Immortal Consequences(41)

Good.

She crouched on the ground, anticipation coursing through her. Before the creature could react, she manipulated the air around her, propelling herself forward with a gust of wind, gliding directly between the creature’s legs until she rolled to its other side. Olivier began to construct the illusion, glowing violet runes sprouting into the air. He worked lightning fast, his fingers moving nimbly, until an exact duplicate of Irene appeared in front of her, and then another, and another, until there were at least a dozen Irenes surrounding her, all of them in the same crouched position.

The creature tilted its head, eyes darting among the various illusions, its mouth curling down in anger.

It charged toward one of the illusions, slicing its sharp talons across the illusion’s chest. The illusion disintegrated, floating up into the air as if it were nothing but smoke. The creature roared, lifting its head back as it prepared to strike again.

“Keep it distracted!” Irene shouted over the chaos. Olivier nodded, muttering something under his breath. As the words left his lips, the illusions all turned to face the center of the path, their movements eerily synchronized as they followed Olivier’s instructions. The creature charged after them, fury radiating from its gaze, and began to swing left and right, desperate to inflict damage.

“Now!” Irene screamed, signaling Emilio. He jumped into action, summoning the embers from his fingertips, until a sphere of fire emanated from his palms. He shot it toward the creature, and Irene held her breath as the fire quickly traveled around its feet, engulfing the monster in a perfect circle of flames.

My turn, Irene thought as she summoned the silver shards into her veins, savoring the feeling of them traveling through her chest and into her fingers. All she had to do was reach forward and cut the creature in half. She just needed a bit more time, a few more seconds to— An unseen force threw her to the ground, knocking the air from her lungs. Her vision blurred and refocused, the source of the blow coming into view. It was the creature. It had its claws pressed firmly against her shoulders, pinning her to the ground.

Shock coursed through her.

The creature had run straight through the flames, undeterred, and gone after her.

Olivier was running toward her when a set of vines sprouted from the hedge and pulled him backward, lifting him into the air. They wrapped around his body, enveloping him in a cocoon of branches and leaves.

The creature, sensing Irene’s desperation, let out a growl of triumph and sank one of its talons into her lower abdomen.

And that was when Irene felt it.

It wasn’t the familiar dull pressure she had grown accustomed to. No…this was something else entirely. This was pain. Real, excruciating, mind-numbing pain that shot through her stomach and into her nerves.

But that wasn’t possible. That couldn’t— The creature roared, sinking the talon farther, its hot breath spraying across her face.

Move, Irene heard her mom’s voice whisper in the back of her mind. If you do not move, you will not survive.

Anger surged over the fear. Get out of my head, Irene wanted to shout back. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. But as the agonizing seconds dragged by, the creature did not budge, and Irene found herself incapable of moving, incapable of reaching into the magic inside her and doing what needed to be done.

This was it.

She wouldn’t make it past the first trial. She’d be the disappointment her mom had so often told her she was.

Irene closed her eyes. And then a guttural scream cut through the air.

Her eyes snapped open, and she saw something she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

Emilio was charging toward the creature, sword in hand. A broken cry tore from his throat as he brought the edge of the sword down upon the creature’s neck, slicing its head off in one clean swoop.

Irene gasped as the creature’s talon slipped out of her skin, its body collapsing onto the dirt beside her. Its head rolled over to Emilio’s feet. He stood there, bloody sword dangling from his hands, mouth hung open in shock.

Irene pressed her hand against the wound on her stomach. Warm blood spread through her fingers, dampening the hem of her nightgown.

Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t normal.

“Are you okay?” Emilio’s voice trembled as he spoke.

“I’m—I’m fine.” Irene cleared her throat. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Olivier’s voice cut through the silence.

“Uh—though I am thrilled neither one of you is harmed, I would absolutely love it if somebody could cut me down from this thing.”

Irene lifted a shaking hand, summoning the magic inside her, and sliced through the canopy of branches.

Olivier dropped to the ground and scrambled to his feet. “Well, that was exciting.”

Irene let out a throaty chuckle, masking the pain coursing through her limbs. Tell them, a voice in the back of her mind whispered urgently. Tell them what you felt. But something kept the words lodged in her throat. A resistance. A desperation to conceal her weaknesses, even if it was at the expense of others.

Olivier’s eyes landed on Emilio. “Where on earth did you get a sword?”

“I found it.” Emilio gestured toward the hedge. “I think the maze…gave it to me.”

“Well, that was awfully convenient.”