Page 27 of Cry of the Damned
“I will leave,” I said, sidestepping. “And I’ll never let curiosity get the best of me again.”
He seemed to consider, then smiled benevolently.
I relaxed somewhat and started skirting around him, head bowed, eyes firmly set on him. For a blessed moment, I thought he would let me go, but then his expression changed from kind to cruel, and he launched in my direction, large hands aiming for my neck.
CHAPTER 9
MagistrateSonticuswrappedhisthick, sausage fingers around my neck and immediately started trying to squeeze the life out of me. A choking sound came out of me as pressure built. Desperately, I took hold of his wrists and pushed against them, but it was like trying to move a tree. Rational thought escaped me as panic set in.
“It’s a shame,” Sonticus said as he continued squeezing. “You’re a good student. Might’ve even become a magistrate one day, but you screwed up. I can’t let you go after what you’ve seen. I can’t have you talking to your peers about what’s down here.”
I tried to suck in a breath but only managed to give an apathetic grunt.
Break the spell,my logical mind urged.Break it now!
In an instant, I could be back in my body, and Rob back in his. Then he would be nothing more than collateral damage in our fight against the Academy. It was the kind of thing the magistrates did. Sonticus was doing it now, protecting his way of life by ensuring every aspect of it remained a secret. If I failed now, many more innocent children would die, not just Rob.
But I couldn’t do that to him. I wasn’t like the magistrates. I couldn’t let someone die, no matter the consequences.
Clenching my teeth, I ignored the ache in my lungs and tried to push my panic away.
Think, think, think.
I was still trying to pull on Sonticus’s wrists, but that was stupid. He was much stronger than me. I needed to try something else. But what?
As unconsciousness threatened to take me under, I thought of something and acted on it right away.
Pulling my leg back to build momentum, I drove my knee into the magistrate’s crotch as hard as I could. My hit was true, and Sonticus grunted in pain, his hold on my neck loosening. I sucked in a breath and had enough presence of mind to knock his hands away. I staggered back, coughing and grabbing my aching throat.
Magistrate Sonticus was bent over, hands cupping his balls, a death glare directed straight at me. Gasping for air, I started to turn and run, but Sonticus was fast and, throwing his body in my direction, managed to take a hold of my ankle.
I tripped and hit the hard ground with a bone-rattling force. I winced in pain and kicked my legs, trying to get free. The magistrate let go, but as I tried to scramble away on hands and knees, he jumped on top of me, took hold of my jacket, and dragged me to the nearby hot spring.
The next thing I knew, my head was underwater. At first, its heat shocked me, but that didn’t last—not when Sonticus settled his tremendous weight on me and held me steady under the spring’s flow.
I tried to push up, but he was too heavy. They had tried to drown me in these waters before, and they would finally succeed. Maybe I deserved to go this way because I had been a coward the night my friends took their lives, because I played dead, and then climbed out of the grave I should’ve shared with them.
Except that wasn’t why I was here. I was here to take revenge and redeem myself from my cowardice. And in doing so, I would save countless lives, more than I could have saved that night.
Digging my nails into the rocky edge of the spring, I went deep, reaching for Rob’s magic. When I found it, I released every single bit of it.
Power thrummed all over my body. As it did, I thought of the day Captain Silex tried to burn me, of the way the flames lapped at my skin, searing it and sending waves of pain rolling over me.
Fire. Fire. FIRE!
My entire body seemed to erupt. Immediately, Sonticus let me go. I reared back, water sluicing down my face as I, once more, gasped for breath. As the pain in my lungs receded, I blinked at the dancing figure in front of me. It was the magistrate contorting in pain. His robe was on fire, his hands raw as if he’d dipped them in a pot of boiling water.
He was screaming at the top of his lungs and trying to remove the robe. Then, snapping from his terror, he finally realized there was water nearby, and all he had to do was jump in to put himself out. Except I didn’t let him. As soon as he moved toward the spring, I lurched to my feet, kicked him in the gut, and sent him stumbling back. He crashed against the wall and tore at his face as if that would make the pain go away. The scent of charred flesh filled the air as he continued to burn. Weakened, he fell to his knees, his screams dying out.
I took a step back and turned away, the memories of my own burning resurfacing. No one deserved such a death, but I had no choice. My survival instinct was strong. It was what had kept me alive the night I escaped this horrible place, and what I had used to save Rob.
In the distance, I heard echoing steps and shouts. The other magistrates had heard the commotion and were coming.
Sonticus fell on his face and twitched on the stone ground. I had survived him, but I wouldn’t survive whatever was coming. It sounded like the entire magisterial staff, and I was stuck with nowhere to go. Unless…
I rushed back to the protruding rock I’d found earlier. Swiftly, I pressed my hand against it, closed my eyes, and reached for Rob’s magical power. This time, I found it right away and released a current of electricity. It was weak—I had used so much energy to fight Sonticus back—and for a moment, I feared it wouldn’t be enough, but when a round slab of rock receded into the wall with a rumble, I dared to hope.
Rock ground against rock as the huge slab started moving out of the way, except it wasn’t going fast enough. The steps and shouts were growing closer.
