Page 87 of Locked
I felt Rifyr's hand tighten in mine as Sorrel placed a protective arm around my shoulders. All the while, Kinden was mumbling to himself, strengthening the shield over our heads.
"Come here, my child…" she cooed. "I'll go easy on you. We can build anewtower."
I shook my head. "Not gonna happen." I muttered an incantation of my own, adding to the shield myself. I could see my spellwork interwoven through Kinden's. Green on purple.
The figure frowned deeply, the frown moving from slightly upset to downright angry in seconds. "Your powers won't work here, witch..."
She was right. I could feel my powers draining with the effort it took to reinforce Kinden's spellwork.
I looked around, spying the patch of grass right beside the car. I caught Kinden's eye and he nodded once, picking up the shield and moving us over to the grass.
Sorrel and Rifyr caught on soon enough and both were silent enough that it wasn't super obvious we were moving until we sat back down on the grass.
"Clever," Mother simpered. "No match for me, I'm afraid."
My skin felt cold as I drew power from the soil beneath me, hoping it was enough. I glanced over at Sorrel, his hand held firmly on my shoulder, lending me his strength even now. Rifyr's face looked wan and pale. No matter what he'd said before, he wasn't feeling one-hundred percent after being poisoned. And Kinden stood, straining as he held the shield over us. Unwavering.
I swallowed thickly, bracing for the blast of arcane energy as it came down on top of us.
Kinden cried out, his fingers splaying as he fought to keep his energy focused. The ground shook beneath us, his shield held, however.
Even if he did look utterly exhausted and a little rough around the edges afterward.
"Everyone okay?" he asked, repairing the damage immediately. The veins stood prominently in his forearms as he worked, weaving intricate spellwork to fill in the cracks.
I glanced around once more, nodding at everyone as we answered to the affirmative.
The glittery figure appeared to cross its arms. That is, if it had arms to begin with.
"Come now, Rapunzel. You don't want your lovely fellows to get hurt on your account, do you? I could destroy them. String their magical guts from between these two buildings and take you in a split second."
"So why haven't you?" I snapped.
She lowered herself to the ground in front of us. "Listen up, you worthless little witch! There's no place for you in that world. You belong to me. You're my rightful property. You don't want me to get the magical police involved, do you?"
"You have magical police here in the pocket verse?"
Her figure glowed brighter in front of me. "Don't think you've upended my plans by figuring out where you are."
"What do you even want me for?" I asked. "If I'm so worthless?"
She laughed then. And it was bone-chilling. Literally.
I could feel the cold seeping through the tiny cracks in Kinden's shield. Sorrel yanked his hand away from where it was currently flat against the ground, pulling it close to his body as icy air zipped through the shield.
I closed my eyes, helping Kinden repair the cracks before I spoke again.
When I'd opened them again, everything around us started to die. The ground that had been full of bright glitter and glitz was suddenly fallow and black. Death surrounded us. And the only thing that was saving us from joining it was the shield Kinden had cast.
"I had to destroy my physical form to get here… to catch you…" she sneered. "I want your body, and not in the way that your boytoys did…." She sniffed derisively and I felt both Rifyr and Sorrel start to tense up. I reached out to place my hands on theirs.
"I'm still using it," I said bluntly.
"Too bad,Dearheart. You are not your own. None of you belongs to you. And the sooner you realize that, the better it will be for you."
"Just because my father stole greens from you?" I countered. "I believe his debt has been more than paid."
"Stupid girl…" Mother hissed. "You still don't know who you are, do you?"
