The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (62 page)

Round and round we went with the occasional stumble from me, thanks to my heels. My hair had tumbled down from its pins and bounced around my shoulders in long ringlets. I could feel trickles of sweat running down between my shoulder blades. All I heard was our ragged breathing and my heart pounding. I had no idea if the others were okay, and the fear was awful.

We burst through the doorway at the top, into the solar. Before I could even draw a breath we were lifted off our feet and smashed into the wall opposite the windows. Yelping in pain when my head connected with the wall, I lay for a moment, dazed. Then I scrabbled onto my hands and knees looking for Alek. My heart made a horrible tight sensation when I spotted him just down from me, unconscious, with blood in his hair.

Not thinking, I lunged for him, but was thrown back into the wall. This time my spine took the brunt of it. The pain made my head spin and I rolled onto my side, retching.

That horrible laughter rang out.

Managing to get myself up to a sitting position, I saw Jenviet perched on the table, her legs crossed. The long, deep pink dress she wore had splits to the top of her thighs, showcasing her legs.

Bloody hell, she looks like a possessed doll.

Psycho Barbie beamed at me, one hand twisting a long blond ringlet around her finger. Glaring at the woman, I shuffled a little and hoped it looked like I was trying to get comfortable. It got me a couple of inches closer to Alek, and I could see his chest rise and fall out the corner of my eye. At least he was breathing.

She ignored me as she stood and shook her hair out, smoothing down her dress.

In a casual tone she said, 'So you’re the one Elena went to such great lengths to conceal. It did make me curious, but I knew in time you’d return and I’d find out why. And here you are.'

She turned to stare at me.

I fought the urge to shudder, instead glaring at her.

'You really have your wires crossed, lady,' I sneered as insultingly as I could manage. 'All of them by the looks of it.'

She continued as though I hadn’t spoken.

'A Thalian princess with the gift of fire, an Elemental no less. Just what the Mestarns have been waiting and hoping for.'

She laughed again, a nasty vindictive cackle.

'Well it’s only fair that I crush their hopes, as they did mine.'

Uh-oh,
that didn’t sound pleasant.

Stop screwing around,
snapped my rational voice.
Don’t over think it. Just do it!

I lunged for Alek, and threw a shield of fire up around us. The heat was enough to make Jenviet leap backward. I hit the floor beside him and concentrated the energy through one hand so I could shake him.

'Alek. Wake up!'

The fear in my stomach pinged about. I had no idea what to do next. As soon as I weakened, and reduced the shield, Jenviet would kill us.

In the turret, the girls and Elena were aware of Cat using her gift. They urged everyone on harder, and Rumal swung Kassie on to his back while he took the stairs three at a time. Yakov was in the lead with Daron, Sabyn, Loi, and Sian right behind him. Elena and Rumal were just behind them. They raced up the last few stairs and screeched to a halt in the doorway. They gasped at the scene before them.

Cat shielded herself and Alek. Her energy was in its physical manifestation, the flames roaring, and Jenviet paced just out of reach, waiting for it to relent. When she saw them in the doorway she gave a nasty chuckle.

'Excellent, a diversion.'

'Divert this, bitch,' Sian snarled and drew her hands in front, focused and released another torrent at Jenviet.

I watched, open mouthed, at the strength of water Sian had released. It wiped out a good portion of the far wall. Then I realized that Jenviet stood amongst it, not a hair out of place. She’d shielded. Sian finished and slumped to her knees from the exertion.

'I’m getting rather sick of you sprite.'

Jenviet’s voice dropped the pleasant tone, a nasty harsh sound now. Elena must have realized what she was about to do. She lunged for Sian at the same time Daron did. They were both hurled backward and smacked into the staircase wall, falling to the stairs.

Before we had time to register it all, Sian was surrounded in a white light. Sabyn dove at it but was thrown off by what looked like an electric shock.

I watched in horror as Sian tried to move but couldn’t, and realized she couldn’t breath. Jenviet had sucked the air out from within the light Sian was trapped in.

Everything seemed to speed up then, and there were loud thuds on the roof and the furious roars of enraged griffons. The violent tearing and wrenching noise distracted Jenviet for a moment, and taking advantage of it, Yakov raced at her with his sword. He actually managed to catch her arm before she tossed him against the ceiling.

I screamed in fear at the sight of Yakov hitting the ground, like a rag doll, not far from me. To his credit, it worked. The light that surrounded Sian vanished, and she slumped, unconscious, to the ground. Rumal dragged her to the stairwell and began CPR.

The fear coursed through me, unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Everything I knew and all those I cared about most were being snapped and broken, flung about like toys. I felt that horrible sensation of helplessness and my shield began to wane.

A hand gripped mine, and I looked down in shock. Alek stared up at me with a dazed expression. The sense of relief at seeing him conscious was intense, and I felt my energy swell. I recalled something Elena had mentioned to us one session.

‘We really have no idea what you girls are capable of. For all we know, once you develop your skills, your powers may be limitless.’

Hell, then I’m going with that theory. I’m not taking this lying down.
I increased the strength of my shield as Jenviet hurled bolts of energy at me. Her energy couldn’t reach me, but it did push against my shield and put me back against the wall.

It was then I realized Alek stood beside me.

'You have to do this, Cat!' he yelled, above the din that the flames and the griffons made.

I nodded and closed my eyes.

Loi was in a serious amount of pain. She was pretty sure her right arm was broken and one ankle swelled against the straps of her shoe. She felt guilty that she wasn’t able to help more, but where they were at this moment; there wasn’t much for her to work with.

It got harder to pull her shield up repeatedly so she conserved her energy, as her shield was her only defense now. Rumal had managed to get Sian breathing again, but not conscious and they’d put her in the stairwell with Daron, both of them out of it. Elena had come to a moment ago and tried to gather her energy.

A sudden swelling in the air made Kassie look to Cat. There was something different about it. Whatever it was, it seemed to piss Jenviet off to no end as she continued to hurl bolt after bolt at Cat, who didn’t even flinch. Feeling a sense of awe, she watched as Cat’s energy went from its usual bright red to a deep, darker than blood, shade. She could just make out Alek standing beside her.

'How’s she doing that?' Loi yelled at her and Kassie shook her head.

'I have no idea, but I could really use some of that right now.'

Loi nodded in agreement, then grabbed Kassie’s arm.

'Kass, is Alek glowing?'

Rumal leapt up from Daron and Sian, and with Sabyn, stood behind Kass and Loi, peering at Alek.

'Elena!' he turned to the Sorceress, still very pale.

'Are you seeing this?'

Before their eyes Alek glowed an intense gold, while Cat’s energy had swelled to the point that even her hair was outstretched, flying about her head.

'SHIELD!' screamed Elena calling on her last reserves.

I was at the brink of control, every cell within me screamed for release. Drawing in a deep breath I focused my mind on Jenviet.

Alek grabbed my arm, and the world exploded in red.
To be continued in

The Author would like to acknowledge and thank

My thanks to my amazing friends, who inspired the characters that surround Cat, I am grateful every day to have such friends.

To my parents who encouraged me to read and for keeping the skepticism levels low no matter how crazy the ideas I come up with (and Brad you’re included in that).

I also have to thank my fantastic critiquers, in particular Kerrin, Vicki and Cathey. Hitch at booknook for formatting help and Keary for her beautiful cover. All help was hugely appreciated.

And of course to my incredible partner, Glenn, for his countless suggestions and endless patience throughout.

If you wish to know more about Nicole MacDonald and her writing, you can visit her at

http://www.damselinadirtydress.com/

Or on the BirthRight Trilogy Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-BirthRight-trilogy/200848823274983