Sascha handed her the heavy black walkie-talkie.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Amelia nodded.
"I can see you nodding only because I'm peeping you out with my scope; you have to press the button to talk," Meryn said.
Amelia just stared down. She couldn't muster up the desire to speak.
"Gamma Kitten One, what's wrong with her!" Meryn sounded frantic.
Sascha gently took the walkie-talkie from her and looked up at the roof. "She went through a bit of an ordeal. We have, what in the hell is his call sign..."--Sascha scrunched up his face--"...Foxy Boy, that's right. We have Foxy Boy coming in to help her with her magic. She'll be okay, Menace, I promise."
"You better not be bullshitting me."
Sascha scowled up at the roof line. "Would I bullshit someone who's looking at me through the scope of a sniper rifle?"
"Good point. Menace over and out."
Sascha rolled his eyes and reattached the walkie-talkie to his belt. He steered Amelia over to the steps leading up to the Council Manor. "Let's head inside, Quinn will be here soon."
She nodded followed him docilely. With every step she took, the pressure built in her mind. All over her body, she began to feel cuts, broken bones, bullet wounds, and concussions. She staggered back causing Sascha to stop. "What's the matter?"
Mothers' fear for their children, fathers' impotent anger, children crying, all flowed through her as if the emotions were her own. Anger and fear flooded her heart.
"Gamma Kitten One, come in, over."
"Not a good time, Menace," she heard Sascha say.
"Make time. The ferals are congregating just outside the square. I think they are going to make one massive attack on the building." Meryn reported.
"Gamma Kitten One, this is Adonis. I can confirm that report. Also, the streets are empty. The ferals are no longer getting reinforcements, over."
"Attention all units, fall back to the Council Manor steps. All reconnaissance groups return to base."
Sascha turned to Amelia. "I have to go back."
She nodded. "Okay."
Sascha turned and ran back to the barricade, lifting his weapon. One by one, the unit warriors ran into the square from side streets and jumped the barricade to get in position.
Amelia took a step closer to the Manor. The emotions washed over her, but instead of drowning, she focused on her own anger. She turned the peoples' despair and fear into her own strength. When the dam burst inside her, she let it happen. The swirling confusion stopped, and there was only blessed emptiness. For once, her empathy would help, not hinder her.
She walked down the steps to the barricade. She watched the ferals begin to surge forward. She climbed the barricade and began to walk leisurely across the square, as if she was going from one shop to the next.
"Amelia!" she heard Meryn scream.
She stared at the approaching ferals. They were the ones stealing people's souls. They were hurting and killing innocent people. They were the ones that hurt her and killed Keelan. Calmly, she raised her right hand, her power hand, and for the first time in her entire life, she let her magic go.
The very machine they had used to try to steal her magic had broken every binding put in place to restrict her magic. She was able to use it against them now; she would make them pay.
Under her feet, she felt the earth begin to shift and undulate like a rising wave. She coaxed it, called to it like a beloved child. Cobblestones flew in the air as large mud hands reached up and grabbed the ferals, their once terrifying advance stopped dead in its tracks.
Amelia. Sweetheart, you have to stop. A familiar voice said in her mind.
No, I don't want to.
I know you don't want to, but you have to. If you don't stop, you'll hurt someone, and I know you don't want that.
Yes, I do, Athair! I want to hurt them all! I want them dead!
Calm down and let me help you pull your magic in. Something has removed every protection I put in place for you.
No!
Amelia Violet Ironwood, you will do as I say. The voice was firm, uncompromising.
They killed Keelan!
She screamed and her earth magic began to tighten and twist the bodies it held in its mud hands.
Seconds later, a tremendous surge of magic flowed through her. Fire erupted out of the mud, incinerating the ferals almost instantly. She let her hand drop. Kendrick's fire magic had drained her of power. She knew he had somehow inadvertently used her to channel his own magic to destroy the ones that had killed his little brother.
She stood alone in the square. The ferals were now macabre statues of ash. A small body slammed into her back, and she felt arms wrap around her waist.
"Amelia, Amelia, Amelia! Don't leave me alone! You're the only family I have," Meryn begged, soaking her back with tears.