A TEMPEST OF INTRIGUE, TEMPEST OF SHADOWS BOOK 4

Ellery

My lightning splintered apart to hit three guards in the back. Beside me, Ianto cried out and threw himself away from the lightning crackling all around me. He skidded a few feet down the roof before stopping himself from sliding off completely.

The guards screamed from the impact of my bolts before hitting the ground and going silent. The force of their impact threw dirt and debris up around them as their bodies burrowed into the ground.

The holes my lightning had carved through their hearts smoked from the impact. The spiraling dance of that smoke made my stomach churn.

I did that to them.

The guilt trying to rise inside me had no place here, but the guard’s screams haunted my memory. These guards had flayed the skin from the prisoners Ryker and the others were trying to save, this was a fitting end for them, but who was I to decide that?

However, they weren’t the only ones dying as the battle continued to rage below, and if I didn’t get my shit together, amsirah I cared about would be next. Ryker was down there, buried in the mass of bodies, and fighting for survival.

I couldn’t let him down.

My skin crackled as sparks flew around me. Those sparks snapped at the air in a fiery dance that matched the fear and fury inside me.

Blood sprayed as swords clashed, fists flew, and the echoing cries of pain rebounded around me. I hated killing, but I’d do whatever it took to save Ryker and my friends… including revealing one of my biggest secrets.

Now they would all know that a female lightening bearer, for the first time in history, existed in Tempest. I couldn’t hide it anymore.

From below, some of the guards and Tucker’s men, who weren’t too busy keeping themselves alive, turned to look at where I stood on the roof. I’d made sure they couldn’t miss me as I stood at the front of the building with my breasts exposed and lightning all around me.

They would find it difficult to believe what they saw, but impossible to ignore.

In the glow of the torches surrounding them, the fighters gazed up at me. The guards had shock all over their faces while the others wore hoods that covered their faces and eyes.

I couldn’t see their faces, but I was sure the rebels were as flabbergasted as the guards and though I was on their side, they were probably just as scared. Most feared what they didn’t know; I could only hope that they trusted me enough to see them through this the best that I could.

I didn’t give them time to recover before I unleashed more of my fury. Now that I’d drawn it to me, lightning flowed easily around me, and I no longer had to draw it from the sky.

It encompassed me in a blazing ball of white light that illuminated the night and the townsfolk creeping from the alleys to hide in the shadows. They didn’t come any closer, but I felt their eyes on me.

When I dropped my raised hand, lightning zipped around my fingers before I threw more of it at the guards below. Like before, it splintered apart before taking out more guards.

With their shock wearing off, some of them screamed before dodging out of the way. Others tried to run but my lightning wrapped around them, ripped them off their feet, and smashed them into the ground.

The guards convulsed on the ground as electricity pummeled their bodies. Their heels left dents in the earth they kicked into it before going still.

Though I’d unleashed more of my power, instead of feeling like I needed to draw on more lightning, it continued to surge around me. It became a whirlwind of energy that stirred the hair beneath my hood but didn’t pull it free of its confines.

Rising inside me like a tidal wave, the lightning was swiftly becoming an unstoppable force that sought to decimate its enemies. It was too much power and I craved it, and the amazing feeling of being alive it brought with it, but I also feared it.

Do I still control it or, now that I’ve finally unleashed so much of it, does the lightning control me?

The possibility of losing control of my power terrified me, but I couldn’t harness it while those I loved were in danger. I’d do everything I could to save them.

More lightning flew from my fingertips and pulsated around me until its crackle drowned out most other noise. Ianto’s cry of surprise broke through the cacophony around me.

It was his shout that drew my attention to the fact my electricity had lifted me off the roof. I was riding its currents like a wave as I levitated over the roof.

Focused on the battle, I couldn’t look at Ianto to make sure he was safe, as lit by my flashes, more of the guards ran while others succumbed to my lightning. As some of the crowd broke away and ran, I finally spotted Ryker amidst the chaos.

Even with the hood covering his face and eyes, and the padding he’d added to the clothing he wore, I knew it was him. I would know him anywhere.

I felt his gaze on me before he turned to face the guard charging at him with his sword raised and fury etched onto his countenance.