Page 76 of Take No Prisoners
"No."She lifted her hands and placed them in his."Shall we see if his calming water will help us break this trap?"
Niall nodded.
"Follow my lead. Push out with all your power at once, except water. Use Efren's containment spell to hold back the tide until we need it."
Niall was surprised to find the balance so easily, even as he left his water element alone, trapped in his core the way Efren's bubble held them. His grandmother led him through the steps, guiding his every move.
The trap tightened around them, physically squeezing them together until they stood with her cheek pressed to his chest. Some strands escaped from her bun and made their way into his mouth, but he couldn't lift a hand to wipe them away. His body hurt from the pressure. He tried to take a breath and couldn't.
"Give it everything you've got."His grandmother's voice sounded strained and hollow in his mind.
Niall pushed out with the other seven elements as his grandmother drew them out of him. He didn't have control of his emotions or the weaves themselves, but he followed her lead and reinforced her power. It took his remaining effort to hold back his water element. He worried he wouldn't be able to unleash it when the time came. They'd trapped it within a whirlpool of shifting elements.
The trap squeezed them even more, and Niall's lungs burned with the effort to breathe. He gave some of his wind to his grandmother, but hers was batted away by another vicious compression.
His grandmother's ribs snapped from the pressure, and Niall's healing found its way into her bones, restoring them through their physical connection. He still couldn't breathe, and his vision was beginning to darken around the edges. He focused on his reflection mirrored back to him from his weave combined with Efren's water prison, the one he'd tied off before they began.
"Now!"
Niall released his hold on his water. As he'd expected, nothing happened. He'd effectively trapped it within his other weaves, and it was unable to work free and effectively counter the trap.
The mirror began to fade, and Niall could see Efren, only mildly distorted by his water weave. Niall had lived his life in a constant state of disappointment. Now, the thought of losing a future with Efren, not getting to know his habits and thoughts, his likes and dislikes, and his every idiosyncrasy, made Niall's chest ache beyond the lack of air. He wanted to know everything about Efren, and instead, he was going to lose consciousness and give Coryn full control of his power. Even now, he felt something, or someone, trying to sift through his defenses. Whether it was the trap or something else, Niall could do nothing to stop it. Once it touched his core, it would control him.
He reached for the orb of water surrounding them. It was risky, drawing both his and Efren's weaves into the mix, but he sharpened it to a point and used it like a lance to pierce through the elements swirling around him, freeing his own water. The moment his water collided with Efren's, all his power rebounded into his core. The giant tree shook beneath them, and Niall fell to his knees. His grandmother leaned against him, her body shaking as she hugged his shoulders. A strange musical sound rang in his ears, now that the horrible rush of his pulse had quieted.
Laughter. His grandmother's laughter.
"Niall, you did it!" She kissed the top of his head. "Coryn tried to reach for you, and you fought her off."
"Are you all right?" Efren asked, taking his grandmother's hand.
"I'm wonderful. Never been better. Niall healed some of my arthritis, and I'd dare to say my bones are stronger now than they were when I was a teenager. Thank you, Dearie." She gripped Niall's shoulder with her free hand.
"Did you kill Coryn?" Vadim asked.
"There might be a way to trap her within her own power," she said, "but no, I had no way to attack."
"She'll be here in a matter of days." Vadim toyed with the hem of his glove.
"We'll do our best to prepare, then."
"My trial can't wait," Vadim said. "Please. The elders must hear what I have to say before Coryn arrives. If they don't act against Martiz, we'll lose the only advantage we've got. We'll be as good as dead when she sends the entire navy after us."
"Your trial must wait until we've broken your life link with Klaus. If they sentence you to death, he will die with you."
Vadim winced. "They wouldn't dare."
"I won't risk it."
"We can worry about that after the verdict, then."
Niall's grandmother sighed. "All right, but only because you won't learn any healing from Martiz. If we must break your link, I'll be the one to teach you, just as I taught Niall."
Niall's healing power instinctively reached for Klaus again, searching his body for the defect that would eventually kill him. Beyond a sickly heart, a disease webbed throughout his entire body in his bones and his blood.
He opened his mouth to ask, but his grandmother gave a slight shake of her head."Don't. Vadim has enough to worry about. Telling him Klaus's sickness is systemic will only make him frantic to find a cure. We need to keep him calm before his trial."
"Tomorrow," she said aloud. "Your trial begins tomorrow."
