Page 10

CHAPTER TEN

Ellery

“One of them has to work,” I pleaded. “It just has to.”

Scarlet fumbled through the keys as metal clanged. Every once in a while, blood sprayed into the air like a fountain.

My stomach lurched as women ran at us. They formed a wall that propelled everyone along with it, and while we didn’t get run over, we had to yield ground or risk them trampling us.

A group of women encircled us as they sought to keep us safe from those seeking to flatten anyone in their way. I didn’t blame the prisoners for fleeing, but they made things a lot more difficult.

The screams and hoofbeats rebounded in my ears as my heart beat so loudly it pounded in my eardrums. I had to escape these chains to help Ryker and everyone else, but he was the main target.

The contingent had separated, but they were coming together again to converge on one area. I had no doubt that’s where Ryker was.

Between the archers and riders, he was doomed if I failed to get free. I bit my tongue to keep myself from urging Scarlet to go faster; she was nervous enough without me heaping on the pressure.

I barely contained myself as I bounced on my toes and peered over the retreating crowd. Lightning shot down from the sky; it smashed into the parapets, exploding more stone and knocking some of the guards from their perches.

Their screams followed as they plummeted to the ground. I felt no pity for them; they’d gotten what they deserved.

Scarlet inserted another key and twisted. Despite the screams and the sizzle of lightning raining from the sky, a click resonated in my ears as the weight eased from my wrists. Unable to breathe, I watched as dirt plumed up around the chains that fell into the dirt.

The broken and bloody flesh surrounding my wrists was swollen from where I’d pulled my skin away from the chains while trying to get free. With the ease of weight, some of the throbbing in my broken arm ebbed, but an unnatural crook was still visible in the center of my forearm.

For a second, I could only stand there and gawk as I twisted my hands before me. Scarlet stared back at me with wide eyes.

“Can you do your thing?” she asked me.

Someone crashed into the woman to my right, and she fell into me. I staggered to the side and nearly went down as the chains almost tripped me.

Ruby gripped my shoulder and helped steady me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” I lifted my hands to the sky, but nothing happened. “No. The chains around my ankles must be suppressing me too.”

Scarlet fell to her knees to undo the shackles around my ankles. The second she freed me, a surge of energy flooded me; it was impossible to deny that my powers had returned as they gushed through me, seeking to break free.

Lightning crackled over my skin, flowed through my veins, and filled my cells with power. My terror for Ryker, and all those surrounding me, fueled it to higher levels.

“Stand back!” I commanded.

With everyone gathered so close, I struggled to contain my powers before they killed everyone around me. Lightning danced across my fingertips and arms until the air became energized.

Being shackled and having my abilities suppressed had only intensified it now that it was free. My power was part of me, a part I’d missed, and now it clicked into place.

Drawing from the earth, I pulled the lightning deep into me until small strands of it shot out all around me. It tasted the air as it extracted more energy from it.

I didn’t know what those closest to me saw, but many staggered away as a glowing light infused me. Scarlet shuffled back and lifted her hand to shelter her eyes.

When Ruby grasped her arm, her attention shifted to her mother. I couldn’t hear what they said, but Scarlet slid the key into the locks on Ruby’s chains.

Lightning flashed up my arms to encircle my shoulders. Once Scarlet freed Ruby, she took the keys from her daughter and unchained her.

Power pulsed beneath my feet, and lightning fired down from the sky. It bombarded me with its energy as I harnessed it.

I didn’t unleash my fury on the parapets. Instead, I continued to gather it until I created a white glow around me.

I’d experienced this sensation before when I’d worked to free the rebels from Ivan’s imprisonment. That was the first time I unleashed my full power, and it was stronger now.

After that night with the rebels, Ryker and I vowed to work together so I could learn how to control my powers better, but we never had the chance—and time had run out for us to do so.

While I feared what would happen if I kept drawing the power to me and got lost in it, I wouldn’t stop. I had to save Ryker.