Chapter 47

47

R hi

“I knew a scaredy cat like you would flee as soon as the fight got real,” Summer says, blocking my path. A madness swirls in her eyes. “You’ve always been pathetic and–”

“Summer,” I say, “I really don’t have time for this right now. Could you go bother someone else?”

“No!” she says, stalking forward. She’s not looking as groomed as usual, which I guess isn’t so crazy, none of us are. But this girl could be trekking through hell itself and would still ensure a full face of makeup and a spotless manicure. This morning, however, her eyeliner is slightly wonky, her mascara smudged and I notice bruises on her wrists and one on her clavicle. “I’m not letting you go! I’m going to be the one who hands you to him. I’m going to be the one to win his favor. ”

“Why?” I say, unable to help myself. “Don’t you already have it?”

“You’ve stolen everything from me, Pig Girl,” she screams. “You’re not stealing this too!”

“Really? What have I stolen from you? You’re beautiful, talented, and I assume you must be a good friend when you want to be. Everyone loves you, Summer.”

“Not anymore!” she cries. I’m not exactly surprised to hear that. If she has been acting as the Lord Protector’s little spy, she’s going to be partly responsible for a lot of people’s hurt and they are going to hate her guts for it. “They all love you now. You’ve stolen them all from me. You – a smelly little pig girl, with no ass, wonky teeth and a serious lack of manners!”

All those insults would have hurt me a few months back, despite my best efforts, they would have pierced my armor anyway. Now I brush them off as if they are nothing more than cobwebs.

“Summer,” I say, sighing. “It’s not too late. Go fight alongside your friends. Show them you know you were wrong, show them you’re sorry. You’re gorgeous and talented. They won’t be able to help but forgive you.”

“No,” she says, “no. You’re not fooling me with your twisted logic. I know what you are.” Her eyes narrow. “And when I hand you in, he’s going to parade you in front of everyone and show them.”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” I say, hands on my hips. “You know what I can do. You want me to blast you into oblivion?”

“He’s been teaching me magic,” she says, her voice faltering slightly, “dark magic. I’m not afraid of you.” She lifts her hands and adopts a fighting pose.

My dark magic hisses at the challenge. It hates this girl even more than I do and in my mind’s eye I can see just what that magic would like to do to her – engulf her and blast her into a thousand tiny pieces.

The idea excites me and the crimson magic soars through my veins, engulfing me, taking me over.

She thinks she can match me. She’s deluded. I want to make her pay for her insolence and every little hurt towards me, too.

The crimson magic burns, hot and violent. It’s so much stronger than it was.

I raise my hands. I am going to destroy her.

Behind me, I hear the first explosions of battle. And in that moment I remember what we’re fighting for.

I look down at my hands and then back up at Summer. This is what she wants, some great fight between the two of us, to hand me in to the Lord Protector in some blaze of glory.

Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

I battle that crimson magic back down into submission, groaning with the effort as I suppress it.

Then I take a leaf out of Renzo’s book, clicking my fingers and watching as the lights go out, her eyes rolling back in their sockets. The head cheerleader crumples unconscious to the ground in a heap. I consider leaving her right there – I’m especially liking the way her tongue is hanging out the side of her mouth in an undignified manner – but there’s a chance she could come round and start causing more trouble.

I haul her to the side of the path, propping her up into a seated position against a tree stump, and magic twine around her ankles and then her wrists, tying them behind her back.

“Nice chatting,” I tell her. “Talk more later. Bye.”

Then I continue on to the meadow, sprinting with all my might. I’ve already wasted precious time.

I find the dragons pacing, snorting and throwing their heads as if they’re impatient to get up into the sky.

I beckon Gwenhwyfar my way, and scrabble up on her neck. If this goes to plan, the battle could be over in a couple of minutes. Kennedy’s men will be like rats up a drainpipe, trapped, stuck in a bottleneck with nowhere to go, vulnerable to our counterattack, vulnerable to me and my fire power.

Excitement bubbles in my belly, that dark magic reinvigorated. I lean into it this time. Torching men alive is not what I want to do, but it’s for the greater good. We’re doing this to prevent further bloodshed and heartache.

I nudge Gwenhwyfar with my heel and she kicks off, her wings stretching wide, her school of dragons following her lead. She lifts me up into the sky, the other dragons trailing after her and we swoop over the campus and down to the front of the mansion – just where the trapped army of Christopher Kennedy’s fighters should be.

Gwenhwyfar rumbles, her scales warming beneath me. She’s ready to obliterate everything with her fire.

But then I realize, it’s not that simple.