Page 43 of Ignited Spirits
“Oh, shit,” someone says behind me, and I couldn’t have summed it up better myself.
Archer is some sort of mythical snake mixed with a dragon who has nine heads that can regrow.
It’s a pretty cool power to have, and I’d be super excited about it if we found out any other time. As it is, my distraction costs me. Strong arms pick me up from behind.
I thrash around, trying to get out of the hold, but he’s too strong for me. I’d use my magic, but that’s not an option until I get these cuffs off me.
“It’s just me, angel,” Cain whispers in my ear. I go limp in relief in his arms and briefly rest my head against his chest.
When I get ahold of myself, I pull out of his arms and spin to face him. “Thanks for the save, quiet boy. Any chance you can do anything about these cuffs?”
His mouth twists as he thinks about it. “I can try. But there’s a high likelihood I’ll burn you. I don’t know that it’s a risk I want to take.”
“I’m willing to take the risk if you are. I’m a sitting duck out here without my magic.” As I say that, a spell comes hurtling toward my face. I stare at it like a deer in the headlights, having no idea what to do. At the last second before it slams into me, a shield flickers to life in front of my face.
“Careful, little raven,” Levi warns before he flings magic at one of the many guards swarming around us. His attention is quickly pulled away as he deals with what feels like ever-multiplying council minions.
“Please, Cain.” I hold out my wrists for him.
His face is reluctant, and I know he doesn’t want to hurt me. But my mates can’t deflect every attack that comes my way. I’d rather have some burns to deal with than be killed by magic I can’t defend against.
I can see the moment he gives in. Letting out a sigh, he holds out his hands for mine. I place mine in his warm, calloused ones and stare up at him with absolute trust.
Closing his eyes, he loses himself to his hellhound magic.
When flames slowly creep from his hands to mine, I brace myself for a searing pain that never comes. Instead, it feels like a cool breeze blowing over my skin as his flames playfully windaround my wrists. When they reach the metal of the cuffs, they burn straight through.
I tense, expecting the molten metal to burn me, but it doesn’t.
I smile up at Cain as the cuffs fall away, but my grin drops as something burns into the underside of my wrist. Yelping at the sharp pain, I look down to see a small red flame tattoo that wasn’t there before. As I watch, it flickers in and out like it’s a real fire instead of a mark on my skin.
With wide eyes, I look at Cain. He’s staring at the flame with a mix of satisfaction and trepidation. When he notices me watching him, he blanks his expression as he waits for me to say something.
I open my mouth to do just that when a spell whizzes past, narrowly missing me. Shaking my head at myself because I can’t seem to stop getting distracted in this battle for our lives, I tell Cain, “We’ll figure it out later.”
Looking around the battle, I see Bishop, Luca, and Levi on their own, completely surrounded by council guards. The three of them are fighting for their lives.
Archer is stomping through the battle, being careful not to injure any of us. He seems unsure of what to do but seems to enjoy eating his enemies. It’s a little gory to watch, but I can’t argue that it’s effective.
Rhys and Aiden are with Dad in the defensive dome. They’re firing off spells as they can, but it’s clear they’re getting tired like the rest of us. Dad is looking royally pissed off as he has to watch the action and not participate, thanks to his magic-suppressing cuffs.
We need to get out of here. There are more council goons than we can take down. I just need to get everyone back to my brothers and dad so we can leave together.
“Head back to Aiden and Rhys,” I instruct Cain before taking off at a sprint to the closest one of my mates, which happens to be Bishop.
Unfortunately, Cain doesn’t listen to my instructions and instead runs alongside me. I roll my eyes at him but don’t bother to argue. All that’s going to do is slow me down.
Letting my magic have free rein, I don’t even blink when council minions are vaporized, eviscerated, and strangled, among other gruesome ways to die, in front of me. All I can focus on is getting to Bishop, who is taking more and more hits as I watch.
When I reach him, he flicks his gaze to me in surprise before having to deflect a spell headed right for us. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Just peachy. Other than the nearly one hundred council lackeys trying to murder us. Go back to the defensive dome so we can get out of here. I’ll only open a rift once we’re all safe.”
Bishop snorts. “I’ll go back when you do. Let’s go get everyone else.”
He takes off before I can even say anything. We make a beeline for Luca, who is covered in gashes that stain his blond fur crimson. Anger at the council hurting my mates bubbles up and makes my magic more volatile.
Much to my disappointment, though, it doesn’t explode out of me and kill everyone in its path, unlike last time. And I could really use it right now, but my temperamentalcuramagic doesn’t care.
