Descending Darkness(54)

“Drop the shield, Ryanne,” I tell her. I move her behind me as she drops the shield. Instantly, all the men run toward us. She takes a couple steps forward, so she is beside me.

“I’m beside you, Colton. Not behind you. We’re in this together,” she says while watching the men come forward. I can feel her magic moving around us. As Liam and I take a defensive stance, she continues to stare. I glance over at her as she leans forward a little. The first row of men all gasp and fall. Ryanne smiles slightly and gets into position. David and Logan stop beside Liam and me.

Ryanne runs straight for the man in the middle and does an aerial cartwheel. He stops dead in his tracks, stunned. She lands in front of him and swings her leg up, kicking him in the jaw. He falls to the ground. She then turns to her left and starts attacking the next man. Wow, that is hot.

David hits me in the arm, breaking me out of my trance right as a man stops in front of me. I deflect his blow and start fighting him. I am able to easily defeat him. I turn to the next guy. Liam is fighting alongside Ryanne, but she seems to be holding her own. She’s taken out the most people.

The man she is fighting falls to the ground. She scans the area, looking for someone. Her eyes look past me and narrow. I look behind me and see Adam leaning against a tree, smiling at her. She takes off running toward him. “Ryanne, don’t!” I shout at her as she runs past me. All the guys that try to grab her as she runs past fall to the ground shocked by the amount of magic she is pushing out.

While I’m not paying attention, the man punches me in the stomach. I grunt in pain but quickly recover. Liam makes his way over to me and hits this guy’s pressure point as well. He crumples to the ground. I thank him and look toward Ryanne, who is already fighting with Adam. From here, it doesn’t look like Adam is fighting back. He seems to be only deflecting her hits.

Thunder rumbles in the distance and dark clouds start forming above us. I hear a scream behind me as I see Natalie, Emma, and Bragden slowly being surrounded. Liam keeps looking between the two. The protector in him needs to help Ryanne, but his feelings for Natalie make him want to go to her. I make the decision for him. I push him toward Ryanne, and I move toward Natalie. I want to be the one to help my soulmate, but I know that Liam has to be the one to do it.

I push through everyone and start fighting with the guy trying to fight Natalie. For only having a few training sessions, she is holding up pretty well. Punching him in the jaw, I push him to the side and start fighting with the guy Emma is trying to fend off. I hear a scream behind me and turn around. Ryanne is lying on her back with Adam standing over her. His mouth is moving, but I can’t tell what he’s saying. Without looking, I punch the man I am fighting.

I’m starting to get mad. No one’s going to hurt my girl anymore. Natalie reaches forward and grabs onto my forearm, keeping me from going to her and calming me at the same time. Feeling a few drops of water hit my skin, I glance up at the sky and watch as raindrops slowly cascade down. Ryanne leans backward and puts her hands over her head and kicks up into a standing position. That’s my girl. She laughs at Adam and thrusts her foot onto his. When he doubles over, she elbows him in the stomach and spins around, raising her leg. The side of her foot connects with his chest. Adam staggers backward but doesn’t fall. She shakes her head and thrusts magic toward him. He flies backward into a tree and falls to the ground, unconscious. Liam finally makes his way over to her.

Grabbing onto her arm, he says something to her. She nods and turns to face another man who is running toward her. Liam pushes her behind him, but Ryanne jumps back in front of him and points her hand out, palm facing forward. A lightning bolt shoots out of it and hits the man in the chest. He touches the area and falls to the ground, gasping for air.

“STOP!” she yells, trying to make her voice audible over the downpour. We’re all soaked by this point. I hear the sound of a back door opening. Turning around, I see a very frightened couple standing in the doorway. A couple of men start running toward her again, so she pushes more magic out. When her magic connects with the men, they fall to the ground. “Go. NOW!” She’s not even trying to hold in her anger at this point.

“Ryanne?” a feminine voice asks. Ryanne looks at the woman standing the doorway and shakes her head at her. No one has moved. They seem confused by the turn of events and frightened by her magic. Another pang of thunder resonates and a bolt of lightning strikes the ground in front of Ryanne, illuminating the angered expression on her face. Her hair is flying around her vehemently as the wind intensifies even more.