Chapter 122

[ 767 words ]

She was my goddaughter

122: 122.

She was my goddaughter Aria

The old man approaches as though he already knows he’s won.

Like he knows that’s all I have left in me.

I grit my teeth, allowing him to believe it.

Fire builds beneath my skin.

The vines tighten, my skin turns white around the edges from the pressure of it.

The old man stops a few feet away.

“Come on,” he says.

“Show me. What you’re capable of. Or would you rather watch your mate die?”

Rage explodes inside me.

I think of the Assembly.

Of every person they’ve hurt.

Of my mother.

The fire inside me becomes an inferno, a burn so hot it locks across my skin.

The vines begin smoking.

Flames erupt from my entire body, and the vines explode apart.

A shockwave of heat tears across the clearing.

Several nearby trees burst into flames.

The old man finally looks impressed.

I don’t give him time to react.

I charge.

Fire streams behind me like two twin dragons weaving and pocketing towards their prey.

He stomps his foot, and the earth rises between us.

I blast through it.

Dirt, roots, and small rocks flying out on all sides.

The clearing becomes a warzone as earth and flame collide over and over.

Neither of us is willing to back down.

But his focus has stopped the progression of Roann and the others, giving them a chance to start to dig themselves out.

I can hear the enforcers shouting behind me.

Can hear Ronan trying to break free.

But my entire focus is on the man in front of me.

For the first time, his expression changes.

The cruel game in his eyes changes and settles to stone.

He’s finally taking me seriously.

Maybe now he’ll realize I’m not someone he can toy with.

He lifts both hands.

The power surge that comes from the action is staggering.

The entire ground trembles, the trees shaking like they’re under the pressure of a storm.

My eyes widen.

A dozen stone spears rise from the earth, doubling in quantity, then tripling.

All headlined for me.

I sprint, weaving, moving, and slipping to dodge the onslaught.

Spears crash around me, some clipping me, but I ignore the pain and keep moving.

My body aches as I’m kicked and sliced.

The old man doesn’t stop.

His attack keeps coming, the force almost militant.

He’s trying to overwhelm me, and it’s working.

At this rate, I know I’m going to tire before him.

Fuck.

Think Aria.

Think.

An idea comes to me.

I’m going to need to dig deeper than I ever have in my power.

I gather every ounce of fire I can summon.

Heat floods my body, creating waves of steam in my mind, and I focus on the earth.

The old man’s eyes narrow.

I launch a massive stream of flame directly into the ground in front of him.

I keep going, taking his element and using my heat like a volcano, taking the soil past his melting point, turning it to magma.

He jumps back, but is stopped by a cage of flames trapping him in the vicinity of his personal boiling pot.

For the first time, he looks surprised.

“There’s nowhere to run. Yield, or I’ll kill you, and I promise I’ll make it hurt,” I warn.

Ronan rips the remaining restraints apart with a roar as the vines fall all around us.

Silence falls, and the man releases his control and drops down to his haunches.

Heavy breathing fills the clearing.

I pull my flames back, disclosing the flames, and I close the distance, my fire at the ready.

Standing over the older Sypher, I wait, expecting another attack.

Expecting him to rise and come at me again.

Instead, the old kook starts laughing.

A full belly laugh that grows louder by the second.

I blink.

The man remains sprawled on the ground laughing like this is the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

“What is wrong with you?” I demand.

Still grinning, he sits up.

“That was exactly what I hoped to see.”

I stare.

The fire on my hands slowly fades as Ronan comes to stand beside me.

I’m distantly aware that the warriors are now surrounding him.

“You attacked us. Why?”

He shrugs a shoulder.

“I tested you.”

“By trying to kill us?”

He looks offended by that.

“If I’d wanted you dead, girl, you’d be dead. It wouldn’t have taken it to sneak up on your pretty mountain and bury everyone inside.” I still.

“ But I didn’t do that, did I? I strolled here. I allowed your forces to see me.”

That answer irritates me more than it should.

It’s true, though.

We could have all been dead before we knew who was coming.

“We will concede that,” Ronan says, “But you have yet to give us a straight answer.”

The older man studied my face closely, and something changed in his expression.

“You might have a little of your mother in you after all.”

“How did you know my mother?”

“It would be rather odd if I didn’t. She was my goddaughter.”

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