Page 90 of Magic Betrayed

“Let’s go.” Shane wasn’t waiting for a plan. He was already running, and Faris was close behind. Not away from the danger, but towards it. Ready to face an out-of-control elemental on my behalf.

“We have to go with them,” I told Callum urgently. “Ethan may attack them on sight, and if he does…”

Faris might have a chance, but only if he could catch Ethan by surprise and overwhelm him with stronger earth magic. And the truth was? I had no idea who was stronger.

I could tell Callum didn’t want to go—not because he was afraid, but because he didn’t want to take me anywhere near the battle that was about to happen. But he didn’t hesitate. Just picked me up once more in those terrifying dragon claws and took off, fighting the winds until he was able to touch down at the edge of the clearing where the house stood.

The bonfires raged on—bathing everything in a diabolical orange light—but the house remained untouched. And Ethan… He had yet to move. His head was tilted back, his eyes were closed, and he looked almost peaceful. As if the chaos and fury that surrounded us had been locked up within him all this time, and it was a relief to set it free.

I needed to get his attention and not be seen as a threat, so as soon as I was standing again, I looked up at Callum.

“I have to go alone,” I said, and tried to ignore the look of betrayal in those glowing dragon eyes. “It’s our only chance. I’m afraid you’ll scare him into escalating. Just be ready to grab me if things don’t go well.”

I heard a rumbling growl, but then that mountain of scales and claws and terrifying teeth looked me dead in the eye… and nodded. Trusting me, just as he always had.

Behind us, Faris and Shane came jogging up, and I signaled for them to wait.

Then I turned and began to hobble, step by broken step, towards the man who had already nearly killed me once.

It hurt. With every shuffling, limping stride, a spike of agony shot through my ankle, but I held on and reminded myself that my shifter magic could heal even this. I would walk again in days, rather than months.

And when I was close enough…

“Ethan.”

He didn’t respond.

“Ethan, please. It’s Raine. We’re all safe now. You need to stop.”

His chin lowered, slowly. And his eyes flashed open.

Glowing like twin suns. So much magic was coursing through him that they lit up his face with scintillating color, harbingers of the terrifying power he held with such tenuous strength.

He looked in my direction, but if he saw me, there was no recognition on his face—only that terrible glow of raw magic. I felt the winds begin to gather once more, and knew that if he formed another tornado…

I had no defenses. It was too far for Callum to grab me. I would be dead in an instant, just like the bounty hunters. Ethan could turn me into a torch or bury me in the ground, and no one would be able to stop him.

One of his hands lifted. He looked down for a moment, staring at his own palm, then turned it towards me. His gaze narrowed, and then…

“Ethan, no!” The heart-wrenching cry pierced through the sound of the wind. “Please. Listen to me.”

I was pretty sure my heart stopped.

Kes was on the porch. No, she was moving towards us, coming down the stairs at a run, heading straight for Ethan with pleading and terror on her face.

“I can help you,” she said. “I promise I will help you if you take my hand.”

She stretched out her hand, reaching for him…

The earth heaved underfoot. Like an ocean wave, it rose and rippled, and the motion threw Kes across the clearing.

I didn’t even have time to scream. Just heard her brief cry of pain as she landed, hard enough to steal breath and break bones.

Ethan turned to see where she’d fallen. Took a step in her direction.

His eyes shut once more, and in a display of power as shocking as the tornado, he simply snuffed out the fire that roared through the trees. The wind died without a whimper, and the only sound was the bonfires set by the bounty hunters—still crackling away, but calmer now, as if untouched by the violence around them.

For one brief instant, I thought the worst was over. That he’d heard us and understood that the danger was gone.

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