City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place #2) - Alexandra Christo Page 0,107

Tavia’s breath stuttered to a final stop.

37

Saxony

SAXONY SAW HER FALL.

The bullet hit Tavia and the time it took for her to tumble to the ground stretched between the seconds.

The Kingpin’s glee broke her concentration, releasing Saxony from the spell that pinned her in place.Yet she still couldn’t move.

In a moment, in a single gunshot, the truest friend she had was gone.

And her sister had been the one to do it.

Tavia was sprawled across the ground behind Ashwood and Zekia, covered in too much blood for Saxony to bear looking at.

She was still and pale and Saxony’s gut wrenched.

It was like being kicked in the stomach over and over, until she could barely pant out a breath.

Tavia was gone.

Wesley knelt beside her, unblinking, almost frozen.

There was no fury in him, just despair.

“No,” Saxony said in a whisper. “She’s not . . .”

She swallowed, like she was swallowing words too terrible to speak, and buried her head in Karam’s shoulder.

“I am so sorry,” Karam said. “I thought I could stop it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Karam pulled away and steadied Saxony’s shoulders with her hands.

“I am sorry,” she said again. “But we still have to finish this. We have to fight for her and all of the others.”

Saxony didn’t know how much fight she had left in her. That bullet hadn’t just taken her best friend, but it had taken her sister from her too, because there was no redemption for Zekia now, and there was no way Saxony could ever look at her sister the same way again.

Saxony couldn’t save her.

“Forgive me,” Karam said.

And then she ran for Ashwood.

She swung her fists wildly, but it was of little use. All the training Karam had clawed from the world wasn’t enough.

Karam kicked out.

Ashwood caught her leg and pushed her to the ground.

She flipped herself back up in an instant and swung again, but Ashwood snatched her arm, like her speed was no match for him.

Karam’s knees buckled under his strength.

“You have no power here,” he growled, low and impatient.

Saxony’s teeth ground together.

First he took her sister, then he killed Asees, and then Tavia.

She wouldn’t let him take Karam.

She wouldn’t let him take anyone else.

“I’ll show you power,” Saxony snarled. “Karam, move!”

Karam swiped out her legs, catching Ashwood at the ankle.

He seethed and dropped her arm, giving the warrior a moment to dive out of the way.

As soon as Karam was clear, Saxony thrust her hands toward the Kingpin.

The arrows of fire darted from each of her fingertips, the force of expelling them nearly throwing Saxony off balance. She was summoning all the magic she had inside of her and it engulfed the air so much that the heat from the ground started to burn even her.

A wave of fire, almost tidal, flew toward Ashwood.

But the Kingpin threw up his hand and the fire collided against a new invisible wall, sizzling.

“I’ll show you what real magic can do,” he said.

Ashwood pushed forward and Saxony’s fire turned to ice, melting into a body of water that spilled over the sides of the bridge.

He clicked his fingers, and whether it was necessary or for dramatic effect Saxony didn’t know, but she felt the air grow uneasy and then disappear completely.

She couldn’t breathe.

Many Gods, she couldn’t breathe.

Saxony clutched at her throat as Ashwood pulled the very air from her lungs.

Zekia took a step toward her, but with one deadly, daring look from Ashwood, she stopped in place.

“Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll kill her myself.”

Saxony wondered if after he’d finished with her, Ashwood would leave anyone behind to mourn her, or if he would decimate the world. There was a moment where all the hope she had gathered over the weeks disappeared and all she could do was focus on her breath and ponder which one would be the last.

And then she noticed it.

A flicker moving in the air in front of her, like it was just in the corner of Saxony’s eye where she couldn’t quite focus. Nobody else seemed to catch it and the harder Saxony looked, the harder it was to see.

But it was there.

Some kind of a ripple.

Something impossible, where Tavia’s body was supposed to be.

Hope.

38

Tavia

BEING DEAD SUCKED. Thankfully, those kinds of things weren’t always permanent.

Tavia patted herself down, touching her chest where the blood had been moments ago.

She wasn’t dead.

Why wasn’t she dead?

I had to make it look real, a voice in her head whispered. I’m really sorry if I scared you.

Zekia.

Tavia searched the bridge until her eyes settled on the