Page 4 of Magic Hunted
There was a chance Titan knew this information. The Six communicated and they were already on edge with Esoti’s death. They were also power-hungry assholes who didn’t trust each other which I would use against them.
Titan lowered his hand and the blue magic evaporated. Not that I breathed any easier. “Did you discover anything useful?”
“Drisella put her in the dungeon. I waited for two days, thinking I’d find a chance to get to her, but I didn’t. The female was constantly guarded.” Truth. I was there for two days and Drisella did have her guarded. Lie. I’d killed the guard who was a halfwit and rescued Anise from under Drisella’s nose, calling in her mates to collect her at the safe point I’d nominated.
Titan’s face hardened, his gaze sparking with dark flames. “You knew you were going to wait there, yet you sent no word to ask my permission.”
“I beg your apology. I couldn’t send a message and remain hidden. The dragon’s mate wasn’t the only reason that kept me there. Drisella…she called a meeting with her advisors and spoke about you.” Lie. The meeting wasn’t specifically about Titan but he was paranoid enough to think it would be.
Every muscle in Titan’s body stilled. I nearly folded against the full weight of his unblinking stare. “And what did she discuss in that meeting?”
“She said that with Esoti’s death, she had the power to become a supreme ruler. She…she said she was going to take all the magic for herself. There was a way for the magic to be hers.” Truth. Drisella wanted to be a supreme ruler and would kill the other Six for it. After spying on all Six of them, they all wanted the same and would kill each other in a heartbeat. Titan’s nostrils flared and a tingle of magic ran down my spine, testing me.
There must have been enough truth in my words because Titan strode across the room to Sinon, his face a mask of tension. “Has anyone spoken to you of this?”
Satisfaction washed through me at the flicker of fear over Sinon’s face. “My king, I have heard nothing.”
Titan’s backhand was a blur. Sinon’s head snapped sideways, and he tumbled to the floor. I couldn’t help my huff of amusement.How does it feel to be on the receiving end of Titan’s fist, fucker?
Titan strode to Peder. “And what of you?”
Peder’s gaze burned when he looked at me. The promise of nothing good shone in its depths. “She lies. There is no rumor.”
“Even though she’s filthy scum, she’s a better spy than you. How do you know she lies?” Titan asked.
“Because she has absolutely nothing to lose,” Peder said, simply. “She has no leverage. No friends or family. She can lie and cheat and do whatever she wants because there is nothing to be used against her. She’s twisting your mind, making you believe things that aren’t true to protect herself.”
That. Fucker.
Rage was a seething river of lava in my veins. The buildup of years of injustice, of abuse, of anger, unleashed. It wasn’t them who would face Titan’s insane rages. It wasn’t them who had been held in the grip of magic slashing into their bodies. They hadn’t writhed in agony at his whim. It wasn’t them who had suffered bruises, wounds and broken bones, but I understood Peder’s calm. They had an edge I didn’t. They’d volunteered to be Titan’s cadre while I was forced. That automatically put me at a disadvantage. It meant that Titan would take their word over mine. And he did. Every time.
Titan turned his dark gaze on me. I had to act because if I didn’t, there was a big chance Titan would torture the truth out of me if I didn’t set him off first. For the first time in my life, I had a chance to be free and I wouldn’t let Titan take that from me.
Agony lanced through me when Titan’s hand flew out and I was caught in a web of sparking electricity that locked every muscle in my body in agony.
“You’re working for Drisella, feeding me her lies. Telling me what she wants me to know!” Titan screeched. The whites of his eyes shone. True fear speared my heart as I watched his wisp of sanity draining away. His magic tore through me. My chest locked and my vision hazed.
I shook so badly I bit my tongue and blood flooded my mouth. “They lie. Not me.”
Titan’s fists erupted in a ball of glowing electricity. Bolts shot in all directions. The cadre dove to the floor. Booms echoed through the room as the bolts struck the walls. I flew through the air, slamming into a bookcase. Books fell around me and rubble blew inwards, coating us all in chunks of plaster and fine dust. I grabbed the edge of the bookcase, swaying on my feet, dull pain radiating through my body.
It took my brain a few seconds to work out that an entire section of the wall had blown away behind me. Far below, verdant greens of the jungle reached toward the horizon with the Grand River snaking its way through the thick canopy. Warm, humid air caressed my body as it drifted in through the ragged hole in the wall.
I gaped at Titan. His face was slack and he stared at his upturned palms as though he hadn’t expected his magic to be so out of control. Or so powerful.
As though my lie really was a truth.
“Someone is lying to me and I will find out who.” Titan’s face twisted into something unrecognizable.
Slashes of enchanted electricity struck me as he threw his magic at me in a double-fisted attack. I slid over the floor as his magic slammed into me, driving me towards the hole in the wall. The river sparkled in the sunshine far below at the bottom of the cliff offering the perfect escape. Theonlyavenue of escape.
It would kill me but it was an opportunity I would not let pass. The gods of fate looked down on me so rarely I needed to snatch this with both hands.
I pushed off the floor and rolled over the side of the hole. Wind whipped around me as I plummeted. Down, down, down. I gazed up at the flawless blue sky. At the pattern the turrets made against the sun. At Titan’s face scrunched with rage as he leaned out of the hole and watched me fall. It was a pity his would be the last face I’d see before my death. Blue bolts shot from his hands toward me as my body slammed into the water.
Then darkness.
Chapter Three
