Thorn Queen Page 0,96

charging through the opening in the fence his friend had made. Someone had broken the wards.

I held out my iron athame to block him, though I knew it would only give me a few seconds. That was all I needed as I began to work the water magic that would tear him apart. A blow to my back suddenly shoved me forward, straight into him. Despite being made of water, he was solid, and his hands instantly grabbed hold of me. I twisted my head back and saw that the other gentry had recovered himself enough to come striding forward, though I could see tears streaking his face from where the sand had stung his eyes.

I tried breaking free of the elemental's grip but couldn't match that physical force. Again, I summoned water magic and heard him groan in pain as his substance began to rip apart. Then, the other gentry was on me, punching me again and breaking my concentration. He started to reach around me once more with the copper blade, and then I heard a startled cry of pain from him as he was pulled away from me.

I didn't look back to see what had happened but instead completed the magic on the water elemental. He exploded in a downpour that soaked me-great, twice in one day-and I immediately turned to see what else had happened. The other gentry was distracted, squaring off with someone else: Roland.

Roland's own athame was out in his left hand, and he was simply relying on the strength of his other fist-which was considerable-to sock the gentry in the face. The gentry was strong, though, and got a few good blows in on Roland. Seeing my stepfather take those punches kindled an anger in me. Rather than begin a banishing, I called to the air again, sucking it from around the gentry just as I had Ysabel. Eyes widening, he dropped the blade, his hands going to his throat in an instinctive gesture to draw breath. There was none to be had, though. I leapt on him, knocking him to the ground and delivering a solid punch to the face in exchange for what he'd done to Roland.

Around us, I felt the tingling of a banishing. Roland was opening up a hole to the Otherworld. He chanted the words and then snapped, "Eugenie, get away!"

I did, jerking backward lest I get sucked in with the choking gentry. Power crackled around him, and a moment later, he disappeared, shoved back to his own world.

Silence fell. I was sitting on the now-muddy ground, soaking wet with my heart pounding. Roland walked over and extended his hand to help me up. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

He snorted. "You can't end a call like that and not expect me to show up."

"True," I said. I was weak and woozy from the combat and the magic, and my bare legs were skinned up from the fight. I'd need some soap and antiseptic. "Thanks."

Roland shrugged, not needing my thanks. Even in the dimness, I could see the angry look in his eyes. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Seeing as I'd just done several things, I wasn't entirely sure which he was referring to. "What do you mean?"

"That." He pointed to the spot where we'd banished the gentry. "You were...you were using magic to choke him!"

"I was keeping him subdued while you banished him," I growled, unwilling to admit I was kind of freaked out myself. It had all happened so fast. My only impulse had been to incapacitate the gentry. The means had just sort of happened. Realizing what I'd done-again-gave me a sick feeling. I'd sworn I'd never do it.

"Pinning him with the athame would have worked! Where the hell did you learn to do that?"

"I've picked up a few things here and there."

Roland's face was a mask of fury. "You have no business using that kind of magic, Eugenie. None."

My own anger was growing. "In case you've forgotten, that magic is in my blood."

"No," he said softly. "I haven't forgotten. Which is why it's so important you don't use it. What else can you do? How long have been using this kind of power?"

"It's not important. I can do a few things-things that have kept me alive when assholes like this come try to rape me-and it's not a problem. I can control it."

"You need to stop this. You need to stay away from the gentry. You're getting too involved with