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Zane squeezes my hand, silently urging me to continue on, and we quickly fall into step again.
“If we can find somewhere less trodden and as quiet as possible, I may be able to focus my magic and try to hide us,” he states, and my eyes widen as I glance up at him while continuing to hurry along. “Leila had a good idea, it just wasn’t big enough, and there was no way I was trusting you in someone else’s hands when I’m right here,” he states, repeating his thoughts from earlier.
“Do you think you can expand your magic to make all of us invisible?” Creed asks, and I finally catch on to Zane’s idea.
“I think so,” he replies confidently, leaving me speechless.
“Over here,” Brax calls out, waving us forward, and we move even quicker. Eldon gets to him first, with Creed a few steps behind him, leaving Zane and me bringing up the rear when I’m suddenly knocked off my feet and my hand slips from his.
I hit the ground with a thud, the wind completely knocked out of my sails as I stare up at the leaves blowing in the breeze in a daze. Pressing my palms into the earth beneath me, I take a stuttering breath and try to rise, but it’s like I’m pushing against a vortex of wind that is pinning me in place.
“Raven!” I can hear the Bishops holler my name, but I can’t see them, which spikes my worry and adrenaline all at once.
Surely it can’t be Erikel’s men. If there’s one thing I took from their little speech, it’s that I won’t die at their hands because they need me. Unless they want to hold me in place so I can be their weapon, but why not do that sooner?
Attempting another, deeper breath, I try to push against the invisible force on top of me, but it’s useless until I see the smallest string of magic dancing above me. Focusing on the small thread, I follow it all the way to a tree off to the left, where I find the culprit behind this.
“Sebastian,” I holler, hoping to alert the Bishops as the pressure falls heavier on me. “It’s Sebastian,” I repeat, trying to lift my hand so I can touch the string of magic, but they’re dead weight at my sides.
Fuck.
Why is he even here? This isn’t his class.
Clenching my eyes shut, I channel all of my strength into my arms, desperate to grasp his magic in my hands. When I can’t even move an inch, I snarl in frustration, blinking my eyes open to a grunt that echoes through the trees around me. I catch sight of Eldon flying through the air before he slams into the tree to my right with athud, and my heart clenches.
What the fuck?
The move was too quick for me to catch the trail of magic, but my gut tells me it’s still Sebastian I need to be concerned with. Anger at Eldon being hurt fuels me, vibrating through my veins as I try to move again.
Glaring at Sebastian, I notice another trail of magic lingering around his head and trailing off deeper into the forest where I can’t see. What the fuck is that about? It doesn’t matter. What matters is getting out of his hold.
His eyes cast back to me, a smirk on his lips as triumph flickers across his face.
I don’t just hate this man, my blood, my supposed family. I fucking loathe him.
My nostrils flare as I fail to hide how he affects me when he topples forward with force, smashing into the ground face first as the weight holding me down suddenly disappears.
Scurrying to my feet, I don’t bother trying to wipe the dirt from me as I take off in his direction. That’s when Zane appears out of thin air, a step behind the motherfucker, with a smug grin of his own spreading across his face.
“Someone’s helping him,” Creed states, falling into step with me. “I was trying to get into his mind, but it was impossible, like there was a wall there.”
Fuck.
“That must have been the trail of magic I saw hovering around his head,” I explain, almost tripping over a fallen branch in my hurry.
Zane remains in his stance and I catch a glimpse of Brax barreling toward Sebastian, but I freeze on the spot, remembering Eldon’s slumped body against the tree. Spinning, I turn and instantly sag in relief when I see him racing toward me.
I slip on a damp patch of moss when I turn back to Sebastian in time to see Brax slam his fist into his face. I hear the crunch of his nose breaking beneath Brax’s stone fist, but it’s clear that’s not enough for my gargoyle as he continues to pummel him with hit after hit.
Shit.
“Brax, no!” I shout, but I go unheard.
Rushing toward him, I go to grab his shoulder, but Creed quickly intercepts. “You’ll get hurt.”
“It will hurt me more if he kills the fucker and I have to bring him back.”
The slamming stops, the groans from Sebastian garbled as Brax looks over his shoulder at me. His eyes are vivid. Onebrown. One green. Both wild with rage. “I warned this asshole if he attempted to come at you again, I’d kill him,” he grunts, and I drop to my knees beside him.
