Page 83 of The 13th Daughter
The ground beneath us shook and spewed upward, throwing Mr. Martin backwards. He held my arm in a death grip and pulled me with him. My free hand lashed out and caught him squarely in the nose for the second time that night. He screamed in rage.
"Air, free me!"
The wind tore at us, pushing him back.
Strong arms gripped me around the waist and pulled me free. I looked up to see Billy. No, I thought, desperately, but he surprised me. He threw me backwards away from Mr. Martin and then ran for Kay. I stared at him in shock. Coven Boy had just betrayed his Coven for the woman he loved. He jerked at the ropes, but it was useless. They'd bound her with magic. She'd only been up there for maybe five, ten minutes, but the fire had already started to burn her legs. He would never get her down before it killed her.
I had to put the fire out. There was a small creek just beyond the trees. I closed my eyes and focused my attention on it. The picture firmly in my mind, I held out my hands. "Water, come to me."
The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as the water from the creek rushed toward us, forming a wall of freezing liquid. I felt the coolness of it wash away the memory of the fire on my skin. It broke through the trees and I let it become a part of me, flow through me.
"Spirit, I command thee this night,
Unbind the Elements held here and break this circle with your might!"
There was a loud snap as the circle broke and I turned toward Kay. The wall of water hovered at the edge of the trees. I pulled it to me and directed it to the flames slowly killing Kay. It crashed into the flames and I watched as the water doused the fire.
"Thank you, Water,"I whispered and started to run toward her.
A hand grabbed my foot and pulled me back. Mr. Martin's eyes glowed black with hatred and pulsed with the fires of madness. "No, you will not escape your fate, CJ. You will do what you were born to do!"
"Fire!"I screamed, fighting to get away from him. Ethan came into my line of vision.
The smoldering embers that were left of the fire on the pyre leapt to life and grew into a flame and soared into my hand. The heat never touched my skin.
"Burn," I whispered, "burn as you would have burned your daughter."
The fire fled from my hands and surrounded him. He howled in rage and started chanting something, a counter spell maybe. I knew he wouldn't die that easily. I needed to get away while I could. Billy would see to Kay and I trusted the Fates with my Dad. I had to go, now, before it was too late. I pushed myself up off the ground and tried to run.
"Matthew, stop her!" I heard my mom scream out. Another knife twisted in my stomach.
I took exactly three steps. I made it to the edge of the broken circle.
Fingers bit into my shoulders, stopping me.
"No," I sobbed. Please no.
They twisted, turning me to face him. His hands shifted to my arms and he held me up so that I was staring into his eyes. They were darker than night and full of agony.
"I came here to kill you," he whispered.
"Please," I begged. "Please don't do this."
"My entire purpose was to see this curse through," he told me, pain lacing every word. "All I had to do was let the thirteenth daughter die. It seemed so easy. Until I met you."
"Ethan," I said softly. His eyes were full of pain, but I saw the love I'd been looking for all night reflected in them now. Hope sprang back to life within me. Maybe I hadn't been wrong about him.
"Ethan!" Billy yelled. My head snapped around. Mr. Martin was diving full force at us, knife in hand. Ethan turned, taking the blade in his back. His eyes went round with startled pain and he fell, taking me with him. Mr. Martin still held the handle of the knife and as Ethan fell, the blade slid in deeper and sliced upward. Blood oozed out of the wound, down my arm from where I held onto him, and dripped into the ashes.
A scream of fury rent the air. The sky flashed with lightening as the spirits of the damned were denied their entrance into this world. Ethan's blood had tainted the ashes. The only blood that could give them substance was mine. The air hummed and throbbed with their screeches and the ground heaved with the fury of the hunting party denied their souls.
"No!" Mr. Martin roared his denial and reached for me, fury radiating in every movement. I was trapped beneath Ethan. There was nowhere to go.
Air came to me without being summoned. My Element, I thought. Emily said we were all bound to an Element. Mine was Air. The wind gathered around me and I threw it at him. It caught him mid-stride and held him as I'd intended.
"I bind you, Jonas Paul Martin, from doing harm to anyone
I bind you, Jonas Paul Martin from the using the Elements
