Page 87 of Wicked Ends
“Stop!” I scream, pushing through the crowd to reach them. “Stop, please!”
Jasmine watches me with a smile on her face. “Oh, does the little witch love her pets? How sweet.” She raises her hand again, and I see her fingers begin to curl into a fist. Ash, still struggling to his feet, suddenly clutches at his throat, gasping for air.
“I’ll do it!” I shout. “I’ll fight you. Just leave them alone.”
Jasmine releases her magical grip, and Ash drops to his knees, coughing. “Swell!” She does a little dance. “Come here, then.”
I step into the center of the room, and the crowd backs away, giving us space, wanting to be as far away from what is about to happen as possible. I can see Lucien trying to get to his feet, a splinter of wood lodged in his chest, inches from his heart. Soren is already standing, but he’s favoring his right leg. Drake looks dazed, struggling to focus.
“Rose, don’t,” Ash manages between coughs. “She’ll kill you.”
“A little faith, please,” I reply, not taking my eyes off Jasmine. “I intend to fight back.”
And I can. I’ve been training with Ash, learning to use my natural magic. I’m stronger now than I was when I first came to Serpentine Academy. Maybe strong enough to survive.
Maybe.
“The rules are simple,” Jasmine announces to the crowd. “We fight until one of us can’t fight anymore.” She smiles at me. “Permanently. Winner takes all.”
The serpent at her feet hisses, its body agitated in excitement.
“Begin,” Jasmine says simply.
Immediately, a whip of dark magic is slashed at me without warning.
I throw up a shield, the golden light of my magic forming a barrier that absorbs her attack. The impact still knocks me back a step, and I feel how strong Jasmine really is. She’s incredibly powerful, gorged on the magic of who knows how many victims. I counter with an offensive blast, just like Ash taught me, channeling the energy from the ground below me, and directing it at Jasmine. She deflects it easily, laughing.
“Is that the best you can do? Pretty disappointing, considering all the hype.”
I try again, this time splitting my energy into multiple smaller attacks, hoping at least one will get through her defenses. One grazes her shoulder, and her expression darkens.
She raises both hands, and I feel a crushing pressure on my chest, like something’s sitting on it. My shield wavers but holds.
“I can feel it,” Jasmine says, her voice dreamy. “All that natural magic, untapped potential. It’s going to taste so sweet when I finally have it.”
She lunges forward with inhuman speed. Her hand grabs my wrist, and I feel her pulling, trying to siphon my magic from me.
But something strange happens. My magic doesn’t flow into her as she expects. Instead, it resists, bucking against her pull, and I feel it roaring through me, not just refusing to be taken but actively pushing back, repelling Jasmine.
Jasmine’s eyes widen in surprise, and she lets go, staggering back. “What is this?” she hisses. “What did you do?”
I’m as shocked as she is, but I don’t let it show. “My magic doesn’t want you,” I say, the words coming from somewhere deep inside me, a knowledge I didn’t know I possessed. “It recognizes you as wrong. Unnatural.”
Rage contorts Jasmine’s features. “We’ll see about that.”
She attacks again, this time with violent brute force. The magic she throws at me is tainted, corrupted by her consumption of other witches. It hits my shield like acid, eating away at the golden light. I reinforce it, drawing deeper from my well of power.
The fight continues, a back-and-forth of magical assaults. I’m holding my own better than I expected, but Jasmine is relentless. Each attack is stronger than the last, and I feel myself tiring. My responses become slower, my shields thinner.
“You’re weakening. I can feel it. Soon you’ll be mine, and then...” She licks her lips. “Then I’ll be unstoppable.”
She’s right. I am weakening. But there’s something else happening too. My magic is adapting, learning her patterns, finding ways to counter her corrupted energy. It’s like having a second consciousness working alongside mine, guiding my movements.
Her face twists with fury. “Playtime’s over!”
The serpent that’s been watching from the sidelines suddenly starts to move, slithering toward me with terrifying speed. I try to redirect my magic to defend against this new threat, butJasmine takes advantage of the distraction, hitting me with a spell that knocks me to my knees.
The snake rears up, hood flaring, fangs dripping with venom. I can’t focus on both threats at once, Jasmine advancing on one side, Ollie her familiar ready to strike on the other.
