"I was wondering what kind of girl could have botched up a rescue attempt so badly. Now that I know it was you all along, everything makes sense."
"Go away."
Rome runs his nose down the side of my face, smiling at the way I shiver. "After all thes...
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MY AIM IS PERFECT.
The sails through the air and dagger slices through the glass of champagne. Drops of liquid ruby fly everywhere. Some of them land on Rome, staining his shirt and hands. He flinches. Guests scream. Madame Abernathy whips around. The bodyguards take a step back, stunned, and glance at each other.
The sigh of relief lodges in my throat when Ava Abernathy spots me.
She raises her arm, sparks of emerald crackling between her fingers, and points. I take a step back, as if to block her fury. It's too late. The sparks turns into rays of fire, which turns into lightening.
A bolt of electric green slams into me.
And the entire world explodes.
Energy and fire burn my nerves from the edges of my toenails to the tips of my hair. Screaming. Stretching. The heat gets stuck in my mouth, burns the crevices of my eyes, boils my blood and causes my lungs to collapse. Collapse. It's harder to breathe. I can't breathe.
I can't breathe.
Burnt flesh. Singed buzzing. Hazy grey. Metal and heat lingers on my tongue. I inhale forcefully, exhale involuntarily, and do it all over again.
Breath in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. It's getting easier. The trapped heat racing through my blood start to cool. I feel the rose-tinted breeze of the gardens cling to my clothes and the blades of grass press against my back.
Then - Ava's voice.
She's yelling at somebody, "Jacquelyn, get away from her."
"I'm bringing her back to consciousness," Says another woman. A pulse of ice, refreshing and cool, sinks into me. The pain fades, pulse by pulse.
"She doesn't deserve your -"
"You nearly killed her, Ava. I'm just making sure she survives."
"Maybe she shouldn't."
"You shouldn't say things like that."
"I'm being serious. If it wasn't for the fact that Winifred aim is horrendous - always was - she would have killed Rome."
The other girl doesn't reply.
So Ava hit me with one of her deadliest powers, a deadly bolt of lightening. She could have killed me. Confronted with the thought of death, I force myself to open my eyes.
The sunlight dazes me for a moment. I focus on the figure in front of me.
A girl with braids of red and gold presses her hands against my stomach. The bottom of my shirt has completely burnt off, leaving behind nothing but frayed black threads. She presses her hands to my stomach, emitting off a snowy daffodil glow.
