I kept my eyes on the pipe as I listened to Cail’s breathing, trying to ignore the earsplitting pressure from my lungs. My mind screamed at me for air, and I screamed back that he would kill me.
The door slowly closed, the sound of the hinge grinding through my brain and making the movement feel even slower. I waited to breathe, but his footsteps did not retreat. He was standing right on the other side of the door waiting for me. He knew I was in here.
Cail was playing his game.
Everything inside of me was begging for air. I took a step forward, my feet soft against the floor. I reached out and wrapped my hands around the pipe, the metal cold and slimy underneath my fingers. I gripped it firmly, moving it up like a bat as I surged my magic through it. If I couldn’t use my ability as a weapon against him, then I would use it to increase the power of a weapon.
I closed my eyes. Please don’t let Ilyan still be next to me. Please don’t let this actually move through into the real world.
My breath released as I swung the pipe forward, aiming it where Cail would be standing on the other side of the door. My magic filled the metal, making it grow red as it prepared to explode through the door and hopefully Cail.
I saw the shadow of Cail’s feet shift as the pipe made contact with the door, the rotted wood falling away from the impact. I had expected to hit Cail, but instead the pipe sliced through empty air, my eyes wide in confusion before a long fingered hand wrapped around the pipe. With one pull, the hand yanked the pipe through the door, my body following as I futilely held on.
I stumbled through the shards of wood, my feet barely keeping me upright before the hand moved from the pipe to my arm, the grip digging into my skin as Cail pulled me against him.
“Joclyn, Joclyn, Joclyn. You are going to make this far too fun, aren’t you?” I cringed away from Cail’s brittle breath in my nostrils.
“I wouldn’t call this fun, but if that’s the word you choose...” I gritted my teeth and moved closer to him, hoping to catch him off guard.
Cail’s eyes widened in excitement before I slammed my knee in between his legs, his body toppling over me before I grabbed the pipe and hit the metal against his back with as much force as I could muster.
I didn’t wait to see if I had done any damage. I turned and ran away from him, the pipe in front of me like a sword. I was turning a corner when I felt Cail’s magic wrap around me, his power dragging me back and slamming me against a wall.
I cringed as Cail limped up to me, a string of profanity flowing from him as he rubbed his neck. His magic held me tight against the wall, rendering my pipe useless. I racked my brain as he moved toward me. I had already been trapped inside of the T?uha for the last twenty minutes by my best guess, meaning it had only been a few minutes in the real world if my math was right. Ilyan would still be sleeping right up against me. I couldn’t risk using any magic yet.
Cail came up beside me, his one hand resting against the wall by my head while the other massaged his neck where the pipe had made contact.
“You naughty little girl,” he said, his lip turned up a wicked grin. “Now I see what Ryland was talking about.”
“What? That I am strong enough to defeat you?” I raised my eyebrow hoping to sound confident but knowing that the shake of fear in my voice gave me away.
What little bravado I had used for my fa?ade faded away as Cail began to laugh, his loud voice ricocheting around the hallway.
“No,” he taunted, my muscles tensing, “that you need to be trained.”
I didn’t have time to think about what was going to happen before the pipe collided with my stomach. The impact raced through my body, vibrating up my spine and ricocheting through my skull. I screamed out at the impact as Cail’s binds left me, my body collapsing to the ground.
I didn’t have time to run or even move before the pipe impacted my spine. Once. Twice. It sent me sprawling to the ground. I screamed out and little flecks of blood flew from my mouth, splattering the ground with glistening red droplets.
“Will you look at that?” Cail mused as he kneeled beside me. “Blood. I bet Ilyan is having a conniption. I can almost hear him, ‘Oh, my love! Why are you bleeding!’” Cail’s voice went high as he mocked Ilyan, but I barely heard him. If I was bleeding in real life, Ilyan wouldn’t be by me. Ilyan would be running for Dramin.
At least, I hoped he would.
I didn’t wait to think. I focused my magic on the floor right below Cail, sending a pulse directly at it. The floor exploded at the impact, sending him hurtling through the floor.
I watched the hole in the floor for a moment before crawling away, my body slow and sluggish as it healed itself. I moved as quickly as I could toward Ryland’s room, terrified that Cail would return before I could get behind the door, terrified that I had injured Ilyan in some way.