Page 77 of Treasured Secrets
Her eyes sparked with power and a fearlessness that made me shiver. She was so strong in so many ways. They crossed over to join us, adding to our line of power, while I stood there, shielded and helpless.
Tallis pulled me tightly against his back. I shouldn't have been thinking about how good he smelled, but I couldn't help myself. I shook it off, trying to focus on the fact we were surrounded by a mob of people wanting to kill us. Ayla stepped up and pulled off her hood.
Some of the chaos lessened, but it was too much for her to ice completely. Kao glared at her, and Jay stepped up, ready to block any attack.
I could see Ayla working hard as her eyes burned toward the crowd. It seemed to be getting better. Kao squinted his eyes, fighting against her magic. She was strong though. Despite all the essences Kao had consumed, Ayla was still as strong, if not stronger than him, because she had found her soul mate, and he hadn't.
Kao stepped back as the clouds rumbled with loud thunder and the sky turned dark above us. He looked at Iris who was staring at him.
"Your move, Kao," she dared in a quiet but deadly tone, letting the wind carry her voice to him.
He backed away, as did his followers. He knew they weren't ready to take on Iris and her family. Nor was he ready to take on his aunt and cousins. I shivered to think of how hard it was for Tallis and his family to face off against their own blood. He must have felt my shiver.
"Are you okay?"
I barely nodded in response. But I was far from okay. I felt a horrible sensation in my stomach. I tasted the toxic air and felt the shift. Something bad was going to happen.
My eyes moved slowly, trying to find the other shoe before it dropped. I should have looked sooner. By the time I found it, it was too late.
Out of all the things I'd seen recently, the barrel of the gun pointed at me was the most terrifying yet. The rapid-fire rhythm of my pounding heart found my ears, drowning out all other sounds.
My mind hadn't wrapped around all the crazy, but I knew how deadly that piece of metal could be when in the hands of a killer.
The man behind the gun was just a few feet away from us. Kao was in the man's head. He wanted me dead, even if he didn't want to fight my family.
Before I could warn anyone, a shot rang out. As soon as the bullet burst out of the barrel, everything dropped into slow motion. I couldn't move like normal. Even I was in slow motion.
Everything was moving at a fraction of the normal speed, including the bullet. Tallis was suddenly in front of me, seeming to be the only one not slowed by time, and the bullet exploded against his chest, still in slow motion.
I could see each fragment shattering in its own separate direction. You could almost pluck them from the air.
As though a spell was broken, time resumed, once again finding normal speed. The shards of the bullet fell to the ground like broken glass. Kao tilted his head as Tallis threw his hands forth, launching an attack.
Kao didn't explode, but a powerful blast wounded his side. Kao grabbed his side and glowered at Tallis. He grimaced in pain and anger, and then disappeared into the crowd.
They were retreating. It was such a relief. We were going to live.
The overload of adrenaline fled, leaving me weak with hot chills. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did both.
Ayla was still restoring peace, and everyone held their place, keeping her protected. Finally, normalcy was restored.
Tallis grabbed my hand and we walked toward Jaslene.
I could hear my guilt-ridden tone. "Mom, I'm so sorry." I started crying as I hugged her, collapsing into her embrace.
She pulled me back to speak, her eyes soft and sympathetic, despite the reaming I deserved. "It's okay, dear. We'll talk more about this when we get home. But don't ever do this to me again."
"I won't. I promise, I won't."
Tallis hugged his mother. "I guess I wasn't strong enough to kill him. Now what?" he asked, acting disheartened.
"We'll worry about it later. It's good we found out what we did today. This may have been the best thing. Now we know a little better about what we're dealing with."
"Ayla is much stronger now," Desmond said, interjecting himself into the conversation.
Tallis and his family seemed somewhat pleased with that new bit of information.
"Jay helped with that. Our families uniting wasa good thing." Allaysia touched Tallis's saddened face. "Let's get Aria home."
