Page 78 of Ashes of Gold
She purses her lips. “Becauseshe doesn’t have much of an appetite the rest of the day.”
“And—”
“Look, she’s my mother, alright? I’ll handle making sure she’s okay.” She reshoulders her bag. “Worse than Totsi, I swear,” she says under her breath.
“I mean, you keep her locked away like a prisoner. She’s lonely, can’t you tell?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. She is my mother and that wasn’t part of our agreement. Drop it.”
There’s that steel resolve she had when we first met.
“She’s your mom, but she’s rolling with me. Make sure she has everything she needs. I’m not asking.”
And there’s mine.
“You don’t know her,” Taavi says as I walk faster to catch back up with Bri and Julius. “Don’t be so quick to make assumptions about her. She’s done terrible things.”
Something about her tone doesn’t sit right with me, but I keep walking. Their relationship is a tangled web of emotions… clearly.
Crack.
The ground buckles beneath my feet, a rift zigzagging toward me, and I freeze. Screams ring out from the masses behind me.
Crack.
A trap.
Shit.
The ground shakes again and pops spark like someone dropped a firecracker next to my foot.What in the— Heat rises through my shoes like the pops or whatever are burning holes in my soles. I inspect the rubber and steam rises off it.Oh my god!
“What’s happening?” someone screeches.Crack. Crack.Lights pop all over the pavement with every step we take like we’ve stumbled on a magical land mine.
The sounds of screaming and howls of pain scratch my ears.
Zora’s words prick my memory.“Panic is the first enemy. Patience is my greatest weapon.”I dip in my stance like she showed me, hands at the ready, searching for some indication of who or what is doing this.
“Hot,” someone shouts. “It’s burning me!”
People scatter in circles, clinging to one another. Their gazes sweep in my direction, then Taavi’s, then back to me.
“Hold still, let me just…” I light my fingers and fan the ground, searching for some sign of how the trap works. That’swhen I see it. A grid of silver energy runs along the ground like someone laid a giant cross-link chain fence made of live wire across it.
I spot Bri and cup my hands around my mouth. “The magic is heat driven. It’s melting anything on-site.” She nods and I say a prayer she doesn’t freeze this time.
I step on a spot where two grid lines meet and it crackles, my foot stinging like I’ve stepped on a flame. Burnt rubber stings my nose.
“Where the wires intersect is the most lethal spot,” I shout, hoping someone hears me. Hoping it helps somehow. I look out ahead, and as far as I can see, the chain extends.
“Taavi!” I peer in every direction, but it’s pure chaos, people running in every direction, into one another, pops of energy biting their heels. “Don’t step on where the lines meet.” I demonstrate, planting my foot between the lines, instead of on them. No pops. “Between!” I gesture, trying to shout above the screams. Short of a levitating spell, which I don’t actually know, I can’t think of a way to fix this with magic. Everyone has to pipe down and listen.
If panic is the enemy, we’re losing.
People barrel into one another, trying to run past one another, outrun the grid. Joshi stumbles on something or someone and tumbles to the ground. He writhes in pain, the chain wires searing through his clothes.
“Joshi!” I rush over, careful to plant each step in the space between the lines. I pull him up, but he’s covered in burns. “The lines, keep your feet between the lines.” He nods, panting, and points. I turn to find another trampled by the others. “Everybody, listen!” My voice is raw in my throat, but I throw it as loud and big as I can. “Keep your feetoffthe lines. They burn hotter each time they make contact.”
“My face. I can’t see!”
