Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Eville #4) - Chanda Hahn Page 0,98

felt their terror. Part of an exterior wall collapsed outside, crushing innocents. I felt their pain, their grief and death, and I tried to block it out.

Clutching my head, I agonized over the mental pain that was thrashing about in my mind.

“I can’t. It hurts too much.”

“Then I will.” Maeve turned on the crazed fae woman. “If it’s one thing I don’t back down from, it’s a fight.” Maeve cracked her knuckles and lifted her hands.

“Ignis Fiergo.” Green flames shot from Maeve’s hands as she attacked Tatiana with mage fire.

Sensing the attack, Tatiana pulled the surrounding thorns, creating a green shield. The thorns immune to normal fire burned under the mage’s fire.

I felt her fear as the thorns burned. She fought back by sending more magic into the growing vines. I felt the pressure build and roll under my feet, and even more thorns ripped up from the ground. But mage fire was not easily conjured or controlled. It was made of magic, and therefore part alive. It wafted and moved like a snake and struck out at a passerby, missing, and lighting the curtain on fire.

The mage fire didn’t stop, shifting into a fiery dragon that ripped through the main hall. It crashed through a window and came in through the north side, sweeping up to the rafters. The banners, flags, and roof caught on fire.

“Run,” Liam cried, waving at me to go for the door.

“We have to get the people out,” I yelled, terrified they were still under the influence of the king’s command to attack Tatiana.

A young woman, her face streaked with soot and tears, armed with a knife, ran straight into the burning flames toward Tatiana.

I felt her death, and I gasped.

“No more,” I whispered. Turning, I searched for the king who was cowering behind his throne. Queen Maris had disappeared, presumably running for her life. I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet.

“Command them to run for their lives.”

“Not until she’s dead,” King Pharell said through gritted teeth, spit falling from his mouth.

“Aura, I need help!” Maeve cried as she struggled to control the flames and fight off Tatiana.

I let my anger take over. Reaching out, I touched King Pharell on the forehead, and I ripped from him his memories, his thoughts, and I dug for the truth. He screamed in pain, but I didn’t care. I dug further, not at all concerned if I destroyed his mind while doing so. What I found made me despise him all the more. What I left of him was a whimpering king, crawling on his knees, begging me to kill him.

I took a step, and a burning beam fell, cutting off my path to Tatiana and Maeve.

“Call back your mage fire,” I yelled.

“I would if I could,” Maeve replied. She brushed her hand, and with a blast of wind, pushed five people out of the room, just as more of the ceiling came down. “Aura, do it. Lose control!”

“Aura?” Tatiana heard my name, and she looked at me as if truly seeing me for the first time. “It can’t be,” she breathed. Her hand touched her heart. “You’re alive?”

The fire dragon made a figure eight in the air and then rushed toward me.

“No!” Tatiana cried out. She waved her hands in my direction, and a wall of thorns erupted out of the ground, flinging me out of the way. My body went through the window, colored glass shattered around me like snow. I fell onto the balcony that overlooked the cliff, my body rolling until I hit the outer wall with a crack, and everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The world was on fire. When I came to, I saw the green fire dragon burst through the roof. Spinning in an arc, it passed above me and flew over the battlement wall and down, burning the forest of thorns surrounding the castle.

A loud groan filled the air as another section of the main hall roof collapsed. I could feel the people trapped inside, feel their pain, their terror, and it became my own.

My fingers dug into the stone as I tried to pull myself to my feet. As I did, I looked over the outer wall and saw that not only was the castle on fire, but so was the entire forest below. Green flames flickered, creating a sickening glow across the night sky.

This was all wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I had come to Rya to help the kingdom, but I realized the