only a pathetic spark before the water snuffed it out. Her tail thrashed anxiously behind her. “This isn’t funny.”

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