Murder of Crows (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress Book 2) by Annie Bellet Page B
Authors: Annie Bellet
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on instinct than with clear thought, I thrust the beaded talisman around Not Afraid’s neck.
The Crow shrieked and shifted. Now I wrestled with Not Afraid himself. He looked fifteen but his body had a strength I couldn’t match. Jasper went down and Not Afraid shoved me off, then came after me, ripping the talisman bag from his neck. He was free of my father. Free and clear for me to blast the shit out of him.
I summoned my power and sent a bolt of pure force at him. It should have ripped him apart, but he merely staggered and then laughed. His hands and face were covered in blood. My father’s blood or Sky Heart’s, I wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter.
“You broke your oath,” I said as I struggled to my feet.
“I had a prior oath.” He grinned at me, his gaunt and bloody face a death mask. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small rectangular piece of paper, tossing it onto the ground.
I ignored it and lunged for him, sending another bolt of power at his face. His eyes flared blue and he shifted to a giant crow again even as he leapt to meet me.
Wolf sprang between us, her huge body slamming into the crow and knocking it aside. I twisted and managed to avoid colliding with her as well. She spun and snarled, spit dripping from razor-sharp teeth as long as my fingers.
Not Afraid beat his wings and lifted into the sky, circling once and then glowing with bright blue fire before disappearing into the sunlight like a ghost.
I let go of my magic, falling against Wolf’s warm body as exhaustion hit me like a drunk driver with a lead foot. My foggy brain realized someone was crying, pleading over and over for someone not to leave them.
Jasper. I opened my eyes.
He lay in a spreading pool of blood, his chest ripped open, his heart a smoking ruin within a mess of pink lung tissue and too-bright red blood. I knew he was dead. Even a shifter can’t heal a vital organ destroyed by fire.
Pearl knelt over him, his head in her lap, smoothing her hands over his hair again and again, her pleading a high keening, the words blending and melding until they meant nothing. Emerald stood behind Pearl, her face pale with shock, her green eyes wide and unseeing. As I watched, shudders and shakes took over her body and she dropped to her knees and clung to her mother.
Movement to my side caught my eye as something fluttered on the ground. The paper that Not Afraid had removed from his shirt.
Slowly, as though I had aged a thousand years, I staggered over and picked it up.
It was a post card.
I crumpled the post card in my hand, igniting it with a thought as I let it flutter toward the ground again. It was ash even as it hit.
A scream that shifted to a high-pitched snarl was my only warning. Em rose to her feet and sprang at me, shifting in midair into a white wolf. I threw my hands up and pushed magic out into a shield in front of me.
She bounced off the shield and twisted, landing on her feet. She sprang again and again I forced her away.
“Em,” I yelled. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Snarl. Leap. Bounce. Twist. Repeat.
Then people around us started shifting, turning into crows. They rose as a black swarm into the sky and descended at me, dive-bombing me like I was a bird of prey.
I pulled my power around me like a dome and hunkered down, throwing everything I had into keeping the shield up. Through the barrage of black wings I caught Pearl watching, Jasper’s head still in her lap, and I silently pleaded with her to stop this, to call them off.
She shook her head and looked away from me, her face quickly lost in the slam and flurry of winged bodies.
I couldn’t hold the shield forever. They wouldn’t be able to kill me, but I had no idea what happened to a sorceress who is torn apart. How long would it take to regenerate? Years? What would that pain feel like? Would I be conscious?
Em’s wolf body slammed into my shield again and this time I felt the reverberation right down into my bones. I was
The Crow shrieked and shifted. Now I wrestled with Not Afraid himself. He looked fifteen but his body had a strength I couldn’t match. Jasper went down and Not Afraid shoved me off, then came after me, ripping the talisman bag from his neck. He was free of my father. Free and clear for me to blast the shit out of him.
I summoned my power and sent a bolt of pure force at him. It should have ripped him apart, but he merely staggered and then laughed. His hands and face were covered in blood. My father’s blood or Sky Heart’s, I wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter.
“You broke your oath,” I said as I struggled to my feet.
“I had a prior oath.” He grinned at me, his gaunt and bloody face a death mask. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small rectangular piece of paper, tossing it onto the ground.
I ignored it and lunged for him, sending another bolt of power at his face. His eyes flared blue and he shifted to a giant crow again even as he leapt to meet me.
Wolf sprang between us, her huge body slamming into the crow and knocking it aside. I twisted and managed to avoid colliding with her as well. She spun and snarled, spit dripping from razor-sharp teeth as long as my fingers.
Not Afraid beat his wings and lifted into the sky, circling once and then glowing with bright blue fire before disappearing into the sunlight like a ghost.
I let go of my magic, falling against Wolf’s warm body as exhaustion hit me like a drunk driver with a lead foot. My foggy brain realized someone was crying, pleading over and over for someone not to leave them.
Jasper. I opened my eyes.
He lay in a spreading pool of blood, his chest ripped open, his heart a smoking ruin within a mess of pink lung tissue and too-bright red blood. I knew he was dead. Even a shifter can’t heal a vital organ destroyed by fire.
Pearl knelt over him, his head in her lap, smoothing her hands over his hair again and again, her pleading a high keening, the words blending and melding until they meant nothing. Emerald stood behind Pearl, her face pale with shock, her green eyes wide and unseeing. As I watched, shudders and shakes took over her body and she dropped to her knees and clung to her mother.
Movement to my side caught my eye as something fluttered on the ground. The paper that Not Afraid had removed from his shirt.
Slowly, as though I had aged a thousand years, I staggered over and picked it up.
It was a post card.
I crumpled the post card in my hand, igniting it with a thought as I let it flutter toward the ground again. It was ash even as it hit.
A scream that shifted to a high-pitched snarl was my only warning. Em rose to her feet and sprang at me, shifting in midair into a white wolf. I threw my hands up and pushed magic out into a shield in front of me.
She bounced off the shield and twisted, landing on her feet. She sprang again and again I forced her away.
“Em,” I yelled. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Snarl. Leap. Bounce. Twist. Repeat.
Then people around us started shifting, turning into crows. They rose as a black swarm into the sky and descended at me, dive-bombing me like I was a bird of prey.
I pulled my power around me like a dome and hunkered down, throwing everything I had into keeping the shield up. Through the barrage of black wings I caught Pearl watching, Jasper’s head still in her lap, and I silently pleaded with her to stop this, to call them off.
She shook her head and looked away from me, her face quickly lost in the slam and flurry of winged bodies.
I couldn’t hold the shield forever. They wouldn’t be able to kill me, but I had no idea what happened to a sorceress who is torn apart. How long would it take to regenerate? Years? What would that pain feel like? Would I be conscious?
Em’s wolf body slammed into my shield again and this time I felt the reverberation right down into my bones. I was
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