More forceful. There's intention behind his words. The thing in his hand glows with power, which spills out in an aura all around it. I can feel it against my skin, searing and alive.
So can Lizzy. As soon as the magic touches her, she falls to her knees, her facial expression blank, eyes grey-white and empty. A chill goes down my back; she looks just as she does when I saw her in my spirit form. Soulless. Emotionless. Full of rage.
The ringleader unbuckles his belt, but I'm not going to let him get any further. No one touches my little sister. Least of all gutter trash like him and his men.
With all the rage of the reborn witch I am, I leap into action and shout, "Now!"
At my side, the guys grab their weapons and train them on their men. Reggie shoots one of the men towards the edge of the circle, but the rest are too close to Ari to risk bullets in their midst. Even fire would be risky—I have no idea if I can control my flames enough to keep them from licking at my sister's skin.
Which is why it's a good thing I'm not just any phoenix.
I'm a Blue Phoenix. Madness is my skill, not mercy. No one deserves to be driven mad more than these terrible, violent, beastly men.
Magic springs to my fingers. My anger makes it roll out of me in sheets of blue that blanket the earth. I can taste the scent of it in the air, can feel it fill my familiars with wild strength: feral magic.
Madness-making stuff.
The kind of stuff to make men lose their minds.
It infects them in an instant, turning their irises bright blue and tinging their skin with more blue. They stumble and grab onto Lizzy tightly. Stare around themselves blankly. Begin to scratch at their skin and snarl in fear at each other.
The bracelet of seven immortals glows on my wrist as it augments my power sevenfold. I feel like I could do anything, face anything, and most importantly, fight anyone.
Into the madness, my voice becomes a command.
"Get away from her!"
All at once the men let go of my sister, who gets up off her knees, looking distant and confused. I spare a moment to glance at her and make sure she's okay before I throw more magic at the men—just as my guys crash into their fray.
Reggie uses the muzzle of his rifle as a blunt weapon, while David fires his gun at close range, and Xavier unsheathes his sword. All three of them are impossibly fast and incredibly agile, their muscles pushed to the brink by my feral magic, reveling in violence as they go up against my father's men with our connection on their side.
At the same time, I let my magic pulse from my fingertips to the beating of my heart. It wraps itself around the men and invades their minds. Twines through their veins and turns them to my will.
Baring my teeth, I command them, "Kill each other."
They do.
Their slaughter is fast and brutal. Blue-tinted hands pick up weapons: large rocks and branches. A few draw guns, if they have them. They wrap their fingers around each other. Beat heads in. Shoot until their guns click empty.
Until only one is left alive.
He reaches into his belt, draws a knife, and slashes it across his throat. A line of deep red sprouts where the blade touches skin. Blood spurts. His eyes go blank, and he crumples to the ground, dead by his own hand.
I step into the fray, making my through the bodies until I'm standing in front of my sister. Her eyes slowly clear. She turns her gaze on me.
"Lizzy." Tears fall down my face as I take her arms in my hands and feel her beneath my touch. She's alive. She's alive. "Finally, you're free. Now we can go home."
"No."
The sound of that single word breaks my heart wide open.
With a snarl, Lizzy raises her arms and pushes me back so hard that I fall to the ground, my hand coming in contact with a still-warm corpse. She bares her teeth at me in anger, stepping back.
David asks, "Should we try to capture her or something?"
"No, don't—"
But Xavier has already taken a length of black rope out of his pack and is stepping towards her. Lizzy watches him suspiciously, anger blooming in her face. She jerks her head around to stare down each of the guys.
"They're friends!" Panicking, I get to