Page 104 of Deception

“Ah, I was wondering if any of you’d caught on. I guess I have to give you credit. You’re smarter than you look.” Her lips curl into a smug grin as she assesses me. “Well, it’s all thanks to this man.” She looks up at Titus, her features soft with adoration as she places a hand tenderly on his chest. “I retrieved a crystal from my office to communicate with him, and he took care of my guards and opened the wards enough for us to slip past.”

“Well, what’s your plan now? You brought your lackey here so she can fight your battle now?” I ask in an incredulous tone, and I quirk my brow up, giving them both an unimpressed once over. Titus bristles at the insult, his chin raising as he pins me with an indignant look. But he shakes it off a moment later, huffing out an amused chuckle as he sees through my attempt to prod them into an attack.

Helene pins her venomous glare on me and steps out of his hold, her hands lifting at the ready for an attack.

“I’m done talking to this insolent brat. Let’s get this over with,” she huffs, feigning nonchalance, but I can see how my words truly hit the mark. Good, let it put some division between them.

I ready another ball of fire, which only causes a triumphant grin to spread across her face, as though she’s already won.

I send the fireball careening for Titus just as I slam a barrier in front of Helene. She doesn’t sense the invisible shield before her though, and sends a wave of water straight for the fire. Instead, the wave crashes against the barrier, colliding off its smooth surface, changing its trajectory to fly back at her. Unfortunately, it stops mere inches from soaking her, the water dissipating into nothing as she bares her teeth at me.

Titus swipes the ball of fire away as though it’s nothing more than a mere fly. I do my best to hide my shock at the smooth movement, lobbing two more fireballs his way.

He swipes those away just as easily as he had the first, a smug grin on his face as he forms a ball of energy and sends it hurtling in my direction. I throw up another shield at the last moment, sending the ball into the trees. I don’t miss the hiss as it makes contact with one of the nearby trees, wrapping around it just as the god of justice’s power had done to the four members of the council. My head whips back to Helene, not noticing the cuff of Nyssa’s power wrapped snugly around her wrist anymore.

Titus chuckles, noticing where my gaze has landed. “That was a minor inconvenience. Our powers are the counterbalance to one another’s. She can reverse the effects of mine, unfortunately,” he grumbles that part, obviously displeased that Nyssa’s power can match his own. “And I can reverse hers.”

My mind flits back to images of the council members ensnared by the power of justice. Ya, note to self, do not let that power touch me.

Helene beats against the invisible barrier, gusts of air whipping around her, lifting her straight hair around her face like snakes, making her look every bit the menacing god of the sea she is.

Obviously, fire won’t work against Titus—unless I want to light this whole forest ablaze—there’s no way I’ll be able to affect him with my hits. He’s able to dodge my attacks with way too much ease. So I pull at my power, focusing on that destructive force buried inside me, and despite how easy it would be to put the full weight of that force on him and watch him crumble like the chaos demon, my stomach turns at the thought.

So I focus the power into a tornado, the wind picking up around me, forming into a tight column of air before me. Titus’ eyes widen at the sudden appearance of the tornado, and I swear I see the hint of approval in them before his brow creases. I see the moment he realizes what power I’m using and understanding lights up his light brown eyes. His head dips so slightly I’m sure Helene can’t see it.

I urge the destructive force forward, seeing the shift as he readies himself, his balls of energy forming in his hands.

“Stop,” Helene screeches, but we both continue forward, our powers surging as they near one another. My tornado picks up stones and dirt, sending them spinning around in its depths. The earth begins to shake with my power, and a large crack runs down the middle of the clearing, forcing Titus to jump to the side to avoid falling between the widening crack. “I will make you regret it if you don’t stop right now.”

Neither of us stops though, I don’t even bother looking in her direction, I can’t get distracted by her feeble attempts to throw me off. I catch her movement out of the corner of my eye as the trembling earth jostles her, forcing her to press against the barrier to keep herself upright.

“Domenic,” she calls, raising her voice above the sound of the rushing air, but her tone is not nearly as panicked as it was before, knowing she has my attention now.

My blood turns to ice in my veins at the mention of my friend’s name. Is he really here? Did she take him to use as a threat against me? She would truly hurt her own nephew just to help Titus?

I keep hold of the power but lower it a fraction. The raging tornado stays put between us, but the ground stops shaking, and I don’t miss Helene’s audible sound of relief as she smooths out her gown.

My heart plummets as I hear the rustling of leaves, and a shadow edges nearer in my peripheral.

My hands shake, and I swallow down the sour taste that invades my mouth. I’ve got to stay strong, not only for myself but for Domenic too. I have to get both of us out of here. There’s no other option.

“Pull your power back now, or we’ll kill the girl,” Helene says calmly, a calculating glint in her eyes. Her … they’ll kill her? But she said she had Domenic …

My chest tightens so hard I’m sure my lungs have collapsed in on themselves as I attempt to fill them, but my short pants aren’t nearly enough to fill my chest. My pulse pounds in my head, the sound the only thing my foggy mind can focus on as I finally turn my gaze towards the sound of twigs snapping.

Not one, but three figures have emerged, the afternoon acting like a spotlight in the small clearing as they come into view past the shadows of the trees. Domenic steps closer to me, and I stumble back a step, not wanting him to get any closer to me, not after what he’s done. His face drains of all color, and he fumbles with his hands before him, sheepishly looking down at the ground, unable to even meet my eyes, the fucking coward.

“I’m sorry, Liv,” he mumbles, but I don’t even acknowledge the words, zeroing in on the other two figures. There is no coming back from what he’s done, no way he could make up for any of this as I meet the caramel eyes of my best friend, my fucking sister. My chest shakes as I take her in, her black curls mussed from the rough way her captor is clutching her.

She tries to hide the fear, but I see it, clear as day, just as I see the moisture welling too, no matter how many times she blinks it away. My heart cracks in two seeing her this way. My normally boisterous and headstrong best friend’s hand shakes at her sides as she sucks in shuddering breaths. How could I have been so stupid? How did I not see any hint of Domenic’s deception? How did I not realize how selfish it was to attempt to hold on to her friendship when I had no idea how truly dangerous my life was about to become? Pain slices through my chest like a knife—this is all my fault.

I draw in a long breath through my teeth, biting back the pain. There would be time for that later. But first, I need to get her out of here. I don’t care about myself anymore—she is the priority. So I would go with them if that is the only way to keep her safe.

I pull back my power, the wind slowing around us until the stones and dirt clatter back to the ground in a heap.

My gaze moves to the final new arrival, her brown curls draped across Nelle’s shoulder as she holds her tightly against her chest. Abigail jerks Nelle’s chin, and tiny sparks of electricity circle her fingertips before sinking into Nelle’s skin. She winces in pain, her eyes squeezing shut as she attempts to hide the small cry that bubbles past her lips.

I clamp my mouth shut, refusing to let out the sob that racks my chest. Instead, I channel my emotions into anger, my gaze moving to meet Abigail’s. A wide sadistic grin stretches across her face. I’ll make her pay for that. I store the look of pain and Nelle’s cry in my mind. I will make sure I do everything back to her tenfold when this is all over.

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