BREAKING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 1)

Chapter 19

Fear of falling made me cling to him, entwining my fingers in the soft cotton of his shirt. He said nothing, and at that moment I would have taken anything, even a passing comment about the weather.

Finally, he spoke. "Who are they?"

I looked ahead to where people on brooms flew our way. They were not members of my coven, but they were inside the dome. In all, I counted seven. Seven witches I didn't know.

"They're not from Valestone."

"But they're inside," Rafe's eyes rolled up. "Has the dome failed?"

The witches aligned in the shape of a V, a blonde witch at the helm. She hollered something the wind took away.

"Wait. Isn't she the witch from Mr Hollway's?"

A piercing whistle sounded out.

Rafe stalled in the air, jolting me. An agonising cry rang from his lips, fingertips biting into my flesh. The feathers framing the end of his wings stood on end like a row of jagged gunmetal knives.

We fell, plummeting to the ground like rocks hurled from a mountain top.

Somehow, Rafe twisted his body so he was beneath me and took the full impact as we hit the ground in a cloud of dust. I rolled off his body across the tarmac lane, groaning as I grazed the hard surface, landing several feet away.

Rafe gasped in pain.

As soon as I stopped rolling, I was on my knees crawling for him. Pushing his hair from his face, I felt sick at how much colour he'd lost.

"Go. Get back to your grandmother."

Thuds, one after the other, called my attention away. The witches landed nearby, the blonde still in front. They dismounted, clutching their brooms in one hand, the brushes trailing. Their dresses struck me, all alike with bejewelled black and red bodices moulded to their forms, a sweep of dark, delicate tulle ending at booted ankles.

I turned to Rafe. "No chance."

Standing, I faced the seven witches head on. They were a distance away still, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I knew her. No time to think about that now. The blonde witch started raising a hand, I copied her.

"Riley, wait!"

I didn't. I closed my eyes and found myself on the beach of my childhood, no longer the child gorging on fish and chips. The sea surged around my ankles, a rush of salt-laden wind playing with my hair. I faced the sea and stole its power.

My fear vanished.

With all the strength I could muster, I summoned a wave of water. More and more I gave it, building a wall between them and us that spanned the breadth of the lane. Murky shadows grew larger on the other side. I concentrated on making it thicker, higher, putting everything I had into it. The fluid wall held steadfast, the watery figures on the other side wavering. Rushing back to Rafe, I threw his arm over my shoulder, my knees buckling beneath his weight.

He gritted his teeth again, stretching out his wings. We were in the air and away before the witches made it over the wall. One wing worked as normal, smooth and graceful, the other twitched, thick blood oozing out from where an arrow pierced the feathers and skin beneath.

"Rafe-"

"Don't. I need to concentrate on flying."

Behind us, the witches had taken to the air above my wall of contained water. But they didn't follow, just bobbed on their brooms, the blonde witch's eyes trained on me. She had a hand in the air staying the others.