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My jaw dropped as a shadow crossed over Poppet’s face. She flexed her hands, and murmured a few words, too quiet for me to understand under the din of the storm raging overhead. Lifting her wrist, she tapped the cuff and the red light swelled.
The rattling in my cuff stopped, and the metal tightened around my wrist, digging into my skin. I hissed and the power I’d dug free from its mooring was gone, slipping like sand through my fingers.
“Poppet, don’t do this,” I said.
Esme chuckled. “She can’t hear you.”
I tried to will my words through the bond, but they were drowned by the flood of energy leaving my body like air being sucked from my lungs. Poppet took a step closer, her eyes flashing with an unnamed emotion.
“Fight her, Poppy. I know you can hear me.” I groaned, doubling over in pain. “I get it now. I understand. You’re not alone. You have to fight.”
Poppet’s voice came back, mechanical and cold. Devoid of emotion. “I told you not to call me that.”
She raked her fingers to the side and energy clawed at my chest, ripping the skin beneath my shirt, drawing blood to the surface.
Jackson howled. His paws scraped the ground and he launched himself at Poppet. His jaws snapped as Esme fired another bolt of green energy in his direction. His body pivoted to the side just in time. The flash struck a tree and four dark figures darted into the clearing. Wolves of every shade. I recognized Tate’s gray fur, and Isaac’s black pelt. The other two were a mystery.
Jackson knocked into Poppet’s side and the draw of her power pulling at my soul stopped. My body sagged, and I coughed up a clot of blood.
Pressing my hand into the wounds on my chest, a pulse rippled through my blood. It poured over my fingers and slapped them around the cuff. The metal sizzled and smoked with the contact, but the energy didn’t dissipate.
Poppet threw Jackson off with a burst of telekinetic force, and the pack charged at Esme. It was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. Drawing sigils along the metal of my cuff, I willed my energy to rise. I prayed for the spell to work. The words formed on my lips.“Fractura metallum.”
The cuff vibrated against my skin, expanding as the energy pushed at it from within. My blood boiled, and rivulets of steam billowed into the air. I whispered the words again.Fractura metallum, Fractura metallum, Fractura—
The smaller white wolf went flying through the air and struck a tree. It fell to the ground and its body immediately shifted back into its human form. I recognized Luke from the hospital. His skin was riddled with green spider veins, and his chest struggled to rise. My eyes flew to Jackson. He was still upright and circling Poppet. Blood had dyed the fur on his snout and flanks, but his paws were dark with mud.
Esme’s power sprayed across the clearing, striking everyone in sight, even Poppet. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit there. Closing my eyes, I started to rock back and forth on my knees.Fractura. Fractura. Fractura. More blood pulsed from the wounds on my chest, the cuff heated, and I dove deep into the well of my power searching for strength.
Jackson let out a loud snarl, but it was abruptly broken by a yelp. My heart lurched, and energy exploded from my chest. A red tidal wave, obliterating everything in its wake. “Enough!”
35
Explosive
Time slowed to a crawl. The wave struck the wolves, forcing them to slide across the ground. It knocked Poppet off her feet and forced Esme to shield herself. The cuff around my wrist exploded in every direction and shattered into metallic dust. Rotating my hand, I smiled and rose from the ground. The raindrops parted around my head and shoulders, dancing across my skin like diamonds.
Magic raged inside my chest, angry for having been suppressed for so long. A telekinetic blast slammed Poppet harder into the ground. A chill rippled over my skin and fire leapt from my fingers, jumping towards Esme’s shield. It struck with a burst of bright white light, and the iridescent dome around the witch shattered. Her distorted scream warbled in my ears, and the ground trembled.
Green light split the fire in front of me, and Jackson surged forward. I let Poppet go, and shielded him, batting Esme’s attack away like a fly. Another flash of light burst from Esme’s hands and she shot up from the ground, moving faster through time. Her face flickered with the illusion of reptilian scales.
“How did you break the cuff?” she snarled, her eyes glowing with preternatural yellow light. “You should be powerless!”
I smiled. “Never underestimate a Devereaux. We’re tricky like that.”
Esme’s lip curled and she twisted her hand through the air in Poppet’s direction. The energy flashed around my sister’s body, and the witch snarled. “Kill her!”
“Afraid to fight your own battles?” I spat, turning as Poppet darted through the rain.
Her weight slammed into my chest and we tumbled across the ground, time returning to its natural speed as lightning shot across the sky. Her hands clawed at my throat. I tried to catch her wrists, as her nails cut my skin.
Wrenching free from my grasp, releasing me, her right hand slapped me hard across the face. My head snapped sideways, stars cascading across my vision. It gave her enough opening to wrap her hands around my throat. I grabbed her wrists again, trying to pull her away, but magic stirred around her body, locking her fingers in place. Green light flashed in the distance, and the howling of wolves pierced the sky. Poppet’s finger’s tightened, and I was forced to take a different tact.
Flexing my hands, I slammed them flat into the ground at my sides, and an explosion of telekinetic energy threw us both into the air. Poppet released my neck and flopped to the ground at my side.
I threw my left hand in her direction and blew her back with a burst of force. I scrambled to my feet and my magic flared around my hands. “Fight her! Don’t do this! Don’t make me hurt you!”
Poppet staggered to her feet and started chanting under her breath. Black smoke billowed from her palms, spreading across the ground like a cloud of smoke. Her eyes rolled back in her head and the whites left behind glowed with unnatural light.
