Page 147 of Boundless

But the pain was completely gone as the frostfire gathered in the palms of my hands.

Except Lyall had been at this for so much longer than I had, and so the golden light came at me almostsneakily,such a small ball of fire that was in front of me before I could blink.

He’d already attacked, and I somehowsawit. I saw his magic, though the way he moved should have been a blur to me, and I stepped to the side just in time for the magic to fly right past me, end up slamming onto one of the pillars of the palace.

Whispers, shouts, screams.

Then came an arrow.

It was all so very sudden that I was having trouble keeping up with what my own eyes were telling me. An arrow came out of nowhereand it almost hit Lyall on the fucking shoulder. It grazed him, cut the velvet of his jacket as he moved away—but it hit him.

And it came from somewhere ahead, toward the gates.

It came from a woman who was standing on top of a large shardthat made the wall of the palace, with a bow in her hands and a smile on her face.

Hessa.

My God, I’d forgotten all about here, but she was here! And I knew that all hell was about to break loose. The people began to run, and golden lights took over the sky, and Seelie soldiers were already rushing through the crowd, pushing people to theground, pushingchildrento the ground to get to Hessa, who was no longer standing on the shard. She’d disappeared.

Lyall’s hands were burning golden again, his eyes on me.

“Enough.”

The word left my lips in a calm voice, just a little over a whisper, but with it Iwilledeverything to stop with my whole being. My magic heard the intent clearly, and it obeyed.

My skin burned as it released into the world, spread all around me, all aroundus,stopping everything and everyone, the good and the bad, the soldiers and the people and the magic that had yet to land on its target.

My legs must have let go of me, because I was on the ground just in front of the stairs, and there was shimmer in the air, white-colored magic that looked almost like snow floating about everywhere. There was no more noise, no more footsteps, no more sounds of weapons being drawn.

Get up, get up, get up,I told myself, and I did. By some miracle, I got up and I looked around at the people who were moving so, so slowly. Even the birds in the sky seemed to be stuck mid-flight, their wings barely moving.

I saw Maera’s open jaws, her wide yellow eyes focused on Lyall as she was about to jump at him; saw the seer, who’d brought her hands over her ears as she looked at him, too; saw Hessa, too—easy enough to make her out with her golden hair among a sea of whites, as she made her way through the panicked crowd with two of those curved-blade knives in her hands.

Finally, I saw Lyall standing not six feet away from me, preparing to launch the light from his palms toward me.

Wrong.It was all so wrong that my heart wanted to beat right out of my chest. I’d just needed a moment to gather my thoughts, tobreathe,but I’d gone too far. These people—thesechildrenweren’t to blame for anything. They should never be under the influence of my magic like this.

The panic settled under my skin like flames against the ice that made me. Taking in a deep breath, I sucked back the magic I’d released with every ounce of strength I could spare, no longer doubting whether it would work.

Itwould.

The magic snapped back into me like a rubber band, and I passed out standing.

forty-four

Hands around my arms.Fur against my leg. Chaos around us, screams and shouts.

Lyall was giving orders, and Hessa was behind me, trying to drag me back, but I refused. Jerked her away.

“No—I am not going anywhere—let go!”

I actually said that out loud when I thought I wouldn’t be able to even whisper it.

“He’s going to kill you!” Hessa shouted, and Maera’s wolf howled. Lyall pointed his finger at me as his soldiers moved toward the people, pushing them back.

All that magic that I’d sucked back inside me clicked into place, like it layered over my bones, found its home again.

I screamed, “Stop!”at the top of my voice, half my focus on holding back my magic now, and Lyall did.