Wyld Fire (Wyld Heart 2)

Chapter 25 - Old Enemies

I wanted it all. I wanted him.

And then we were falling, spinning together, wild and out of control. I tried to turn us around so that I could cushion his fall, but he wrestled me for the same right, his skin taking on a metallic gleam as we plummeted to our deaths.

Silver ringed his dilated pupils. The hand on my shoulder became icy cold, biting into my skin as the ground rushed up to meet us. Power rolled off his body in waves, putting Hunter's flashy shows of magic to shame.

This wasn't a temper tantrum. Sebastian was tapping into a force of nature, becoming that force with every passing second, until he lived and breathed the icy power of the cosmos itself.

All of a sudden we were floating, scant inches from the snowy rocks. We hovered there for a moment, the only sounds our sawing breath and the lonely whistle of wind through the peaks.

"Are you okay?" he shouted.

I was about to answer when Gretchen let us go without warning. We landed heavily on our sides, the snow soaking through my cloak. I curled into Sebastian on instinct, gritting my teeth against the pain of my jarred ankle as I thrust it into the snow, trying to numb it in the process.

His lips mashed down upon my forehead, still cold as ice, but that little gesture spoke volumes and made my heart work double time. Heat flooded my body as my blood roared to life, singing with the realisation that he cares about me, he cares!

"I couldn't do it," he gasped, fingers clawing in the fabric of my cloak. Hot water soaked my hair, and I realised he was crying. "I got so close, but I couldn't do it."

"Do what?" I asked, pushing back to look at him.

"Over and over again, your life is in the balance and I still can't make myself use it," he babbled, barely making sense. "If She finds me... If I reach out and She reaches back..."

"Who?" I asked, wiping away his tears. "Nya?"

"I was her slave for so long," he whispered. "I did things, Red. Horrible, horrible things. If She made me hurt you —"

"Red!" Gretchen screamed. "I need your help!"

Both of our heads snapped towards the sound. At first I thought Gretchen was surrounded by craggy boulders and dilapidated trees, but then I blinked and they were moving, closing in on the auburn-haired woman and the prostrate wyvern behind her.

The clouds funnelled overhead, a black whirlpool that rumbled ominously as seven Kirin stallions advanced, lowering their horns in smooth succession. They looked like they'd been hewn from the mountain itself, but the power pulsing beneath their scales was all too alive as their leader pawed at the ground, summoning a bolt of lightning with a callous shake of his head. It split the sky and struck his horn in a shower of sparks, little rings of electricity rippling through his slate-grey coat as he charged it on the tip of his horn.

I tested my ankle, my breath escaping in a hiss. It looked like Mysandra's trifle, a sloppy mess of curdled cream and purple jam, topped off with a wobbly layer of jelly. Sebastian's head whipped back and forth as he tried to decide who to protect, eyes widening with alarm as they registered my busted leg.

I shoved him away with a surprising amount of force, enough to make him stagger. "I'll be right behind you!"

He hesitated only for a second, peeling away to join the others. His bones shattered and rearranged themselves, silver hair sprouting all over his body, until it was a wolf that slunk between Gretchen and the Kirin, back arched and hackles raised, red eyes glowering with menace. The Wraith's snarl was loud enough to rival the sudden boom of thunder that shook the rock beneath our feet, preceding another blinding flash that caught the Kirin leader's horn.