The Witch Born to Smoulder (Inferno Book 4), стр. 37
‘You see the crowd out there?’ said one of them.
The other guard laughed. ‘Bloodthirsty lot, aren’t they?’
‘Not long now. I hear the first witch has already been trialled – guilty, of course. Hanging any minute.’
WHAT! Fire burst into my hands and I started walking again, death in my fingertips. As I rounded the corner, I raised my hands, which were full of fire. The guards glanced up and stumbled backwards. I released flames that would set them alight. Moments before the flames could connect, rain poured down, dousing my flames. I went to try again, but Jet sprinted past me and put the guards to sleep with his magic.
I jumped over the guards and sprinted down the corridor to the cell where my family were supposed to be held captive. I stopped when I reached the cell, made myself look up.
There they were, huddled together on the bed, slumped forward and crying.
Ice-cold relief seeped into my pores.
‘Mum…Dad…Elijah,’ I said.
They raised their heads towards me.
‘Eva,’ said Elijah, standing slowly, painfully. He advanced towards me. ‘Is that you?’
‘Elijah,’ I said, reaching through the bars as he put his arms out for me. Our hands met and he gasped, did a double take.
‘What happened to you?’ he asked.
‘It’s okay… I’ll be okay,’ I said, tears running down my face, stealing my vision. ‘I thought… I thought one of you…’ I started to sob and my parents came to stand beside Elijah. One by one, I took them in. They were a shadow of the people they’d been, and their faces were etched with the kind of fear that would never truly go away, but they were here, they were alive.
‘They took Violet,’ said Mum, whose face crumpled. ‘They brought her trial forward at the last minute.’
My powers turned to ice and darkness.
Dear, sweet Violet who’d opened her heart to me – who’d helped me escape – who’d risked her life to save mine.
‘Eva!’ said Jet, returning me back into my living hell. ‘We need to get your family out now, before the guards come back.’
‘You get them out. I’ll go get Violet. I’ll meet you on the boat as soon as I can.’
‘What? No!’ said Ezra. ‘You won’t stand a chance! There’re guards everywhere. They’re waiting to trap you, and they will hang you.’
I took one last look at my family, whose arms were reaching for me, but then I was moving, turning away from them.
‘They’ll have to catch me first,’ I said, filling the space behind me with a fireball so no one could follow me.
Chapter Fifteen
As I sprinted through the maze of tunnels, my dark powers ran through my veins like drugs, fuelling me with a power I’d never felt and a burning desire to reach Violet. I knew in that moment that I would do whatever it took to help her and that nothing and no one could stop me.
My fireball continued to grow behind me, and not even Jet’s continual attempts at dousing my flames with water worked. After a few minutes, commotion broke out through the tunnels. People started shouting – from behind me and in front of me. Had there been enough time for my family to escape? Would they be on their way to Ezra’s boat right now? Or had they been recaptured and were now on their way to their trial?
Pain burned in my heart. I stopped, the fireball behind me burning out, my powers ebbing away. Ahead of me, guards were running in my direction. Then they rounded the corner and my gaze landed on Noah – whose face lit up when he saw me. In a flash, I remembered that day, long ago, when I’d kissed him and for the briefest of moments, I had imagined a future with him.
‘TRAITOR!’ I said, reaching in and clasping my hand around the crystal, which flooded me with its insidious power.
The guards all froze. Except for Noah. He pulled a gun on me and approached.
‘It’s good to see you, Eva,’ he said, as though we’d run into each other in the shopping mall.
‘How could you?’ I said, the force of my voice making him stop, watch me more closely.
One of the other guards reached for his radio. I sent a fireball onto it, making it explode into flames. Then I sent another onto Noah’s gun, which he dropped, swearing. His eyes hardened like a shell.
‘You left me little choice; I had to protect Anna,’ he said.
‘You had a choice – and you chose to turn on me and my family.’
I remembered my parents’ faces – the pain and suffering his decision had cost them.
‘Do you know what you’ve done? Who you have become?’ I asked.
Noah laughed. ‘That’s good, Eva – I’ll give you that. Have you looked in a mirror lately? Where has the soft, sweet Eva gone? But, you know, I kind of like this new version. You might be harder to break, but all the more fun in trying. Ah, we’re in for some good times.’
Hatred filled every fibre of my being. It took everything within me not to call in the dark forces and finish off his life.
‘You will never break me,’ I growled.
Noah laughed as more guards came to stand behind me. ‘It’s only a matter of time before I do.’
I stepped forward, making all the guards aim their weapons at me. I tilted my head to the side and looked Noah directly in the eye.
‘Bet you make your sister proud.’
Noah’s lips clamped together before he spoke, his words bitter. ‘Anna has been poisoned by you and your brother. But in time, she will be well again.’
‘She despises the person you’ve become, doesn’t she?’
Noah let out a low growl.
I stepped closer. ‘I might look like a monster, but we both know you’re the real one.’
Noah narrowed his eyes.
‘One day, I might recover – but