Page 123 of House of the Raven
“Amira! Please!” I lightly slap her face several times. “It’s me, Val.”
Her eyes roll around, all white, no sign of her irises.
“No, please, no,” she mumbles feverishly.
“Stop! They’re mine,” a female voice yells behind me.
I glance over my shoulder to see Orys marching toward Amira and me, but there’s someone behind him, someone wearing a heavy hood: a veilfallen.
Bright espiritu explodes from her hands. Orys whirls just in time to counterattack.
The veilfallen are fighting Orys! I thought they were working together, but it seems I was wrong.
The muddled red of Orys’s espiritu clashes against the veilfallen’s white attack. Blinding light pierces my eyes. Jerking my face around, I focus on my sister. I have to get her to safety. Hooking my hands through her underarms, I start pulling her toward the gilded doors. Her feet drag behind her. Black feathers from her dress litter the path as we go.
Orys crouches, seems to dig deep, then pushes forward. The veilfallen’s feet come off the ground. She growls with effort, teeth bare.
My back hits the double doors. They don’t open.
“Shit.” I let go of my sister to twist the knob. I open one of the doors a crack, then pick Amira back up. When I glance up, a red sphere is rushing toward my chest. Orys doesn’t intend to let us go.
Puta madre!
38
VALERIA
“I deserve better than a second princess, yet one can never predict what fate might befall the first.”
Don Justo Ramiro Medrano - Master Mason - 20 AV
Orys’s espiritu hits my chest and sends me flying backward again. Amira slips from my grasp. The back of my shoulders and head hit the door, and I crash to the floor. Splitting pain bolts down my spine. I sit up, dazed, and crawl back to my sister.
The sorcerer has the veilfallen female suspended in mid-air with one hand, a torrent of espiritu flowing through it, while with his other hand, he points menacingly at me. He doesn’t even spare a glance for his adversary. His piercing glare is fixed firmly on me.
“You are not going anywhere until you give me the amulet,” he says, his voice sounding as if he’s inside a tunnel.
Ignoring him, I try to pick up Amira again. No matter what, I have to take her to safety. Orys growls in frustration, flexes his opposite arm downward, and the veilfallen hits the floor with a sickening crunch. Orys then turns his entire attention on us.
I scramble, trying to pull my sister through the doors. My shoe slips on the marble floor. I stumble. The bulk of my dress makes it hard to move.
A host of royal guards arrives at last and engages the veilfallen. Swords crash, filling the room with the sounds of battle. I catch a glimpse of Don Justo heedlessly confronting one of the intruders. I may not like that man, but I must admit there’s bravery in him.
“Heed my words, girl,” Orys sneers.
Someone get this bastardo!But there seem to be too many veilfallen and not enough guards.
“The amulet!” Orys demands, advancing in our direction, flexing his fingers as if preparing them for his next attack.
“I don’t have it. I told you I lost it.” I manage to drag Amira back a couple of feet.
“That is a poor lie. I am not stupid. You want its power for yourself. You’re greedy like your mother. I learned enough about her from your sister to know what she was. Such a tool did not belong with her or a half-blood like you. Now, give it to me unless you want me to snap her neck.”
As he finishes the sentence, he abruptly jerks his right hand upward, and Amira slips from my grasp once more. His espiritu compels her to stand, and with grotesque, uncoordinated steps, she starts walking toward him.
I clutch a handful of her dress and try to hold her back, but she eludes me. Her head hangs to one side, and her arms lie limp at her sides. She’s standing up only because he bids her to do so. Once more, she’s his puppet. Rage engulfs me.
I glance around, searching for something, anything, that I can use as a weapon. There’s nothing.
