Page 101 of Fated to the Wicked King

That was all the distraction I needed.

With a yell, I launched myself into the General to wrench the gun out of his hand, dragging him away from the machine.

He cried out, savagely throwing me across the floor.

“Allie!” Rabb growled. Despite his struggle against the otherworldly energies, he pounced on the General, wrapping his arm around his neck in a chokehold, trying to wrench the weapon away.

The General gasped and gagged as he tried to struggle away, but Rabb was too strong.

My eyes widened as an idea struck me. “Rabb, get him on the machine.” I bolted for the control panels to configure an energy pocket again, like I’d done with the Hatter before.

Rabb tossed the General onto the platform.

Scrambling up with a loud cry of indignation, the General raised his pistol right at Rabb’s head and pulled the trigger.

“No—!” I cried out, slamming my palm against the console button—right in time to freeze the General in an inert bubble. His eyes wider than ever, pistol still gripped in his hand. My heart thundered in my chest at the bright flare at the end of the barrel where the bullet had just emerged, suspended—immobile, stationary.

I tugged Rabb clear away from the path of the gunshot.

But right as we staggered back, the machine came alive with a flash of violet light, a sudden wave of energy kicked back from the maelstrom machine, swallowing up the General’s figure, his scream of terror ringing clearly through the air, “NOOOO!” changing frequency as the sound slowed down with the maelstrom’s pulsing and hissing.

In a blink, the platform was empty—except for the spiral of bright, blinding light still spinning.

My body shaking with too much adrenaline, I could only stare. Was I relieved? Was I horrified? Maybe both?

Taking a deep breath, I gave a rueful shake of my head. “You never learned, did you, General? This is what happens when you mess with magic you cannot control.”

I turned to Rabb. “I warned him so many times to keep clear of that volatile kickback wave.” The General should have already known the dangers himself. I clearly recalled having sent him several reports about it in the past. What were the odds that he beat the forty-two-thousand-to-one odds of his entire existence dissolving into the ether altogether?

Of course, Rabb didn’t care one bit where the General had gone. He rushed over to put his arms around me. “Are you okay?”

Awash with relief, I beamed up at him. “Everything’s fine now.” I tilted my head, glancing over at the machine for a moment. “Or…”

Rabb laced his arms around my waist. “What is it?”

My heart pounded in my chest, already in dread.

The maelstrom machine was not powering down. The entire room remained aglow with otherworldly energy.

“Wait.” I broke away to inspect the readings and the machine configuration again.

I blinked.

No.

I blinked again.

Oh dear god, no.

I bit my lip.

It was exactly midnight.

Coming up to my side, Rabb peered at my face. “Allie?”

Without warning, the mystical tide swept through the upper reaches of the clock tower, spilling through windows and curling around brass gears and iron beams in luminous currents of silver-blue light—siphoning directly into the intake valve of the greedy maelstrom machine. The glass and mirror contraption let out a high-pitched whine in response.

“The General is an idiot with incredibly lucky timing. He was trying to reconfigure it to use the magic of the land as an energy source at an abnormally increased rate of draining,” I mumbled, my stomach hollow. “From the looks of it, it’s not going to take much time at all. There’s nothing to temper the draw.”