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Ainsley
Iwas quick, but not nearly as quick as a collapsing roof. Killian’s voice screaming my name was drowned out by sounds of snapping wood and the crumbling rock of the building around us.
I squeezed my eyes shut, clenching my fists as I tried to think of a way that could help my body weather the wrath of fire about to rain down upon us.
Instead of freezing with me, however, the woman beneath me wrapped her arms around my middle, and my chest rumbled as her calm voice reverberated throughout my body.I peeked one eye open to see what she was doing.
“Ventus,” she spoke, her eyes focused on something above our heads.
My hair fluttered as a gust of wind rippled past me.
I flinched, shutting my eyes again but nothing hit me. A bang and clattering sounded behind us, and I rolled off of her. The remnants of debris that had been plummeting toward us had crashed into the far wall.
The wind that had carried it followed, quietly dying out next to the wood. I snapped my head in the direction of the woman I had sought to save, yet, who in turn, had saved me instead.
“You have magic.” I sighed, my breathing shaky.
Killian appeared at my side in an instant, enveloping me in his arms and pulling me to my feet.
The woman seemed unfazed at my accusation. So, I spoke again, “You have mag—”
“Bite your tongue, child.” She interrupted with a barbed tone.
I flinched back a step, not expecting her chiding.
“Ainsley.” Killian’s voice swept over me.
He wrapped his hand around my arm, touching me gently and I turned to face him. His pleading expression begged me to leave the chaos of the collapsing building. His eyes flicked around, seemingly waiting for another part of this ruined structure to fall upon our heads.
A few paces away from me, the woman huffed and drew my attention once more as she continued searching frantically. Then, she darted recklessly toward the ruins instead of moving away from further danger.
“Hey!” I bellowed, pulling away from the safety of my pirate and hearing Killian growl behind me.
The woman spun abruptly, this time not bothering to conceal her annoyance.
“How may I help?” I questioned, now shouting above the crackling fire, its intensity rising around us.
She growled, tossing around a few scattered drawers at her feet. “Get out of here. This is no business of yours.”
“Ainsley, we’re out of time here,” Killian shouted behind me.
“Please,” I said, bending down and grasping the woman by the arms. “Come with us. The building will collapse any moment now.”
She yanked herself from my grip and shoved her magic my way. “I won’t leave without it.”
I fell to the floor, flat on my ass. Without what? I thought. What could be worth dying for? This stranger was a special sort of psycho.
Another crack echoed in the chaos and Killian yelled my name again, only this time he was blocked from me by the debris that had collapsed to the ground behind me.
“Ainsley, no!”
I scurried to my feet. “Well, we are in this together now,” I said to the woman. “Let me help you so we may live. This cannot be worth dying for.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” the woman muttered, throwing an old box sideways so abruptly that I had to duck to avoid its corner.
Now it was my turn to grumble. The smell of smoke was growing stronger, and we would not last long enough to make it out alive, much less continue this search.
The woman shuffled her arm to the right and set down a book, now flailing in all directions, no longer hindered by the tome I hadn’t realized she held.
