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It had felt the ultimate threat and wouldn’t allow any weapon to unmake me.
The darkest flame, hotter than hellfire, hotter than heavenly flame, alighted on the chainlock, burning through every metal link. Medea’s eyes widened for a flicker. Her mouth opened, yet no sound could come out.
The darkest flame shot toward the princess of the House of Chaos, engulfing her and consuming her. A blink, and the flame vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared, as if it hadn’t blasted out of me and incinerated a descendant of Medusa in a heartbeat.
I searched inwardly for the dark flame, but all I could feel was a dull ache and vast emptiness. And I was bone tired.
Sy ran her tongue over her fangs, stunned and speechless as well.
I stared ahead. Where Medea had been, nothing was left. Not even a mote of dust. My dark flame had erased her completely, as if she had never existed. The only evidence was a few inches of the chains that hadn’t been melted, courtesy of my power. It wanted to leave a reminder to warn everyone else.
The hall sank into shocked, horrified silence until Bellona wailed like she was having hiccups.
“Murderer!” Headmistress Ethel’s shriek was unbearably piercing. “Barbie murdered Princess Medea cold-bloodedly in front of everyone! Arrest her!”
The academy sentinels moved forward to seize me, but Killian’s power of darkness had already lashed out, hauling them away from me. His lightning followed, flashing across the wall of darkness to create an unbreakable barrier between Headmistress Ethel and her sentinels. Anyone who dared cross it to get to me would risk being electrocuted.
I hadn’t noticed when the druid appeared. He now stood by Headmistress Ethel, his hooded, dark eyes fixating on me. I hadn’t met anyone creepier than him, though my father was a lot scarier.
“No one touches a member of my house,” Killian drawled lethally.
“Princess Medea was a member of your house too, Prince Killian, in case you’ve forgotten,” Headmistress Ethel said icily, her voice trembling with rage and fear. “Despite your fondness toward that girl, she’ll be hanged for her atrocious crime!”
The hall rioted. The princes were shouting, and everyone else was telling their versions of the unfortunate, terrible incident.
My mind went numb. Blood drained from my face.
All I could think was that my dormant core power had shown up at the worst time. But if it hadn’t, that chainlock might’ve damaged me irrevocably.
I bet that Medea hadn’t planned to use it on me in public, but she couldn’t stomach being defeated by me in front of everyone. She couldn’t bear to see Killian watch her being humiliated.
“This is a house affair, and I’m taking Barbie back to the house,” Killian said, his power drowning out the shouts in the hall.
“This is no longer a house affair when a royal bride candidate was murdered!” Headmistress Ethel countered. “You aren’t above the law of Mist of Cinder, Prince Killian. Even you can’t harbor a murderer without suffering the consequences!”
“Whom are you pointing fingers at as a murderer, Lady Ethel?” Killian sneered. “That’s a severe and irresponsible accusation!” He gestured at the other heirs and my geek friends. “Let’s hear what others saw.”
“Everyone saw Barbie burn Princess Medea to death!” Headmistress Ethel hissed, then, as if remembering something, she stepped back a couple of paces to put more distance between her and me.
I could see apprehension coating many supernaturals’ eyes. They feared me now, as if I was an abomination. Well, I was afraid of my own powers too, considering that I couldn’t control this dark flame.
“You saw what you wanted to see, Lady Ethel,” Rowan said in his deep and firm voice. “Barbie didn’t kill Princess Medea, though it was no doubt a tragedy that Princess Medea perished under such befuddling and suspicious circumstances. Of course, we need to investigate this incident and get to the bottom of it, but we shall not make any rash conclusions or accusations without solid and uncontested evidence.”
“Are you defending a true murderer?” Headmistress Ethel called in dismay. “Has Barbie gotten to you too, Prince Rowan? What kind of spells did she put on you?”
“It’s funny you mention spells, Lady Ethel,” Cade chimed in. “We all know Barbie is an Echo. She doesn’t have her own magic. She can only cancel out others’ elemental magic and neutralize spells. So, I have to agree with Prince Killian that Barbie didn’t burn Princess Medea.”
“Then where did that black flame come from?” Headmistress Ethel demanded in a sharp tone that she usually didn’t use with the heirs. “Princess Medea didn’t carry that kind of unholy fire magic. And we’ve never tested Barbie’s power. She hasn’t even registered!”
“Though that girl is an unknown, she’s dangerous,” the druid claimed. “We must dissect her power and see what she’s capable of. The headmistress and I will take measures and test her to decide if that fire that’s even more powerful than hellfire was generated by her or not. She’ll have to answer for her horrible crime if she conjured that unholy fire. Ever since she came, she’s caused unrest in Shades Academy. The realm is no longer safe because of her. It’s time you all detach from her, heirs of the five houses. This girl is full of dark deceptions while she bats her two-toned eyes and shows you her innocent, pretty face.”
Fear and rage lit my eyes.
The druid sounded so convincing. My unholy flame should’ve burned him and his crystal balls.
“Take down the barrier, Prince Killian,” Headmistress Ethel ordered him. “We need to take Barbie into our custody. But I promise you that we’ll give her a fair trial for the murder. I’ll see to it in person.”
Evil delight flashed in the druid’s eyes as he and his mistress prepared to take me away. When he laid his hands on me, I’d burn him. But if he was behind the kidnapping, he’d have a device to bind my power, and he could do whatever he wanted with me.
