Reaching Retribution(77)

“Hypersensitivity? I have no idea,” David says. Like me, he’s surveying the field around us. Normally, we’d be really excited for Emma, especially since she’s been waiting for her power, but there’s a lot going on right now.

I hear gasps around us and I look up right in time to see Ryanne drop to the ground, narrowly avoiding a flying dagger. Adam and Liam both whip around and face Dravin. They start to head for him, but Ryanne jumps up and shoots him with a bolt of lightning.

Dravin stops smiling as he is hurtled backward in a tree trunk. Both guys turn and look at Ryanne surprised. Seeing her lips moving, I turn toward Emma. I want to know what she’s saying.

“She said she can read minds, so she knew Dravin was going to throw the dagger, and he’s really starting to piss her off, so she wanted to be the one who attacked him first.”

I smile. That’s my girl.

Ryanne turns toward me again and places her palm over her heart. She mouths the words I love you. I do the same. She gives me a small smile and then does a back flip off the platform.

Without missing a beat, she side-kicks a Gadramick who had just unfrozen. Emma laughs, “I’ve missed her spunk.”

A second later, all the Gadramicks unfreeze and start fighting again like nothing happened. A couple look confused when the mages they were fighting before are no longer in front of them, but many fight like nothing happened. I swing my sword out at the same time as I think about Ryanne being attacked by all the Gadramicks here. I think about how she looked when Zahtri first brought her out—lying unconscious with bruises on her face and body. I feel my invisibility coming out as I punch a Gadramick in the stomach. He grunts in pain as I bring my sword over my head and stab him in the same spot as I punched.

I try to not think about how I just killed a man. He’s a Gadramick. This was the day I’ve been training for my whole life. I knew that I would have to kill. However, knowing that I would have to kill someone and actually doing it are two different things. I don’t have time to dwell on this for too long, because I feel something wet start to drip down my right arm.

I didn’t even feel any pain from the cut, but dark blood is dripping down my arm. I turn around and see a Gadramick grinning at me. I lunge for him, but he blocks my attack. “Your little girlfriend over there feels pretty good pressed up against me,” he says. “Like we’re meant for each other.”

I clench my jaw. Looking at him, I see the remnants of bruises under his eyes. This must be the Gadramick Adam attacked for trying to touch Ryanne.

“How’s your eye?” I ask him as I bring my sword forward again. He growls and steps back, but not far enough. The point of my weapon cuts through the fabric of his shirt and a couple layers of skin. Thick red blood seeps from the wound. Feeling the wetness on his chest, he yells and runs toward me, but I’m prepared for this attack.

Being angry, the man is sloppy. He’s not balanced on his feet and he’s only using his upper body to move the sword. Since he’s only using his arms, he’ll tire him out much sooner. I smile when I start to get the upper hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Natalie fighting off a Gadramick who is nearly twice her size.

I bring my sword back and thrust it into his gut. The man gurgles and falls to the ground. I pull my sword back and turn toward Natalie. My invisibility has completely taken over. Now, no one can see me.

I walk up behind the guy and thrust the hilt of my sword into the pressure point in the back of his neck. Without letting out a single noise, he falls to the ground with a thud. Natalie looks confused at first and then she smiles. “Thank you, Colton.”



*****

This Gadramick is really starting to make me mad. I don’t want to kill him, but he won’t stay down. I’ve attempted knocking him out without magic so many times, but he’s being stupid. I grunt as I duck his thrown punch and his laughter echoes through my mind.

He’s too cocky for his own good.

Adam walks up behind him and hits his pressure point, silently knocking him out. “Why does everyone know how to do that but me?” I yell at him.

He gives me a small smile as he turns and starts fighting another Gadramick. If anyone would have told me that one day Adam and I would work together, I wouldn’t believe them. Even without magic, Adam has been my enemy. Now, we’re working together to stop the Gadramicks; the same people he was helping only days ago.

My eyes land on the doorway, but Jedrek is no longer standing there. I don’t know where he went. Earlier, I walked up to him and apologized for yelling at him in the lab. I know that he didn’t understand what he was getting himself into. I remember when I was in the car accident with mom, I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t know what was going on around me.