A whip of glittering green poison snapped towards Lance’s friends. They immediately threw their knives aside without actually hurting Henry or Paige, just like we knew they would, and instead tried to bring their hands together.
They didn’t make it.
At the same time as Audrey had shot her magic at them, I had slapped my palms together and thrown my own attack. A wham echoed across the mountain as my force blast slammed into the flat stretch of stone they had been standing on. It split the rock and sent it crumbling downwards.
Jessica let out a cry of alarm as the ground underneath them disappeared and all six of them tumbled down towards the flat area where Audrey and I stood outside the mouth of the cave. It would probably give Henry and Paige a couple of bruises too, but I didn’t think they would mind.
Poison shot towards the lightning mage who was sliding down the slope as Audrey called up another attack, but Darren had managed to summon his own magic and hurled a blast of wind at it before it could strike. I touched my hands together and shot a spinning force arc at him.
It smacked into the mountain as Jessica’s water wall shoved it off course.
Before either of us could call up another attack, all of them tumbled down the final bit and landed hard on the flat ground a short distance in front of us. Before he had even pushed himself up from the ground, Darren threw a blast of wind magic towards me and Audrey.
I shoved a force wall at it from an angle.
It sent the attack wide, but a boom echoed across the rocky landscape as our magic collided. These people were a lot stronger than the constables who were forced to rely on the Great Current, and I could tell that they were decently skilled too.
Audrey shoved a cloud of poison towards Leoni, who was still trying to get off the ground, but Jessica intercepted it with her water magic. It bought the lightning mage enough time to rise to her feet while also shooting attacks at me.
“Lance, stay behind us!” Darren called as he leaped to his feet and then lunged towards Paige.
Still handcuffed, Paige was trying to scramble away from them while Darren looked like he was planning on grabbing her and using her as a shield against us. His hand brushed her shoulder. But before he could get a firm grip on her, Henry smacked a roundhouse kick into the side of his ribs.
The sheer force of it sent Darren flying sideways.
“Don’t touch her,” Henry, who had yanked off his gag, growled before he hauled Paige up from the ground.
She stumbled a few steps while Henry pulled her with him as he ran towards us.
Lightning exploded into the force wall I had thrown up as Leoni shot another attack at my chest. Behind her, Lance had struggled upright. As if they could feel it without turning to look, all three of his friends moved closer together so that they formed a barrier between him and us. I had to admit, I was almost impressed by their loyalty.
Touching my palms together, I called up a massive force arc now that Henry and Paige were out of the way. It spun through the air as I threw it.
“Where’s the key?” I asked while Henry removed Paige’s gag.
“The blond girl has it,” Henry replied immediately.
My force arc crashed into the rocks as Darren used his wind magic to blow it sideways. A second later, a cloud of poison flashed towards them. It was stopped only an arm’s length in front of their faces by a panicked Jessica and her water wall.
Since she had the keys to Henry and Paige’s handcuffs, we wouldn’t be able to free them until after we had won this battle. Which meant that Audrey and I would have to do it on our own.
As if she had just reached the same conclusion, Audrey threw another massive poison cloud towards them while announcing, “You handle the defense.”
“Agreed,” I replied without taking my eyes off our opponents.
After throwing the spinning arc I had already summoned, I slapped my hands together and called up a force wall instead. Lightning cracked against it a second later. I summoned another one.
In the meantime, Audrey threw a large cloud towards Leoni and Jessica. As soon as it had left her hands, she shot a slim tendril straight towards Darren’s mouth. Distracted by the big swirling mist, he almost missed the attack aimed at him. He was busy shoving the cloud away from his friends, and only Jessica’s quick thinking and well-timed water blast saved him from being poisoned.
But by the time they had averted the previous attacks, Audrey had already hurled another one.
Darren and Jessica were forced to focus solely on defending themselves and Leoni against poison attacks, while the lightning mage started up a merciless barrage instead.
White bolts shot through the air one after the other. All of them were aimed at Audrey, but she didn’t even flinch. Instead, she took a step forward. I summoned force wall after force wall, blocking the lightning strikes while Audrey concentrated only on attacking.
Just like when we had crossed that dangerous floor to get the Enhancer, I got the strange feeling that she trusted me completely. Which was absurd. Especially since she had ambushed me right outside afterwards while demanding to know whether I was going to betray her or not. But now as I watched her stand there with her spine straight while lethal lightning bolts cracked against my force walls only a step in front of her, I couldn’t help but feel like there were parts of her that actually trusted me to keep her safe.
The whole mountainside was lit up by flashing white and glittering green as Audrey and Leoni continued shooting attacks through the air while Jessica, Darren, and I blocked them on our respective sides.
Behind the three friends, Lance had begun looking worried once more. That arrogant confidence he had recovered while they were standing above us on the stones was draining from his face with every second. He, more than any of the others, knew what Audrey and I were capable of. And he knew what would happen to his friends if they lost. Dread rose in his blue eyes as he flicked his gaze between them and us.
Audrey took another step forward. Touching her palms together repeatedly, she threw slim tendrils of poison with barely a second’s pause in between. They shot through the air in a curving arc, making it impossible to determine who they were aimed at. Water sloshed as Jessica shot a large blast to block them, but there were so many of them and they were moving so fast that she missed a few.
The blond water mage ended up having to dive sideways to escape the remaining attacks while Darren furiously tried to keep the ones on his side at bay.
Before Jessica could get back on her feet, Audrey threw a massive cloud towards them all.
Panic flashed across their faces.
After shoving aside the last of the slim tendrils, Darren desperately threw a blast of wind at the cloud and stopped it a mere couple of inches before it could strike.
Earsplitting booms echoed into the cool mountain air as fear kicked in and Leoni started bombarding my force walls with everything she had. White light flashed across the gray stones with only a few seconds’ pause in between. My gaze shot back and forth, tracking the lightning bolts and blocking them before they could hit Audrey.
Glittering green whips snapped through the air as Audrey pressed the advantage on her end. Jessica had to roll across the ground to escape the attacks while Darren was hard pressed trying to protect both himself and the other two.
Another cloud shot towards Darren, and right behind it, two more tendrils. On the other side, Jessica had finally jumped to her feet and gotten her water magic up again, but she was faced with more rapid-fire poison attacks.
The green and white light flashed across Audrey’s face where she stood a couple of steps before me. Her spine was straight and her shoulders squared while she shot attack after attack. Complete command rolled off her whole body like waves, and her eyes pulsed with a sense of absolute control.
It took my breath away.
She was lethal. Ruthless. And fearless. Just watching her battle like this made my heart flip and my breath catch. She was death incarnate. And I had never wanted anyone as much as I wanted her.
Darren let out a cry of alarm as another hail of poisonous tendrils shot towards them with lethal speed. They tried desperately to block them all, but it was already too late.
A gigantic cloud of poison slammed into all three of them a second before they could get their magic up again.
The lightning strikes stopped abruptly as Leoni choked on the green mist as well. Dull thuds sounded as the three of them crashed down on the gravel-filled stone. I let my next force wall drop.
On the other side of the glittering green cloud, Lance Carmichael stared at his friends with true horror in his eyes.
We couldn’t kill them because we still needed Lance to dismantle the Enhancer. And if they were dead, we wouldn’t have any leverage left to force him to do that. Though, depending on Lance’s next move, we could always kill one of them. Just to make a point.
Audrey took a step forward.
The movement seemed to snap Lance out of his stupor because his gaze shot up to her.
Taking a long stride to catch up, I fell in beside Audrey as we walked towards them.
“Now, I believe we offered you a deal earlier,” Audrey said as we continued forwards. “Surrender to us, or we will kill all three of you while we make Lance watch. You refused.” A cruel smile curled her lips as she spread her arms to indicate the poison cloud. “And now, here we are.”
Inside the glittering mist, the three friends only continued choking and dry heaving while their arms hung uselessly by their sides. A smirk pulled at my lips. It was rather fun to watch that when I wasn’t the one on the receiving end of it.
“No,” Lance pressed out.
Broken bits of stone rolled over the flat edge and clattered down the mountain as he darted forward and sprinted around the lethal cloud. Audrey and I just continued walking. Behind us, Henry and Paige remained where they were.
“I gave you plenty of warnings.” Audrey slid her gaze to the Binder as he ran to intercept us before she could walk into the poison cloud where no one else could follow. “And chances.”
“No!” Lance skidded to a halt in front of her just a few steps before the swirling green mist. Sheer panic bounced across his face as he held up his shackled hands in a pleading gesture. “Wait. Please.”
Audrey, who was an entire head shorter than the Binder, tilted her head back and locked hard eyes on him. “I did wait. After we offered you that deal, I waited for you to accept it.”
“But—”
“But you didn’t. And now you get to watch as I torture them.” Raising a hand, she slowly curled her fingers in front of Lance’s face. “I will torture them in the same excruciatingly painful way that I tortured you.”
Lance’s legs buckled. Crashing down on his knees, he stared up at Audrey with fearful eyes. “No. Please don’t.”
“Are you trying to appeal to my merciful side? I hate to break it to you, darling, but I don’t have one.”
“I’ll do whatever you want. Just please, please, don’t hurt them.”
Leaning down, Audrey buried her fist in Lance’s collar. When she spoke, her voice was as cold and smooth as her poison. “I gave you a chance to comply. To follow orders. But instead, you chose to put a knife to my friend’s throat. Actions have consequences. So now I will torture your friends until you are begging me to kill them.”
A broken sob tore from Lance’s throat and tears spilled down his cheeks. Releasing his collar, Audrey made as if to walk around him. But before she could take a single step, Lance threw himself down and wrapped one of his shackled hands around her ankle.
“P-please,” he begged. Pressing his forehead against the ground, he clung to her leg desperately. “Please, I’m begging you. I’ll do anything you want. Anything.”
Blood rushed to my cock as I watched Audrey look down at the groveling Binder. Damn, she was so fucking hot when she did things like this.
“I already told you,” Audrey said, a wicked smile on her lips. “It’s too late for empty promises.”
“No.” A strangled sob bubbled from Lance’s throat as he looked up at her with pleading eyes. “I’ll dismantle the Enhancer. I’ll fight for you. I’ll use my powers against the Chancellor. I’ll do anything you say. Anything you want. Just please, please, don’t hurt my friends.”
Raising her eyebrows, she gave him a considering look.
Then she slid her gaze to me, and a sly smile full of victory curled her lips.
Hell damn it all.
I loved that vicious little poisoner so fucking much.
