Page 74 of The Black Key

Strong, beautiful girls. Paladin.

“Southgate to Raven!” I call. “Northgate to Sil! Eastgate to Olive! Westgate—”

I’m interrupted by a flat piece of stone wall sliding open. A Regimental steps out and for a second I panic, but the glint of blond hair under his cap makes my chest swim with relief.

“What are you doing here?” I demand, walking over to greet Garnet. “You were supposed to—”

But all my panic returns when I am close enough to see his face.

It isn’t Garnet.

Hidden doors are all around us, clicking like insects as they slide open, Regimentals pouring out of them, a wall of red.

We are surrounded.

Twenty-Four

SURPRISE SEEMS TO BE OUR ONE ADVANTAGE.

The blond one is staring at me, mouth open, like he’s never seen a girl before.

The room is a powder keg, waiting to explode. The instant someone moves, the spell will be broken. My knees bend slightly as I prepare myself to light the spark.

There is stone all around us. Water beneath us. Air everywhere. Sienna has her lighter.

“Who in the Exetor’s name are you?” the Regimental says.

“I am Violet Lasting,” I say calmly. Then I take a deep breath and cry, “Paladin!”

I join with Air instinctively, gathering all the molecules of air in this room toward me, condensing and compacting them. Then I release them, like a stone from a slingshot, at the blond Regimental still gaping at me. The force of it is so powerful, he is slammed into the far wall and slumps to the ground unconscious.

“Sil, Earth!” I shout. “Indi, Water!”

There is a rumble underfoot as the floor begins to shake. Sil shouts for the girls who can to join with Earth, but the Regimentals are running toward them, despite the unsteady ground. I send two flying, but a third has drawn his gun and is pointing it straight at my head.

This is it, I think. Maybe I’ll get to see Lucien again. And my father.

Then the Regimental is engulfed in flames. His screams stun everyone temporarily as I turn and see Sienna, lighter in hand, a murderous expression on her face. We nod to each other as a crater opens up at our feet, Sil and Amber and five other girls focusing on the ground. Two Regimentals fall into it as the crater deepens, searching for the water down below. Sienna sends a snaking coil of fire toward a Regimental aiming his gun at Sloe.

“Don’t shoot to kill!” one of them calls out to the others. “The royalty need them alive!”

“Are you crazy?” one shouts back as another cries, “What’s happening?”

The crater hits water—I can smell it; I can feel its writhing, fluid force.

“Finally,” Indi sighs. She’s with seven other girls, and they condense the water the way I’ve condensed Air, forming it into a thick white jet and shooting it across the hall. It hits one Regimental hard in the face and his neck snaps back. Others raise their hands to cover their eyes as the jet splits into seven, and Regimentals start slipping on the wet floor.

I’m still connected with Air when I hear the bullet. I don’t know if I make the conscious decision or somehow the element does it for me, but it whizzes by my ear, nicking my lobe, and then sharply shifts direction, landing in the shoulder of an oncoming Regimental. I ignore the sting of pain and the feel of blood dripping down my neck.

My eyes land on the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Earth!” I cry. “The walls!”

Sil and I make eye contact and I jerk my head to the light fixture. Sloe joins us, then Amber, adding her own force to our might, so that cracks begin to snake up the walls and then across the ceiling.

“Back up, back up!” I shout, and the Paladin scatter toward the door as the chandelier sways precariously over the main force of Regimentals.

There is a loud crack and it falls, delicately at first, a beautiful swirl of light and metal. I grab Sil’s hand and run, barreling right into Sloe and getting all three of us out of the way just as the chandelier crashes down.