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CHAPTER FIFTY

Ryker

I couldn’t see anything through the dozens of tornadoes tearing the room apart. Rain, wind, and hail battered me as I fought through the rebels and guards.

The urge to throw both sides out of my way pummeled me, but I restrained myself from using my abilities against most guards. I did throw some of the rebels out of my way, even if I was on their side.

Many of the rebels were retreating, but some continued to stand their ground against their oppressors. I understood why they were pissed enough to try to pull off this idiotic, ill-planned coup, but I wanted them to get out of my way.

Too much time had passed since I last saw Ellery; I had no idea where she was in this maelstrom. A loud whistle drew my attention to the sword flung from a tornado and straight at me.

Stepping back, I avoided having it impale me, but a cry from behind alerted me to the guard who had taken the blade through his throat. His fingers clawed at the handle as he tried and failed to rip it free.

One of the rebels emerged from the turmoil. Their mouth opened, and I assumed a battle cry issued from them as their eyes took on a determined gleam, but I couldn’t hear them over the raucous.

Their size caused me to believe it was a man as they ran toward me with their spear leveled on my chest. I rolled my eyes at the idiotic fool and the improper way he held his weapon before stepping to the side, grasping the end of the spear, and ramming the pole into his belly.

The impact knocked him off his feet, and I ripped the spear away from him before breaking it over my knee and tossing it aside. “Fucking idiot.”

The tornado of lightning I’d created tore my words away from me. It spun behind me and to the side to keep away any attackers who might come at me from behind.

I’d created tornadoes like these before, but I’d never anticipated unleashing one within an aristocrat’s home or against my kind. Once the other amsirah decided to turn their powers on each other, there was nothing to hold me back.

I’d do whatever it took to get to Ellery.

Where is she?

It felt like hours since I last saw her, but it was probably only five minutes at most. Still, she was out there and vulnerable. While she could control the wind and turn away the tornadoes, she couldn’t use all her abilities without putting herself in further jeopardy.

When I shoved another rebel out of my way, some of the chaos before me parted. Though rain and hail continued to fall before me, no tornadoes spun here.

The lack of funnels gave me a clear view of Ellery on her knees, cradling her mother’s cheeks between her palms. Her drenched hair clung to her, and rain streaked her cheeks.

Despite the rain, Ellery’s anguished expression told me rain wasn’t the only thing wetting her face. My step faltered as, for a second, I felt her agony like it was mine.

Because of that, I didn’t take the whole scene in at first, but then my emotions calmed enough for me to comprehend more, and I saw the spear protruding from Meredith’s back and the heart pinned to the floor. Sorrow filled me as adrenaline propelled me onward.

I understood Ellery’s distress, but she had to move . She’d stopped paying attention to her surroundings, and if she stayed where she was, she’d get killed.

Before I made it three more feet, tornadoes swirled between us, cutting her off from me again. Fuck!

I threw another rebel out of the way and ran into a guard who’d succeeded in decapitating one of the hooded figures. The guard grunted and lifted his sword toward me before stilling his hand.

I didn’t bother to explain myself; he probably believed I was trying to get away too. Whatever he thought didn’t matter as he stepped back to give me clearance.

My arms ached to hold Ellery and shelter her from this place. I couldn’t give her back what she’d lost, but I could save her, and I would.

The tornadoes parted again to reveal one of the hooded rebels behind Ellery. They gripped her shoulders and pulled her back before a tornado blocked them from view once more.