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"Jo-Jo!" she rasped, a plaintive wail to her low hoarse tone that I'd never heard before. "Jo-Jo!"
"Sophia!" Jo-Jo screamed in return, holding out one hand and reaching for her.
The two men had their hands around Sophia's waist, trying to drag her away, but the dwarf was stronger than they were, and she could have held on forever - if the wood hadn't cracked.
One second, Sophia was hanging onto the doorway.
The next, the wood had splintered off into a long shard, sending her flying back into the hallway with the men.
They landed in a tangle of arms and legs, the men shouting and Sophia snarling.
"Now, now. We'll have none of that," Hazel said.
Stepping into the hallway, she grabbed Sophia by her hair, jerked her up, and slammed the ball of Fire magic into her back. Sophia screamed, but after a moment, the flames licking at her T-shirt were snuffed out. Sophia had Air magic, just like Jo-Jo did, and she was using her power to push back against Hazel's Fire.
But it didn't work.
As soon as the flames disappeared, more Fire flashed to life in Hazel's palm, and she shoved it into Sophia's back, causing her to scream once more. That gave the two men she was fighting a chance to latch on to her again and start dragging her down the hallway.
Sophia fought them - she fought them with all the strength and magic she had, but it wasn't enough. Not with Hazel burning her over and over again and laughing the whole damn time. The more Sophia struggled, the more magic the Fire elemental used on her, and the more she cackled with glee, until her light, pealing chuckles rang through the entire house.
Sadistic bitch.
As difficult and painful as it was, I shut the sound of
Sophia's screams and agony out of my mind and focused on the four men left in the salon. They weren't at all concerned about the elemental battle raging in the hallway.
The two men who'd been guarding Jo-Jo started kicking the dwarf, adding to her injuries, while the two men holding Bria and me decided to listen to Grimes's advice and have some fun with us.
The man guarding me tightened his grip on my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. "Don't you worry, honey," he said, leering at me. "I'll treat you real good. "
"Really?" I said. "Is that so?"
He pulled me up flush against his body. "Oh, yeah. I'll give it to you so good that you'll be begging me for more. "
I coldly smiled into his face, then whipped my right hand out from behind me and stabbed him in the throat with my knife. I yanked the weapon out as brutally as I had driven it in and followed up my first fatal blow with another furious punch to his heart. He was dead before he hit the floor.
He wasn't going to be the only one, though - not by a long shot.
I shoved the dead man away, grabbed another knife from the buffet table behind me, and headed toward Bria's man. He was so surprised by what had happened to his buddy that he gaped at me. He didn't notice Bria drop her hand down to her side or the bluish white light that flickered in her palm as she reached for her Ice magic.
Bria drove her elbow into the guy's side, making him grunt, release of her, and stagger back. But she wasn't about to let him get away. Instead, she whipped around, grabbed his jacket, pulled him forward, and shoved her hand into his face with one smooth motion.
Then she unleashed her magic on him.
The bluish white glow of her Ice power intensified, burning as brightly as a star, and a frigid sensation blasted through the salon, colder than any winter day. A second later, the light faded, and Bria let go of the man.
He thumped to the floor, his whole head encased in two inches of elemental Ice. If he wasn't dead already from the extreme, sudden frostbite, he'd suffocate soon enough. I was already turning to the two men kicking Jo-Jo, but
I made a mental note to tell Bria how impressed I was by the creativity - and viciousness - of that display of her power. I'd have to remember that particular trick.
The last two men finally noticed that Bria and I were fighting back. A little smarter and quicker than their friends had been, they raised their guns and fired at us.
Crack! Crack!
Bria and I both dived for cover behind two of the salon chairs. The bullets hit the chairs, sending bits of fluffy white fabric puffing up into the air like snow. Bria had managed to snag her straw bag in the confusion, and she quickly upended it and grabbed the gun that came tumbling out. She clutched the weapon with her right hand as another ball of elemental Ice pulsed to life in her left palm.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
