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Chapter 159
A rebuttal singed the tip of my tongue when the pressure around us plummeted, making my ears pop and eyes bulge before the heady darkness that once surrounded us raced to the stone walls and began to encompass the circular ballroom.
I barely had time to witness his magic climbing the walls, clinging to the mildew within the cracks of stone, inching higher like gnarled vines. A burst of magic left me, crackling like a wildfire doused in my gasoline-laced emotions. Every bit of jagged anticipation I felt from Dain’s words was force fed into the flames, making me bloat with magic that roared as it found release.
Half a dozen blasts of a fiery crimson magic exploded in the direction Dain had turned me in, and quickly I realized they responded to my guidance. Callum shimmered into existence when all six hit him in the chest and sent him flying backwards over ten feet.
The crack his head made against the stone wall echoed in my ears. It wasn’t the platter
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Iridian Chapter 160
As she continued without waiting for my reply, I looked further ahead. In Helios’s arms was Aidan. The tanned warrior carried my best-friend in his arms like he was a child, and with each lumbering step he took Aidan’s shaggy hair would bounce.After treading down the world’s largest staircase in a dress soaked through with blood and alcohol, I was ready to fall flat on my face. My legs wobbled and burned but we were far from through.According to all three warriors and Dain there was a fishing town nearby. What I found a bit exhausting was that none of them knew how far this place was—or what awaited us as we neared closer.Nestled on the banks of what Dain called the Nelia Sea was a village constructed of pristine sidewalks and neatly clipped hedges dotted with budding flowers that matched the pale greens and blues of the surrounding houses. Each one was modern in its appearance, mixing textures both smooth and coarse to create
Iridian Chapter 161
“Mom?”She whirled in my direction like a puppet whose strings were pulled. Her fiery hair was wild, standing in knotted curls on her head. It wasn’t her eyes, fractured with desperation and longing that kept me rooted in place, deaf to my own voice as I whispered, “…days ago?”Just like that, the presence of my parents ceased to matter.A jolt of something achingly hot spilled beneath my skin, followed by the crackling of open flame and burning flesh, a sound that only I could hear.With my spine stiff, I pivoted to face Dain.Countless times I traced the mask he placed over his face, so skillful at hiding his emotions that I sometimes wondered if he had any.This time was different.It wasn’t regret that painted his face in wilting shades of black and blue, but an apology. Sincerity coated his eyes in a glossy sheen, but the realization of what he’d done—of what he’d kept
Iridian Chapter 162
“How long?” I snarled, whirling around the second we slipped into the hall. It wasn’t anger beating in my chest, pumping heat and magic through my veins, but betrayal—so much betrayal. When Dain didn’t answer, I repeated myself. “How long have they been here, Dain?”The air around me began to thicken, turning warm with humidity that made my skin shine with perspiration. Dain’s face remained stoic, free of emotion and that fact only upset me more.He could handle my anger, but what of my grief?It wasn’t the crackling of flame that burned away his mask, or the fact that his clothes and hair were currently smoldering, sending thick smoke spewing into the corridor we occupied.What destroyed the persona he often used to hide his emotions were the tears that pooled in my eyes and ran down my cheeks.His lips curved downwards in a severe frown and sorrow so potent filled his eyes that I couldn’
Iridian Chapter 163
I knew my mom would discover the truth on her own, I just hadn’t anticipated it would be so soon.There was an abundance of anger in her eyes, enough to last a lifetime but none of it mattered. They’d been safe within the walls of the castle for the past week. Even Zack, who slept soundly in one of the hundreds of rooms, was alive and well.It had been a test of my strength to watch Dain wave his hand and cause a ripple of magic to spread along the castle walls, revealing a hidden corridor I’d never seen before.That was where he’d been keeping them, I realized.I swallowed back the anger that rose in my throat like acid and promised the two of them that I’d see them tomorrow. Both were reluctant to turn away, casting glance after glance behind their shoulders to make sure the corridor was still there.Just when I thought I had Dain figured out, he’d do something that threw me off balance. My jaw threatened to go slack when he left my side and approached my parents.Dad kept a hand on
Iridian Chapter 164
I’ve always heard about the excitement or dread one feels the night before an event. Whether it be a wedding, or the birth of a child, adrenaline and restlessness would swirl beneath the skin for hours on end, stirring all sorts of thoughts until sleep became an impossibility. No one talked about afterwards, when every ounce of that pent up exhaustion hit you like a freight train, sending you veering off course and headfirst into a coma-like sleep. I’d barely managed to wash myself free of the blood and grime, scanning my pale torso from head to toe for any wounds. The small cuts and scrapes I’d sustained were already healing, though the bruises would take a bit longer to switch between their myriad of colors before fading entirely. Lying in bed, surrounded by the plushness of silken blankets and lacey pillows left me feeling inadequate. We hadn’t been gone from the castle for long, at most a good four hours, yet I couldn’t help but feel as though everything had changed. The girl w
Iridian Chapter 165
I was burning, I had to be.The pain was all consuming, a wildfire that was impervious to even my magic. Not a single cell went untouched, erupting in agony one after another. Only the smallest of sensation told me I still had a body, that it hadn’t become a pile of ash.A pair of hands touched my skin, and as I felt the heat they radiated, my eyes snapped open, and I recoiled.Dain’s face, chiseled around his jawline but soft where those pools of night sky stared out at me, was bright with surprise and confusion. His raised hands were the only indicators that told me it was his touch I had run from.“You’re freezing.” He said quietly, his head tilted but his gaze remained unfaltering. “You were screaming the word murderer over and over again.” With a few seconds of hesitation, he continued in a low voice. “I have nightmares too. After so many years, they don’t get to me as much, but sometimes I’ll wake up covered in shadows, unable to see even the smallest hint of light even though I
Iridian Chapter 166
Even though I asked if they’d tag along, the first two days of training I endured alone.It was strange enough going through the motions without Adley by my side, not that I could blame her, but some small part of me had hoped my parents would find a way to accept the magic that thrummed in my veins.The voice of the bull whispered in my head, warning me they would never accept me—never love me for who and what I was. I was more determined than ever to prove it wrong. Acceptance wouldn’t come over night, I knew that.Just as I thought I had some semblance of control over myself, night fell and I slid into the once peaceful realm of dreams where nothing but horror and madness awaited me. It was in my dreams that it taunted and tortured me, wearing down my control until I felt disconnected from my body—an outsider possessing someone else’s form.As I opened my eyes each morning, I was already exhausted. Fighting a war at night and training during the day was wearing on me, and I knew it
Iridian Chapter 167
“You got a tattoo?!” Zack gasped loudly, interrupting my lengthy story about the game I’d barely won.I narrowed my eyes at him, unable to hold the expression for long when a cheesy grin broke out over his face. Mom’s eyes were burning holes into my back, as though she could see past the layer of clothing that covered my phoenix tattoo. For her sake, and that of my own life, I made sure to exclude the bloodier details of my victory.“Yes, and you know who gave it to me?” Lowering my voice, I forced the words between clenched teeth and tried not to be obvious as I tilted my head in Mom’s direction. Unable to pass up the opportunity to hear his stunned gasp a second time, I smirked and whispered, “…it was Gerald.”“Nuh uh.” He shook his head vehemently, drawing my attention to his messy hair.I had but a few seconds to admire how long it had grown during my time away before he launched into a slew of questions that left me struggling to keep up. Even with a headache and the echoes of pa
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