Page 58 of Wicked Enemy

White bolts of lightning cracked into the metal and twisting clouds of shadows snaked across the ground while blocks of stone shot through the air towards me. Then the other battle mages behind them started firing too.

My heart pounded in my chest and pain pulsed through my body when some of the attacks hit. There were simply too many of them to block. Bruises bloomed on my arms and jaw as blocks of stone crashed into me, and blood ran down from cuts in my skin. I kept raising wall after wall to shield myself, but I was losing ground with every second.

Losing ground, and losing energy.

Black spots floated across my vision as I fought to stay conscious and alert enough to survive this. But more attacks began slipping through.

A heavy weight settled in my stomach as I realized that I wouldn’t walk away from this.

After everything I had done, everything I had endured… I’d almost had it all! And now, I was going to die in a fucking rain-soaked street as if I was nothing. As if I was still the same helpless piece of trash that I had been when my parents sold me.

I wanted to scream.

Scream at the sky about the unfairness of it all. Curse at the universe for letting me get this close to having everything before snatching it all away.

“Incoming!” someone bellowed from Aaron’s side of the street. “Scram! It’s half the fucking white boot force!”

Shock clanged through my skull. And for a moment, I just stood there, staring like an idiot while all of my attackers sprinted away in separate directions.

The white boots.

Then understanding clicked into place.

The mass of constables who had been chasing me through the north side, the ones who had raced across the Bridge of Life to capture me, had inadvertently saved me.

Panic quickly followed the brief flash of relief.

I had to get out of here. I might have survived the coordinated House attack, but if I didn’t move, I was going to get captured by the white boots instead.

The sound of thudding boots rumbled like thunder between the streets.

I took a step towards the closest alley.

My legs buckled.

Dull pain shot through my bones as my knees slammed into the wet stone street, sending splashes of water flying up around me. My head spun and I couldn’t seem to focus my eyes.

There was no way in hell that I would be able to outrun the white boots now.

Changing tactics, I instead dragged my body back up and staggered towards the nearest door. Rain pelted me and wind ripped at my clothes.

It took every ounce of strength I had left to summon my magic and melt the lock. My very soul was screaming with exhaustion as I pulled the door open and slipped inside.

Thankfully, there was no one in there.

I glanced back at the door. I knew that I should reshape the lock behind me again, but if I used my magic one more time right now, I was going to pass out. So it was either lock the door and pass out next to it while hoping that no one would look inside the window, or leave it unlocked and hide somewhere inside the building instead. I chose option two.

Letting the metal drip down the side of the door and towards the ground where it would hopefully blend in with the puddles on the street, I left the door unlocked and instead staggered towards the staircase.

It felt as if I was inhaling shards of glass, and every step sent a pulse of pain through my battered and bleeding body, but I managed to make it up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms.

Then my strength ran out.

A jolt shot through my bones as I simply crashed down on the ground. Rolling over on my back, I managed to at least crawl backwards over to the wall and draw myself into a sitting position.

On the street outside, voices and thudding boots mingled with the sound of the crashing rain.

I just remained there, slumped against the wall, with my chest heaving. Blood ran down from a cut above my eyebrow, further obstructing my already blurry vision, but I couldn’t even muster the strength to raise my hand and wipe it off.

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