Martyr by A. R. Kahler Read Free Book Online Page B

could only focus on the warmth of Jarrett, the solidity of the arms wrapped tight around his body.
    â€œCome on,” Jarrett said. “The rest of us are regrouping at the meeting point. We’re too spread out.”
    With Jarrett still supporting him, Tenn hobbled through the streets. His foot kicked something. When he glanced down, he saw it was the woman’s head.
    â€œWhat was…what was she?” he asked.
    â€œA necromancer,” Jarrett said. His teeth were clenched.
    Tenn didn’t say anything else. He didn’t want Jarrett to know that the necromancer had singled him out. That Leanna was actively hunting for him. My sister has an interest in you , Tomás had said. Of course he had meant Leanna. Of course they were tied together. He knew he should tell Jarrett. He knew not admitting it was close to treason, but he also had a terrible feeling that the truth was a greater betrayal.
    He knew how things added up, knew why he’d been stationed outside of Outer Chicago. Why they’d all been sent out here. This wasn’t just a random army. This wasn’t a routine defense mission.
    The Howls were hunting for him.
    And the Prophets knew it.

5
    The twins and a half-dozen other Hunters waited by the obelisk. Devon was conscious, but he crouched on a bench with his head in his hands, looking at no one. The sky was a hazy pink from the flames, and Tenn felt the magic of Dreya’s magical barrier the moment they walked within a block of the shore. Waves crashed hard against the stone wall separating land from lake, the roar nearly as loud as the burning city. Storms stretched across the black horizon, arcs of lightning flickering over the endless water. Tenn shuddered to think that that was their way out.
    Dark shadows oozed from the city as kravens and other nightmarish creatures swarmed the boulevard. The shield should be enough to keep the Howls and necromancers at bay. How long that protection would hold, however, was anyone’s guess. Judging from the strain in Dreya’s features, she wouldn’t last much longer.
    â€œWhat do we do?” asked Katherine. There were streaks of blood across her face, and her right arm was bound with a makeshift tourniquet. She held only one dented katana, and it was smeared black with blood. Shame pulsed through Tenn—he should have stayed back to heal them. Now, after being tapped, the mere thought of touching either of his Spheres made him cringe. If they die, it’s my fault. I should have stayed back to save them .
    Jarrett helped Tenn sit down on one of the benches. A few other dirtied Hunters were there, but no one seemed too heavily injured. He prayed that this wasn’t all that was left of their troop. Not only because that was a lot of deaths, but because there were many more Howls to kill.
    And because, in some unknown, twisted way, those comrades were dying and bleeding because of him.
    Jarrett opened his mouth to give a command when an explosion rent through the air and cut him off. Light burst from the city, followed by a tremor so great the obelisk cracked. But it wasn’t the mushroom cloud billowing into the air or the scent of brimstone that made them cower—it was the power, the sheer force of the magic that ripped through the air like a bomb.
    Tenn had seen power in his life, but he’d never seen power as great as that.
    â€œWhat the…” Katherine whispered.
    They stared in silence as the smoke cleared, weapons raised, pulses speeding. Air glowed brighter in Dreya’s throat as she reinforced the shield. There was a note in her eyes that Tenn had never seen before. It wasn’t just focus; it was fear. And that scared him more than anything.
    From the ruins floated a shape. The silhouette appeared first, suspended high above the crumbling towers and burning storefronts. Then the glint of light, the breath of power, as the stranger’s Spheres came into focus: Earth, Fire, and Air.