Page 3 of Ruthless Fae
No response.
“Can you hear me,Melthelel? I’ve come to take you away from here like I told you I would.”
The matted mess in the center stirred almost imperceptibly. He was waking up.
“Sinasre, I’m here to take you home,” I said, louder this time to make sure he would hear me and know it was me.
“T-Tally?” His hoarse voice was strained like it had been this afternoon when I last spoke to him. I could tell it took all his willpower to control himself and prevail over what the Habermanns’ experiments had done to him.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m going to set you free and take you away from this island.”
“No. S-stay away… from me.”
He was afraid to hurt me, afraid to lose his meager control, but it was different now. I had help, magic even, though I was afraid to mention this for fear it might send him over the edge.
“Don’t worry, cousin. Just be still.”
He started a threatening rumble in his throat.
I gave Vinya the sign to go ahead and use her magic to free him. She set to work right away, her hands moving at a prodigious speed in front of her, weaving spells that she directed at Sinasre. Beams of light sprang from her fingers and shot forward, searing, cutting all the tendrils that sprouted away from the knotted center. The rope-like appendages snapped free one by one until the shape in the middle collapsed to the ground.
I watched from above, my heart in my throat.
He was still growling deep in his throat, covered in all the hair Vinya had slashed with her magic.
Abruptly, he shot to his feet, sending his discarded hair flying in all directions, his arms extended to the side as he roared like a wild beast. His wild yellowish gaze zeroed in on me. His shorn red hair stood on end. He looked so savage, so capable of brutality, that without thinking, I flew higher. He ran toward me and jumped as if to grab me out of the air, but I was too high for him to reach me.
Off to the side, Vinya weaved her hands in a frantic pattern. Sinasre noticed, his head snapping to the side. His ill intentions changed course. He turned and charged.
Vinya’s hands moved faster still, but Tyler stepped forward, his rifle aimed straight at my cousin’s head.
“Don’t shoot, please,” I yelled, though I didn’t need to. Tyler was steady, his nerves of steel completely in control. He would give Vinya all the time he could to cast her spell, but he was ready for anything.
Sinasre was gaining speed, his muscular arms and legs pumping. Vinya’s face twisted in fear, and her hand movements became clumsy. She wasn’t going to release her spell in time.
Panicked, I flew forward, intent on tackling my cousin before Tyler could shoot him.
Sinasre was only fifteen feet away from Vinya, then ten. He lunged in her direction, arms outstretched.
Purple, crackling magic hit him square in the chest as he soared. He dropped to the ground a mere foot away from the witch, who let out a shuddering breath, staggered backward, and collapsed onto a fallen log.
I landed next to Sinasre, relief flooding my chest. He was unconscious on his stomach. I pushed matted, badly chopped hair out of his face. I caressed his cheek with the back of my fingers.
“I told you I would come back for you,Melthelel.” Tears of relief prickled in the back of my eyes. All the people I loved here on the island were safe now.
I glanced up at Vinya to thank her. She looked pale and sweat dotted her forehead. She had a slight smile on her lips. Suddenly, it disappeared, and her eyes widened in alarm.
“No!” she exclaimed, her hands weaving frantically again.
I whirled, unsure of what was happening.
The earth underneath my feet shifted. I glanced down to find the ground cracking open beneath my cousin. I watched in horror as the earth attempted to swallow Sinasre whole.
I grabbed his arm and pulled on it, my wings whirring desperately as I tried to hold him back.
“Stay with me!” I screamed.
But he was too heavy, and his body fell along with the crumbling rock. His arm slipped from my grasp, the earth gave a massive yawn, and swallowed him whole.
