AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s ridiculous,” I snapped, my cheeks burning in anger, and the tips of my fingers tingled as the emotion coursed through my veins. I drew in a slow breath of air, trying to calm myself before I let loose.Not again. “We should be allowed to volunteer—”
“Youvolunteered, did you not?” He cocked an eyebrow, the corners of his lips twitching.
“Not necessarily from wanting to. I don’t want to be a medic. I want to be a soldier, but this is as close as I’ll get. I don’t have a choice in that.”
His eyebrows furrowed together, and he pursed his lips but said nothing else as he turned his head and attention to the window, obviously too awake to doze off again. I glanced in Carli’s direction, her eyes already on me. Giving me a small smile, she shook her head and shrugged before glancing away again. My eyes fall to the solider on her left, whose staring straight forward and ignoring the entire interaction around us. His blue accent told me he was a warlock, and my teeth clenched together. Carli’s healer ended up as Olga, which made me have to hide a laugh at the horrified expression that came over Carli. But at least there was a familiarity, even if some tension.
My forester was the boy on Carli’s other side, who was more concerned with his looks than what was happening around him. Point made as he looked at himself through the conversation in a handheld mirror, ensuring his hair was top-notch. Not really sure why when the wind kept whipping our hair around.
“Why is your hair white?” a voice suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts, and my eyes darted to a different forester, sitting closer to the back door, his eyes on me. “You aren’t old, so why is your hair so white?”
“Shadow Witch,” the soldier across me grunted and turned his dark eyes back at me, making my stomach flutter. I despised him for that. “Correct?”
I blinked and shook my head slowly. But even as I did so, I couldn’t help but think about my mother’s shadow book. What sort of witch was she if she’d had it? I didn’t know her family. Besides Dad’s mother, there was nobody else for us blood-wise. Dad had grown up in our tiny village, and Mom didn’t; that was as much as I knew. It shook me that I had never been able to ask, to talk about it, but it wasn’t entirely my fault – she’d been taken. In your place, a voice whispered, reminding me of that fateful day when she’d offered herself up so I wouldn’t be taken. So, in a way, it was your fault.
My stomach clenched, and I almost felt like I was going to vomit, but I swallowed the feeling down.
The wolf frowned, eyes narrowing at me. “You aren’t a shadow witch? I find that hard to believe.”
“I don’t know what I am,” I admitted flatly, my shoulders tensing, but the rest of the words locked in my throat, refusing to say them outright in front of all these people.
Carli knew only little of what had happened. I had never told anyone, not even her or my father or brother, that my mom had offered herself in place of me. That was something I couldn’t tell them. Even at the age of five, I’d known I would be blamed and feared that my own family would hate me for letting such a thing happen, even if I was just a kid. I wasn’t about to go telling things now.
“A Skeletal took her mother,” Carli offered instead. “She never got to know her lineage like most.”
There was no response to this, not that I expected any. I didn’t look at the wolf. I didn’t want to see the pity in his eyes the way people tended to look at me whenever they found out how I had lost my mother – the bit I let them know that was.
The motor jolted to a stop suddenly, tossing us around, and unprepared, not holding onto anything, I toppled forward, crashing right into my soldier’s lap. His fingers grabbed my shoulders, and I felt the prick of claws as they somewhat extended but withdrew just as quickly. Clearing my throat, I scrambled up, my face heated in embarrassment, and I didn’t dare look at him even longer now.
The group adjusted themselves, looking around and trying to peer out the back opening. Stepping around another witch, I popped my head out, and a flash of light swept past me. Fingers grabbed the back collar of my uniform and yanked me back, throwing me to the ground as another bolt shot at us, hitting. The vehicle teetered dangerously side to side, tossing us around before righting itself out. Panic ensued just then.
I could hear the screams of others in the other vehicles, but I didn’t have time to concentrate on that as my head whipped around, and I caught the terrified wide eyes of my best friend. Envy aside, she was my sister, and there was no way in hell I would let danger come her way.
Before I could come up with a plan, though, a body dropped on me as glass shattered, his arms flying over my face to shield it. When the air grew still for just a moment, sulfur stinging my nostrils, his arms drew down, and I looked up into those dark eyes. His lips were inches from mine, and all I had to do was lift my head just a little and – no, stop it. You have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend.
The soldier scrambled up, holding out a hand to help me to my feet, which I took willingly. Everyone else followed suit, and I found Carli brushing glass off her leafy uniform, a few cuts along her arms, but otherwise seemingly unhurt.
A boom ricocheted in the air, and the ground shook, sending the vehicle toppling.
“Everybody out!” the soldier hollered. “Healers first, let’s go. Now!”
I glanced at Carli, who only shook her head, but hands were already shoving me forward before I could reach for her, my heart thundering as the distance was put between us. Scrambling off the vehicle, I hit the ground and moved as the vehicle tipped to the right, teetering. The warlock soldier flew out, hitting the ground as he spun around, thrusting his hands out. The vehicle quivered, yet to fall, but I could see the warlock’s shoulders tighten in the effort it took to hold the vehicle full of occupants up.
Deciding to disregard everything I’d been taught, I rushed forward, drawing the power to the tips of my fingers and through my hands, placing myself next to the warlock. Twisting my hands, I thrust them forward and shot out the same force of magic. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his shoulders relieved of the pressure a little.
ChapterThirty-Five
“You can get in trouble for this,” he snarled through clenched teeth.
The power bursting through me was a ray of warmth and felt so natural I didn’t want to stop. I was a healer by blood, but this was what I was supposed to also do. Dad had taught me in the secrecy of our home, in the fields when nobody else was around. Jasper and Timothy had both given me pointers from their classes as we grew up. Because they all knew that I wasn’t just meant to be a healer, even if the path I’d always been forced upon.
The vehicle, though, grew heavier. But I heard the thumps of the others jumping out, rushing away to get out from being crushed by it when we would release. Even without so many occupants, it was still heavy. Another thundering boom sent the ground shaking beneath us. The warlock next to me lost his balance and power. My fingers curled, clinging to the powers, desperate to ensure that nobody was taken down with it.
“Let go!” the familiar voice of my soldier shouted. “Everyone’s off.”
I drew back and swiped at the air, releasing my hold on the string of power, and watched as the vehicle toppled to the side and turned upside down. A blast of magic hit it, sending it flying before parts of it exploded, falling away. Machine pieces rained down on us, and screams ensued. I turned as the warlock scrambled for the group, shooting the bits out of the way as they came tumbling. Following his lead, I headed in the other direction, shooting up flares of magic to hit the pieces out of their direction, sending them skittering away and leaving the rest unharmed.
When there were no more falling bits and pieces, I skidded to a stop, my eyes to the sky, searching for anything missed.
