Though it would be easy to do so, I didn’t slip inside and vanish into the castle’s bowels. I would never leave Ellery or her mother behind.
Lifting my hand, I drew on the small pulses of electricity in the air to pull lightning from the sky. Deep within me, I felt it pierce through the clouds before being drawn away from me to crash into some of the lightning rods.
The increased thrum of electricity pulsed in the air, but I would never get the lightning to come directly to me. The earl had ensured that.
However, I could still harness the thunder that followed. I pulled it toward me and unleashed it in a wave that rattled the chandeliers, caused the ground to heave, and threw off the balance of all those battling on the floor.
Unprepared for the thunder or its explosive effects, screams, whimpers, and more sobs came from those trapped within. Staggered by the cacophonous sound wave, the fighters held out their arms to maintain their balance. Some failed to do so and fell, while others swiftly recovered.
Grinning, the guards progressed while some of the rebels retreated. Each of the opposing parties believed I was on the side of the aristocrats, and I couldn’t do anything to dissuade that.
All I could do was get to Ellery and her mother before they got hurt and keep these fuckers off me.
When the rebels fell back a little, I spotted Meredith in the middle of the floor. Blood stained the marble as injured guests, rebels, and guards lay around her.
Many had lost their heads or had their hearts ripped out, but she was alive and terrified as she remained in a ball amid the chaos. A few other survivors huddled nearby, too scared to move.
I shifted my attention beyond Meredith as I frantically searched for Ellery. I spotted her skulking through the shadows on the other side of the room as she headed toward her mother.
I had no doubt she’d spotted Meredith, as her focus remained on the woman. She was only fifty feet away when one of the rebels broke free of the dance floor and charged at her.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Ellery
Some of thetension in my chest deflated when I spotted my mother in the center of the dance floor. I had no idea how I would get to her, but I would figure that out.
As the battle waged around her and the others, the trapped guests cried out while the guards pushed the rebels back. As they retreated, both the rebels and guards stepped on them, fell over, or attacked the guests trapped in the middle. Some of them tore away the jewelry of the partygoers who couldn’t escape.
My heart lodged in my throat at the ruthless cruelty they unleashed on all those in their way… not just the guards. I understood their rage and sympathized with it. I’d felt the same emotion burning within me ever since Ivan started implementing his unfair and restrictive policies on all those he deemed beneath him.
But not everyone here was an oppressor. Some of us were as entangled in the web of loss, terror, and torment as those in the hoods. We all had roles to play, and if we didn’t play them well, we would die.
The rebels didn’t understand that. The guests were defenseless. Yes, many of them were assholes who I’d gladly take down, but others, like my mother, had no say over their lives anymore either.
My heart thundered as the rebels and guards clashed around my mother. Switching my grip on my sword to one hand, I wiped my sweaty palm on my dress and then did the same with the other hand.
My grip on the weapon was a little more secure afterward, but that wouldn’t last. I was far too nervous for this, and I had to get control over my volatile emotions if I was going to be of any use to my mother.
I had no idea how I’d get to her, but Iwoulddo it.
Bracing myself to sprint onto the floor, through the rebels and guards, and to my mother, I was about to run when another clap of thunder quaked the entire room. This one lasted a lot longer than the last.
The chandeliers clinked and rattled against each other as they swayed violently. Pieces of crystal broke off; those clear shards reflected the torchlight and cast myriad colors around the room as the sharp pieces plummeted to the ground.
Amsirah on all sides of the rebellion screamed as those shards pierced flesh, sliced across skin, and tore clothes. Thankfully, my mother wasn’t beneath one of the chandeliers as one of them broke free of its mounting and crashed to the ground.
It crushed two guards beneath it; their bodies crumpled like paper as bloodstained crystals burst across the floor. The increasing intensity of the thunder booming throughout the room almost had me slapping my hands over my ears.
While I resisted the impulse, some of the others didn’t. They covered their ears as they tried to dim the racket.
Another boom of thunder created a giant tear across the floor. It zigzagged through the retreating rebels, tripping some of them as the floor shifted and groaned as pieces of it rose.
Tearing my gaze from my mother, I frantically searched for Ryker through the chaos.Hewas the one doing this; he was the only one besides me who could.
Something had to have happened for him to unleash such wrath on the room. As that thought raced through my mind, someone cried out behind me.
Spinning, I staggered away from the hooded amsirah, who had been nearly on top of me. Their mouth gaped as they fell into the three-foot-deep hole that had opened in front of them. Their chin smashed off the floor when they crashed onto it, and blood spurted from their lips.
