AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EMILY
Iwaited by the entrance, a loud commotion drawing my attention. I turned toward the noise to see Ember running through the hallway, Raul chasing after her. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, and when she tried to get away, he tackled her to the ground, preparing to bite into her.
No way would I let that bloodsucker hurt my friend. I rushed over to Ember, but the guards stopped me, forcing me against the wall. I yanked and thrashed about, but they wouldn’t allow me to help my friend; they whispered warnings against using my magic in the Black Hole.
Emotions of fear, anger, and helplessness swirled in me. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I definitely didn’t want to cause a scene and bring any more attention our way, but I had no choice. I wasn’t about to let Ember go down while I stood around and did nothing.
The flame in my palm danced to life as I summoned my magic. I held the flame until my hand was sufficiently heated and pressed my palm to the guard’s face, burning his eyes and half his cheek.
He screamed in a wild fury, clawing at his face and dropping his hold on me. As the other guard reached for me, I grabbed his hand, scorching the skin that dared to grip me. He cried out from the burn and jerked backward, stumbling into the opposite wall and knocking over some candles.
Guiding the flame from the candles, I forced it up to create a wall of fire, closing off the guards from the rest of the vampire den before I ran down the hall.
Another guard—one I hadn’t seen—came barreling toward me, and lunged forward, knocking me to the ground. He landed on my legs, keeping me rooted to the plushy red carpet. Unable to move, I did the only thing I could think—I summoned my water magic and sent a huge wave through the hall, knocking Raul off Ember.
Ember jumped up, surprisingly quick, and took off running at an inhuman speed. She jerked me up like a ragdoll and pushed through the flame wall I’d built, shoving through the entrance.
“Shit!” Ember shouted as she lost momentum, slowing until she ran at a normal speed. “The power’s wearing off,” she cried out, her voice heavy with panic.
Great,now we’d caused a scene, and the onlookers circled us, closing in until we were outnumbered and trapped.
Using so much of my magic in such a short amount of time had drained me, but I used the last ounce of magical strength I had to create a fire ring surrounding us, separating us from the crowd.
It didn’t last as another witch from outside the circle doused my flame with her water.
Bitch. Mind your own business.
The fury burned through me, and I manipulated her water to spin back around, knocking her down. Another witch used her Earth affinity to shake the ground we stood on, the uneven surface making our stances unstable as the guards approached us, followed by Raul and two other vampires.
They knew we were trapped. Why else would they approach us at a slow, steady pace?
I glanced at Ember, who was just as panicked as I’d been. How the hell would we get out of this? The distance between us and the imminent danger shrunk as they stepped closer.
Just when I was about to give up and turn myself in to possibly save Ember, a hand grabbed my arm, jerking me into the crowd. I didn’t even have time to see who before they pulled me through the horde of supernaturals and led me through the market, Ember being pulled by the person’s other hand.
The vampires and their guards chased after us, but we managed to outmaneuver them and hide behind a stand the mystery person ushered us behind. There was no time to question whether he lured us to a trap because it was either take our chances with them or the bloodsuckers.
I, for one, chose them.
“Get down and wait.”
The voice was masculine and deep. The stranger wore a hat and had a mask covering his face. I couldn’t make out any feature except for his eyes. His black eyes.
We hunched down low as he stood beside us, peeling off his hat and mask to reveal shaggy blonde hair, piercings, and tattoos covering his neck.
Peeking through a tiny sliver between two wooden boards of the stand, I could see the market. It wasn’t much, but enough for me to tell what was happening outside of the stand. A few minutes later, the guards approached the man, asking if he’d seen two girls with red hair.
Girls,I scoffed inwardly. Bitch, we are women.
The man pointed in another direction, claiming we ran that way. The guards were skeptical, and even asked, “How do we know you ain’t lyin’?”
“You don’t,” he answered with a smirk, his tongue running over the piercing on his lip. I could see one guard shrug, and they left in the direction he pointed.
When they disappeared from sight, the man said, “You can come out now,” as he gestured for us to stand. “Come on., I’ll walk you out the back way. Hardly anyone goes there.”
When we were away from the bustling atmosphere of the market, Ember asked, “Why did you help us?”
The man chuckled. “Anyone who can take those assholes down a peg is alright in my book.” He shook his head in disbelief, facing us as he asked, “What were you thinking trying to fight them like that? And in the Black Hole? You’re lucky I pulled you out of there.”
