Splendid Fall

Ch.28 Mind-Link

Chapter 28

Azad's arms around her legs left as if they were made of iron. Birdie couldn't breath as her chest tightened and her screams filled her lungs. She beat his back with her fists as he carried her up the stairs to Ira's chamber.

"Let go of me!" Birdie screamed, wiggling and thrusting to set herself free. "Put me down!"

When her pleas fell on deaf ears, Birdie began to sob. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about her nightmares and hearing Jeffry's voice in her ears.

Her skin crawled with shivers as her stomach churned. She wanted to crawl out of her body and hide in whatever darkness she could find.

"No! No! No!" Birdie began to dig her nails into Azad's back.

"Ahh! Fuckin' hell, woman!" Azad groaned as he put her down in the middle of the room and grabbed the back of his neck in pain. When he pulled back, Birdie saw his finger tips were blood stained.

"Stay back!" She warned as she grabbed the chair closest to herself and swung it in front of her.

"My poor neck," Azad whined.

"Get out of my way," Birdie pushed the chair forward, her eyes on the door.

"Yeah, and let Ira whop my ass?" Azad snorted.

"Just move, damn it!"

"I can't," Azad shrugged.

"Move," Birdie's eyes narrowed.

"No," Azad chuckled, making Birdie think of Jeffry once more.

She automatically raised her hand and blasted the jinn in the head. But instead of the familiar warmth of her power, she felt a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach that traveled up into her chest and then into her eyes.

"What the actual fuck!" Azad, who had been thrown back against the stone walls groaned, throwing the fall bricks off of himself. "Don't do that again."

With rapid breathing and a panicked mind, Birdie looked down at her hands and then back up at the jinn.

"It's the autura," Azad said, spitting out a mouth full of blood.

Of course, Birdie opened and closed her fists. Nora was able to do the same.

"Stay back," Birdie held up her hand once more. "Or this one will hurt more."

"You don't know the first thing about fey magic," Azad said. "Don't go around using it lik-"

As the jinn took a step towards Birdie, unintentionally, she let out another blast and pushed the jinn back.

"Birdie!" Ira's voice boomed from the doorway. "Enough!"

"Stay the hell away from me!" Birdie yelled, aiming for her grandmother. "Don't come near me! Don't touch me!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Ira demanded as she raised her own hand and summoned her maig.

"Don't come near me," Birdie warned once more. "Don't touch me!"

"Put your hands down," Ira enunciated each word carefully through her teeth.

"No," Birdie shook her head, her eyes watering from the way the fey magic burned in her system. Her vision blurred, yet she stood her ground.

"Stop pulling from his magic," Ira demanded. "You'll wake everyone in the compound from the heat signatures you are sending out."

"Step aside and let me leave," Birdie said, not moving her hand or dropping Wren's magic.