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CHAPTER THREE

Ryker

The prisoners closest to me cried out as they tried to scamper away, but the crowd was so thick and pressed so closely together, they had difficulty avoiding me. I didn’t blame them for being afraid as the guards in the crowd moved in on me.

The twang of arrows releasing filled the air a second before they whistled toward me. Amsirah screamed as they strained to get out of the way of the descending, lethal projectiles.

Their cries rebounded in my ears as they pushed against me. Unwilling to be deterred from finding Ellery, I shoved forward.

They were all innocent and would suffer because of me, but I couldn’t do anything about that. I couldn’t save everyone here, and Ellery’s life was far more important than theirs.

Throwing myself to the ground, I rolled through the legs and feet scampering to get out of my way. Thuds pounded into the earth all around me as arrows struck the dirt, but none of them hit me.

Many women weren’t so fortunate as they screamed, and some fell to their knees when arrows struck them. I rolled again and bounded back to my feet when the thuds ended.

Much of the crowd surged away from me and the target I represented, but to my surprise, others came toward me. At first, I didn’t understand why they were closing around me until one of them hissed at me, “Duck down! You’re a lot taller than us and a far bigger target.”

“There’s a guard to your left,” another woman said.

“Get down,” I told her.

She ducked a second before more lightning erupted from my fingers and hit the guard. Lifted off his feet, he flew only a few inches backward before crashing into some of the women near him.

Twisting in the crowd, I raised my hands and unleashed more lightning toward the archers on the parapets. Some were preparing to fire again, but many were still reloading when I brought lightning down from the heavens to set my wrath loose on them.

The dozens of lightning rods lining the parapets drew most of my lightning, shooting sparks into the air.

Upon impact, lightning fizzled in all directions as it was funneled away from those I sought to destroy.

While only one of my bolts succeeded in hitting a guard, the others shouted as they scurried away.

Turning in the crowd, I brought more lightning down on the stage and the archers lining its edge. They screamed as they dodged my bolts, but like what happened on the parapets, the numerous lightning rods diverted my efforts.

It flashed so brightly around them that it engulfed the stage in a white glow that made it impossible to look at. I turned my head away until its blinding intensity faded.

When I turned back, my father was standing near the stairs. The thunderous expression on his face told me he’d gladly carve out my heart and stomp it into the ground, but that would make my death way too fast for him.

If he got his hands on me, he’d make me suffer far worse than he ever had when I was a child. And once he learned Ellery was the female lightning bearer, he’d probably rupture more than a few blood vessels in his fit.

That possibility made me smile as I waved at him before turning and sprinting into the crowd. Everyone remained jammed together but did their best to part before closing around me again.

“Stay down,” another woman hissed at me, but it was nearly impossible to stay hidden while trying to get to Ellery.

Through the crush of women, I spotted more guards shoving their way toward me. If they were closer, I could unleash my lightning on them, but I couldn’t do so now with all these women surrounding me.

I had no weapons; they took them from me before I met with Ivan. All I had was my weathers, and while bringing forth some rain would provide a distraction, it wasn’t enough of one to risk stopping to create it.

I was sure some of these women would help, but the chains kept their powers suppressed and hindered their ability to fight. If the opportunity arose, I’d get a weapon, but I couldn’t stop trying to reach Ellery to find one.

The twang of strings and whistle of arrows alerted me that another torrent of bolts had been unleashed. Many women threw themselves to the ground to make themselves a smaller target.

When they did so, I leapt over their backs, twisting into a ball and rolling a few feet before being halted by bodies. This time, I couldn’t avoid taking an arrow to the thigh.

Gritting my teeth, I bit back a grunt as I grasped my leg. Screams filled the air as the rest of the arrows thudded into bodies or pounded into the ground.

Those screams resonated in my ears as I snapped off the arrow shaft. It would be a bitch to cut out later, but I didn’t have the time to dig it out now, and I couldn’t have it getting in my way.

I was tired of being a pincushion to arrows, but it could have been worse. Raising my hands, I unleashed more lightning on the archers as they reloaded.

While the bolts crashed into the rods again, it took out two more of the archers and propelled the others back. Some ducked behind the wall, but they wouldn’t stay there long.

As I was turning away from them, another guard emerged from the crowd with his sword raised as he charged. Electricity flowed through me as his blade descended in a deadly arc toward my head.