Page 82 of Awakened and Betrayed
A pulse of fuschia magic darts from me towards him and Becket pulls the shield from Kallan and erects it around himself. My magic hits the barrier and starts to coat it. I reach for the tendrils of magic that Enoch has waiting in the ground and force my magic towards them forcing a wall of dirt up and around him. Offensive magic fully surrounds Becket’s barrier, and I force a streak of lightning into it.
The barrier-turned-cage lights up with energy trapping Becket inside. I feel the shield-runes on my body go on high alert, and a shield explodes out of my side and a red ball of magic slams into it. I turn to Enoch and throw orbs of fuschia magic in return, lighting up the atmosphere around us with Offensive magic as the orbs slam into each other and fight to connect with the other person.
Snake-like tendrils of the ground form around me and they come for me, trying to wrap themselves and find purchase anywhere they can, to cage me in. I dodge and weave, running towards Enoch as I jump, spin, and dash through sections of the earth that try to claim me and keep me from my target. I pull the magic from Becket’s barrier as I fight towards Enoch. I release throwing knives in Becket’s direction and send a pulse of orange magic at Kallan, knocking him back from where he’s running at me.
I look up just as Enoch is feet from me, and we slam into each other at full speed. I let out a pained grunt at the contact and instinctively shove both of my hands against his chest. Power shoots out of my palms when they connect with Enoch, and as soon as I register the color, I try to pull my hands away and stop, but I can’t move.
Violet magic slams into Enoch’s chest, and judging by the look on his face, whatever I’m doing is hurting him. I scream out my effort to pull away from him and get control of what I’m doing. I reach into my core and try to constrict the flow of Sentinel magic flooding out of me. I close my eyes and focus everything that I have on reigning myself in. Hands wrap themselves around my wrists, and my eyes flash open to find Valen staring at me, panic in his eyes.
“I can’t stop,” I shout to him, but I don’t know if he can hear me past the loud rushing sound coming from the power I’m forcing into Enoch.
Suddenly all the Sentinel magic flooding Enoch, pulses out of him, slamming into everyone else before it continues to flash out towards the trees, and disappears. I take shaky hands away from Enoch, and he collapses to the ground as I scramble backward away from him. Valen wraps his arms around me, keeping me from moving any further away and the other guys rush to surround us. The guys crowd around me, running their hands and eyes all over me to make sure I’m okay, each of them wearing a look of alarm.
“Oh, fuck did I kill him? Is he okay? I felt like I was killing him.”
I’m terrified of the answer, but I have to know. Ryker joins Becket, Nash, and Kallan who are bending over and kneeling around Enoch.
“He’s awake and breathing, Squeaks. It’s okay!”
Relief floods me, and I stare down at my hands feeling betrayed. I have no idea what just happened. I’ve never felt anything like that before.
“Fuck, that hurt!” Enoch announces.
I watch him try to sit up, and Nash helps him lean forward and into a sitting position. Enoch pats himself down like he’s making sure everything that’s supposed to be there is still there. His blue eyes search around him until they land on me.
“I’m so fucking sorry; I have no idea what just happened,” I say, guilt flooding my body.
“Are you okay?” he asks me.
I nod that I am, and watch as Nash runs his hands over his coven mate, checking for any areas that might need healing.
“I don’t feel any injuries. Anything going on inside that would tell you differently?”
Enoch stares down at his arms, torso and then his legs. “I’m good, just have a fuck ton of adrenaline pumping through me right now. Nothing hurts or feels different.”
Knox steps into my line of sight, blocking Enoch from my view.
“Did you just mark him?”
His question shocks the fuck out of me, and it takes me a second to answer.
“No, it didn’t feel like what happened with you guys. When I give you Sentinel magic, it feels good to you, and to me. That’s not what just happened.”
The fury that fills Knox’s face at my words takes me aback. He whirls on Enoch just as his coven helps him up off the ground.
“Did you just try to force her to mark you? What the fuck did you do, Cleary?” Knox accuses, stepping toward Enoch.
Bastien and Sabin grab onto Knox keeping him from advancing too far.
“What the fuck? I would never do something like that, even if it were possible, which I don’t think it is!”
“We all felt what she felt; it was like someone was taking the magic and she couldn’t stop it. So I will ask you again, and if I find out you’re lying, I will fucking kill you! Did you, or your dad, do something to make this happen, to try and force her?”
Enoch’s features darken with rage, and he tries to square off with Knox, his coven holds him back just like Sabin and Bastien hold Knox back.
“I already fucking told you that I wouldn’t do that to her. If you question me one more time, we’re going to have a serious fucking problem, Howell.”
I step out of Valen’s hold and move in between Knox and Enoch. I’m not sure what to say. Knox’s accusation has stunned me silent. Before he said anything, I would have just chalked this up to another episode of spazzy magic, but I can’t get the taint of Knox’s words out of my head. Could they have done that to me? I try to shake off my doubt. If it were possible to force a marking, wouldn’t Adriel have figured that out when he was trying to get magic from my mother?
