“See.” I said. “That shield is far too strong.”
She grunted. “Y
ou didn’t even try that time. Do it again. Don’t be a coward.”
“Seriously?”
Abigail nodded, clenching her teeth.
Was that shield really that hard to maintain? She sounded so out of breath!
I let out a sigh and developed a ball similar to the first one, but put in more magic, more strength, more of everything.
If Abigail wanted me to knock through her wall, then so be it.
I finished the ball, then slid my wand back into my invisible hip pocket so that I could transfer the ball of magic from hand to hand, making it harder.
“Okay. Here you go.” I threw the ball as hard as I could and it landed again, splattering on the shield. “See. I told you I was shit at these.”
Abigail groaned, gasping with the strength it took to keep her shield up. She dropped the shield and my magic plastered her again.
I threw both hands out and sucked the granules back into me.
Abigail stumbled backwards, unable to catch her footing.
I hurried over to her and grabbed her arm, breaking her fall. Her breath shuddered, and I conjured up a couch right next to us.
As she struggled to breathe, I eased her down onto the couch. “I’m sorry.”
I magicked up a glass of water for her and handed it to her.
She chuckled before taking a sip. “I don’t know who your teacher was, Ava, but she was magnificent.”
Cold dread drizzled down my spine. “What do you mean?”
I’d told her the truth, my only teacher had been my mother. Was that what she meant, or did she think I lied and was trained by someone else?
The veil that had hidden the Council dropped away and three people walked forward. Matlock, and two older women. Tavlor was still there, lurking in the background like he did.
The women were classically beautiful in every way. High cheek bones, great figures, shiny hair. But the one to the right of Matlock had a strength to her that the other didn’t. She had bright blue eyes and glossy black hair.
However, despite their gorgeous appearance, my intuition made me flinch as they moved forward. There magic was dark, tainted. I could see it in the air around them. These women were not good people.
I tensed, wanting to slink away into the shadows, but I couldn’t. I had to stay here and be ‘judged’.
“Bravo, Ava,” the less powerful one said. “That was quite a show.”
I turned towards them and shrugged. “Not really.”
One of the women lifted her eyebrows. “Not really? You could have done better?”
I bit my tongue. “Uh, no. I just mean... I don’t like that I hurt Abigail. I didn’t mean to.” I couldn’t stop myself from babbling even though I needed to keep my mouth shut before I revealed too much. “I just don’t think attacking someone, causing someone harm for no reason, is a show.”
The Council woman smiled, though the look did not reach her blue eyes. “No one has hurt Abigail in a century. She is a supremely powerful Fae.”
Oh, crap.
I swallowed hard, cold dread sweeping my skin. “So, the shield thing...?”