The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,144

trial on her behalf. But this… this betrayal was on a completely different scale. Once again she’d proven that no matter what he thought of her, she could sink lower. What she had done was unforgivable.

“Look.” Sonya adopted a reasonable tone. “I’m not asking you to betray whatever loyalty you think you have with your Commander Vittorio. I don’t expect you to fight with us. But I’m begging you—as your sister—to step aside so that when we liberate Izmoroz, you don’t get killed in the process.”

The fire that had been burning in Sebastian’s gut spread out through his limbs. She still thought he was some helpless child. After everything he’d accomplished, she was still looking down on him. She thought she could brush him aside. That there was no one who could stop her from doing this terrible thing. He would show her just how wrong she was.

“Kill me? Who the hell do you think you are? Maybe you really are a Ranger, but so what? The empire beat them before and we’ll do it again. You’re just some backwoods, religious freak with delusions of grandeur like all the rest.”

“Whoa, hey, I thought we were trying to be mature, here, brother.”

He reached into the pouch at his hip and grasped his gem. Its familiar, comforting heft added to his confidence.

“And who do you think I am, Yasha? Certainly not your pushover little brother anymore. I’ve become a powerful wizard who could decimate your entire sorry army all by myself.”

She let out a short hiccuping burst of laughter that she immediately stifled with a muttered, “Oops, sorry…” But even then he could see that damn smirk of hers. She didn’t believe him.

He would make her believe.

He took the gem out of its pouch as he glared at her.

“You came to talk, but I came to see justice done for the men you murdered. This is your only warning. Submit willingly, or I will make you.”

“Sebastian, let’s calm down.” She raised her hands in a placating gesture. “You really want to fight, fine, we’ll fight. But there are a lot of innocent people here, so let’s—”

“You think that will stop me? You think I can’t do what needs to be done? You’re a traitor and a murderer, Sonya, and I’m bringing you to justice.”

“Come on, don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Seriously. Look at all these people…”

But Sebastian couldn’t see anyone except his stupid, arrogant, murdering, traitorous sister who would rather visit a horde of the undead upon Izmoroz than admit she was wrong. No one would be safe. Not his men, not his mother, and not his beloved Galina. He could picture her perfect, luminous face savaged by bony fingers, her delicate frame torn apart with mindless ferocity. She would die horribly and it would be his sister’s fault. His sister with her revolting, beastly eyes.

“You… are a monster!” He lifted his gem. “And I am the only one who can stop you!”

He poured the rage that had been building up since he left Gogoleth into the gem and turned his attention to the earth beneath his sister’s feet. He would make the world swallow her up. It would be like there had never been a Sonya Turgenev Portinari in the first place.

A thunderous detonation shook the ground beneath them.

“Sebastian? What did you do?” Sonya’s stupid beast eyes were wide, and her face was as pale as milk.

“Oh, so you’re finally taking me seriously?” Now it was his turn to smirk. A simple demonstration. That’s all it had taken.

But the ground shook again, followed by another sharp report beneath the surface. Then a crack appeared in the cobblestones. It spidered out in all directions, growing wider, accompanied by a succession of detonations. People shouted in fear and horses whinnied as they staggered away from the fracturing earth. Sebastian’s smug satisfaction was quickly swallowed up by a growing alarm. What had he done?

“Seriously, Sebastian.” Sonya leapt with astonishing grace away from an approaching crack. “Whatever you’re doing, it needs to stop before innocent people get hurt.”

“I… I don’t…”

The ground beneath them shook even harder and Sebastian had to grab on to his frightened horse to keep from falling. Nearby merchant booths tipped over. Buildings began to creak and groan under the strain. Shouts of alarm grew into screams of panic.

Then one of the buildings shuddered and collapsed. Several others followed. Shrieks of terror and pain came from within.

“Stop this, Sebastian!” Sonya yelled as she staggered toward him, her hands outstretched. “Please, I’m begging