A Matter of Heart by Heather Lyons Read Free Book Online Page B

know I’m close. And then, there he is, standing over two Elders squirming
     on the ground. Within seconds, I’ve dropped an entire slab of concrete on top
     of them. “Let’s go,” I order, grabbing his hand. We’re off.
    “Won’t hold.” His grip is a
     vise once more. Weird as it sounds, I feel a thousand times safer with his hand
     in mine than I would with a hundred Guard shielding me.
    He’s right, though. The two Elders
     are already back on our heels, raging bloody murder. Kellan and I run, and run,
     and my breath is fragile and ready to expire, and part of me wants to just lie
     down and give in. But then I remember who’s with me, and the thought of a
     single hair on his head being harmed causes a bomb to go off behind us.
    “A cave,” he yells. And
     there one is, thank the gods, miracle of miracles, a hundred feet before us.
     “Get ready to collapse the entrance,” he adds.
    I love that he has
     confidence in me to get the job done. “On it!” I stumble, but Kellan manages to
     keep me going.
    Fifty feet.
    Thirty feet.
    Twenty feet.
    “Get ready,” he reminds me.
    I tighten my hand against
     his. “I know .”
    We plunge into the darkness,
     and I do exactly as he asks.

 

    As the last rocks crumble
     into place, all light ceases to exist. I can still hear the screaming outside,
     though. It’s frenzied to the point of hysteria.
    “Do you think they can get
     through this?” I’m shaking all over, and I can’t figure out if it’s from
     straight-up fear or the sub-Arctic temperatures of the cave. We’ve gone from
     sweltering to freezing in a matter of moments.
    I quickly create a pair of
     coats and shove one in Kellan’s general direction.
    “I don’t know.” I can’t see
     Kellan’s face to tell if he’s lying to me or not, but he sounds calm. “Can you
     make it so they can’t get through?”
    The wall in front of us is
     rocked again. Chunks of debris rain down against me, but I gather my fragile
     courage and push myself forward. I stick a hand out and lay it against the cool
     stone, willing the walls to become impervious to anything other than a
     Creator’s touch. Relief for our assured safety, as sweet as it is, disappears
     as terror reclaims me.
    I wait for my eyes to adjust
     to the dark, but it just doesn’t happen as fast as I’d like. I stumble
     backwards right into Kellan. His hands momentarily settle on my shoulders to
     orientate me before dropping away. “Did you get a look around before I shut out
     the lights?”
    “Uh, no. I was a little busy
     just trying to get you away from those things.” He pauses. “It’s a good idea,
     though, having a look around.”
    “Don’t leave,” escapes from
     my mouth before I can stop the words.
    “I need to scout our
     location and see if there are any exits available to us. Conversely, it’d be
     nice to know if there’s a secondary way for the Elders to get in, don’t you
     think?”
    It suddenly occurs to me
     that I have the perfect solution. Why didn’t I think about it sooner? I close
     my eyes (not that it matters in this black), reach out and grab a piece of
     Kellan’s shirt, and will time to freeze, like I did last year when the Elders
     attacked Annar.
    When I open my eyes, it’s
     still dark. But it’s quiet . My heart leaps into my throat. I did it!
    Only, no. The screaming
     begins again. Okay . . .?
    I try it again. Everything
     just stop, go silent, go still, let us escape , I will everything around me.
     But the silence only lasts seconds before becoming a din once more.
    “Chloe, I need to have a
     look around,” Kellan tells me.
    Why didn’t it work? “It
     didn’t work!” I yell to him.
    “What didn’t work?”
    I’m too embarrassed to admit
     it to him. Me, the mighty Creator, who can’t even freeze time like she did
     before she even Ascended. Is it because I’m upset? My Magic can be a bit wonky
     when I’m not thinking straight, but . . .
    “I’m going to lead