Page 52 of A Tempest of Revelation
I’d do whatever it took to get to Ellery.
Where is she?
It felt like hours since I last saw her, but it was probably only five minutes at most. Still, she was out there and vulnerable. While she could control the wind and turn away the tornadoes, she couldn’t useallher abilities without putting herself in further jeopardy.
When I shoved another rebel out of my way, some of the chaos before me parted. Though rain and hail continued to fall before me, no tornadoes spun here.
The lack of funnels gave me a clear view of Ellery on her knees, cradling her mother’s cheeks between her palms. Her drenched hair clung to her, and rain streaked her cheeks.
Despite the rain, Ellery’s anguished expression told me rain wasn’t the only thing wetting her face. My step faltered as, for a second, I felt her agony like it was mine.
Because of that, I didn’t take the whole scene in at first, but then my emotions calmed enough for me to comprehend more, and I saw the spear protruding from Meredith’s back and the heart pinned to the floor. Sorrow filled me as adrenaline propelled me onward.
I understood Ellery’s distress, but she had tomove. She’d stopped paying attention to her surroundings, and if she stayed where she was, she’d get killed.
Before I made it three more feet, tornadoes swirled between us, cutting her off from me again.Fuck!
I threw another rebel out of the way and ran into a guard who’d succeeded in decapitating one of the hooded figures. The guard grunted and lifted his sword toward me before stilling his hand.
I didn’t bother to explain myself; he probably believed I was trying to get away too. Whatever he thought didn’t matter as he stepped back to give me clearance.
My arms ached to hold Ellery and shelter her from this place. I couldn’t give her back what she’d lost, but I could save her, and I would.
The tornadoes parted again to reveal one of the hooded rebels behind Ellery. They gripped her shoulders and pulled her back before a tornado blocked them from view once more.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Ryker
The rage fillingmy chest caused lightning from the tornado behind me to flash out. It struck against my back, rose around me, and became a cloud of white electricity that pulsed with every step I took.
They weretouchingher. And if they hurt one hair on her head, I’d shove that hood down their throats and choke them with it while cutting off every one of their body parts.
Thunder quaked the floor until it heaved and splintered apart again. Having no idea where Ellery was anymore, I kept it away from where I’d last seen her, but I couldn’t control the rolling thunder. I was too irate for that.
Startled shouts filled the air as I directed my tornado in front of me. My back would be vulnerable, but the funnel could clear a path through everyone far faster than I could.
Fueled by my fury, the tornado tore into the floor, ripping it apart as it sought to carve a trail to where I’d last seen her. I followed the path it created as the two groups came together behind me to clash again.
Those who remained huddled on the floor cried out as they scrambled to get away from me, the tornado, and the opposing sides. The rain drenching us wasn’t enough to wash away the blood coating the floor; pink rivers ran all around me.
My tornado threw aside the bodies and appendages of those who weren’t fortunate enough to evade the battle. The rebels were rapidly losing ground, and more of their bodies decorated the dance floor as the better-trained guards slaughtered them.
With the tornado guiding my way, I broke free of the mayhem as the hair on my nape rose. I spun and, despite the electricity still encompassing my body, came face-to-face with a rebel with bloodstained clothes and a sword lifted over their head.
The wild look in their eyes told me they’d stopped giving a shit about surviving; they wanted to take out everyone they could before being brought down themselves. They probably considered bringing me down a big triumph with my status as a noble and my abilities, but while someone might eventually kill me, it wouldn’t be them.
With a flick of my wrist, I shot a bolt from the electricity surrounding me. It struck them in the chest and burst from their eyes before flinging them back.
I didn’t feel so much as a flicker of regret over destroying the asshole as they hit the ground and didn’t move again. I spun back toward where I’d last seen Ellery, but she was gone, and so was the rebel who’d seized her.
My gaze shot to the garden doors, but they wouldn’t have had enough time to reach them. Retreating rebels clogged the doors.
Not all the rebels had entirely admitted defeat and run yet, but they had to know they’d lost. I didn’t know what the insurgents planned to do next and didn’t care; only Ellery mattered, and she hadn’t gone that way.
I looked to the doorway leading out of the ballroom and back toward the main hall, but tornadoes blocked the exit. The rebel holding her wouldn’t have taken her that way, and I suspected they were still together; the rebel would most likely try to use her as leverage to escape.
A tornado spun out of the way enough to reveal Samael ushering some guests across the floor toward the dais. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t a coward.
