“If I were told the sun wanted to kill me, I’d be on my way and save the questions for later.”
“I can’t imagine you ever saving questions for later,” I replied.
“Is that the sun … man?” Lord Lister interceded, pointing to the other end of the room.
We followed his gaze to a red-haired man walking straight for us, flames rapidly growing in both his hands.
“Oh, very likely, well done, you!” Mr. Kent said.
“Get Lister away,” Sebastian told me, cracking his knuckles. “And keep him healed.”
He took a deep breath and a slow step away from me. Then another. And then he turned and darted around the edge of the room toward Mr. Jarsdel.
“Emily, be ready,” Miss Chen said. And then the loudest crash I’d ever heard filled the room.
As the windows along the wall shattered one by one, flames poured out of Mr. Jarsdel’s hands. They rushed toward Sebastian like a massive ocean wave of fire, but Jarsdel was forced to stop, ducking as Emily sent the broken window glass toward him. Sebastian was able to dive behind a sarcophagus, the last bits of flame snaking by him.
Mr. Jarsdel shifted one hand in our direction, sending out more fiery waves as he closed in on us. I pushed Lord Lister behind a display case for cover, while museum visitors screamed and desperately scrambled for the exits.
As the room emptied, more glass cases shattered from Miss Chen’s gaze, and Emily picked up the glass debris to send a vicious storm straight at Mr. Jarsdel. His fire managed to burn some of it, but there was too much. The glass cut across his face, and he copied Sebastian, diving for cover behind another sarcophagus.
Sebastian took this as his chance to rush our enemy, but Mr. Jarsdel’s flames encircled and shielded him from Sebastian, forming a five-foot-tall wall of fire. A quick swerve and Sebastian dove out of the way, his jacket catching most of the blast. He landed behind a reconstructed tomb wall and hastily discarded his burning jacket.
Miss Chen picked up the assault, climbing a cabinet to get a clear view. The floor around Mr. Jarsdel started to crack, splintered wood exploding into the air in a circle around the flames. Within seconds, the floor fully collapsed and Mr. Jarsdel disappeared from sight, falling down to the floor below.
And immediately rocketed back up. His palms aimed downward, Mr. Jarsdel propelled himself back up to our floor and straight at Miss Chen before any of us could react. He tackled her through a glass case and a marble bust and nearly into the brick wall, but Emily caught them and flung them apart.
I rushed over to heal Miss Chen, pulling Lord Lister along with me. She had cuts and burns along her face and arms, but she groaned and shrugged off the pain, rising back to her feet. I helped her up, trying to heal her as much as possible first. Emily had Mr. Jarsdel pinned to the wall, but he was struggling to break free. Flashes of flames escaped from his hands, his aim slowly getting closer to Emily. She held on, sweat breaking on her brow as she fought to keep him in place.
The flames grew around Mr. Jarsdel. He seemed to shake with anger and panic, primed to explode. I crouched behind a cabinet, bracing myself when Sebastian yelled, “Close your—”
The room turned a searing white as I remembered the blinding power a moment too late. I could make out nothing but a sense of brightness, of fire in my eyes as I clutched Lord Lister’s hand and pulled him away, my other hand in front of me, grasping at nothing as we stumbled forward. I prayed that the others had closed their eyes, for if Mr. Jarsdel was the only person who could see, we had no chance of fighting him like this. Not that the chances of outrunning him were any better.
I groped ahead of me, running into display cases, stumbling over artifacts, and expecting a wave of fire any moment. Then something dark broke through the white haze. My vision was returning. I thanked my healing power and scrambled forward, ignoring the broken glass stabbing into my palm. Behind me, the blurry, stumbling outline of Lord Lister slowly came back into focus, but I couldn’t see past him. The rest of the room remained hazy, as if it were filled with smoke.
Because it was. Display cases and chests were smoldering around the room, more smoke rising from the ruined room below us, keeping us hidden.
“Mr. Kent!” I yelled. “If you can hear me, ask Mr. Jarsdel a long question!”
A blast of fire flew straight at us in response. I barely managed to pull Lord Lister away.
“Mr. Jarsdel, what are your thirty favorite things to light on fire?” Mr. Kent shouted.
“Birds, riverboats, gardens, soap factories…,” Mr. Jarsdel answered, firing off more blasts in our general direction.
We dove behind a cabinet for cover, but one blast struck Lord Lister in the back, knocking him to the ground. I hastily tried to smother the fire on his jacket, but his yells only made things worse, narrowing down our location for Mr. Jarsdel. His voice and his long list of combustibles came closer as he assaulted our wooden hiding spot, which wasn’t the best defense against fire.
“Wheat fields, trains, windmills…,” Mr. Jarsdel continued.
“Stay here,” I whispered to Lord Lister as I pulled out my dagger. I was the only one who could survive Mr. Jarsdel by running straight through his blasts. It’d be painful but better than waiting, watching him slowly cook my friends to death.
“Bridges, schools, and, finally, spoiled rich girls,” Mr. Jarsdel said, smugly ending his list. But his eyes widened in surprise as I leaped out and dashed toward him.
He raised his glowing hands to fire, and the next moment, Sebastian was behind him, forcing his arms downward, the flames flickering harmlessly to the ground. Sebastian’s eyes met mine, and I could see the plea in them as he grappled Mr. Jarsdel into submission. I slid to the side, scrambled back away from them, and started the count.
One, two, three …
Mr. Jarsdel started coughing, but he continued to put up a fight. He struggled to bring his arms up, and when that proved impossible with Sebastian’s hold, he turned his palms downward to take flight. Sebastian held on, and the blast propelled them both through the air, out the window, and down into the courtyard below.
Seven, eight, nine …
I shot back up to my feet and raced for the window, refusing to be left behind. I leaped out and dropped down a floor, hitting the stone ground hard. I couldn’t let Sebastian down.
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen …
Mr. Jarsdel’s energy left him, and his fire sputtered out a few yards ahead. After crashing to the ground, they had toppled and rolled along the stone. I chased after them, running harder than I’d ever run before. Please, please, please.
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty.
Their momentum slowed, and Mr. Jarsdel’s body pinned Sebastian down. I dropped by their sides as Sebastian groaned and coughed and gasped for air. His eyes opened, and he lost what little breath he had left, panicking as he realized he was still touching Mr. Jarsdel.
“I’m here … Sebastian,” I managed, grabbing his hand, letting the sensation convince him if my words couldn’t. “I’m canceling it out.”
I pulled Mr. Jarsdel’s body off him and felt for his pulse. He had blue splotches on his skin, and he was unconscious, but that was it. We’d timed it correctly.
“It’s all right,” I told Sebastian. “He’s alive.”
He let out a sigh of relief and winced as he shifted his weight to one of his several injuries. I wished I could heal him, but I simply had to settle for helping him to his feet.