Release (The Protector Book 3) (56 page)

“Chase,” he whispered.

In an escalation of fury, my elements exploded all at once and everything became a shade of red.

The earth shook in a violent quake, a monsoon of rain poured from the sky, flames engulfed my entire body, and it all came together to shatter Drake’s magic.

Air pushed me off the ground at a speed I couldn’t manage on my own, and I charged towards Riley, but once again, I wasn’t fast enough.

The world slowed around me as Riley’s smirk turned into a toothy grin. His fingers flexed, and both his hands jerked to the side, snapping Willy’s neck.

Willy’s eyes rolled back in his head as Riley released him, letting his body drop like an anvil to the ground.

The world returned at a blurring speed and I threw all my power forward at once.

My back split open and blood exploded from the wound. The skin on my chest pulled itself apart, and my arms were shredded in vicious gashes. But I had my magic, and in this moment, I felt no pain.

Streams of energy burst from my hands. Earth, air, water, and fire moved in separate streaks of colorful force and slammed into Riley. But as my magic surged and rushed into him, tendrils of dark power engulfed his body and absorbed my elements. Riley flicked his wrist and drove my body into the ground.

Lightning cut down from the sky and thunder rumbled. My vision was blinded with bright light and pain seared my chest before my body was blown across the gravel.

Rain beat down on me and electricity coursed through my veins, forcing my muscles to convulse. My face was pressed into the sharp gravel road, and Willy’s body lay across from me.

Black shoes stepped between us, and Riley kneeled next to me. “Do you see how easy this is for me, Chase? Can you see now why you should’ve joined me?” The voice speaking was not my father’s. It was something else—something darker. “Once the ritual is complete, I will be a god, and all this death will have been but a means to an end. With my rule will come the very peace everyone has spent lifetimes fighting for. But your friend there, he didn’t have to die. He wasn’t a casualty of war. He was a casualty of you. You chose to interfere and now his death is on your hands. Stay out of the way, Chase, or one dead mutt will be the least of your worries.”

Riley stretched his legs. Black magic rippled over his skin and jumped between his fingers, coiling around his wrists. “You could’ve had a throne beside me, son. Now look at you. You’re
nothing
to me.” I could feel his black gaze beating down on me. “You’re nothing,” he repeated, and then the gravel crunched beneath his feet as he walked away. “Let’s go!”

A loud bang sounded like a gun firing next to my ear, and then there was only the sound of rain beating the ground.

My eyes lost their fire and all the color returned to the world. I stared at my friend, pleading for him to move.

Blood pooled around me from every part of my body. The pain was immense but I didn’t care. I saw flashes behind my eyelids every time I blinked and electricity sparked between my fingertips. Small bolts of lightning rolled over my hand and up my arm, sending jolts through my body.

I looked into Willy’s brown eyes but there was no life staring back at me. Tears ran down my face, trickling down my nose and dripping to the ground.

Willy’s skin faded and slowly turned gray. Embers began to spark, lighting up his skin.

I tried to scream, but my voice was hoarse. My heart shattered and the pieces crumbled inside me.

Red and orange sparks moved together, flared up, and overtook Willy’s face with embers. His eyes stared into mine for a moment longer before they too succumbed to the flames.

I didn’t blink. I watched as the cinders glimmered, stealing away his body until all that remained was an ash replica of Willy.

My chest hurt from sobbing but I couldn’t move. What had I started? What had I done? My best friend’s ashy gaze stared at me as I figured out the answer. I’d gotten my mother and my best friend killed, and now I’d handed Riley the last piece of the puzzle—I’d started the end of the world.

Rain continued to fall from the sky and thick heavy drops crashed onto Willy’s ashes. He crumbled as the water splashed over him, beating him down to a murky liquid.

All I had left to look at was the warehouse down the road, where our salvation had waited a hundred yards away, but I hadn’t been strong enough to get to it.

Dark cloudy streams of water created rivers in the gravel, robbing the pieces of my best friend and washing them down into the grassy ditch.

“Willy?” I asked, hoping I had imagined it all. This was just a dream or a vision of something to come—something that could be avoided. His voice would come back to me any second and he’d stutter my name.

More rain splashed against my face and ran down my cheeks.

“Willy,” I whispered. I didn’t want to stop saying his name. Stopping meant he was gone. He couldn’t be gone.

The thick gray liquid began to thin, his remains almost gone, washed away to become one with the earth. This wasn’t a dream. Reality had just slapped me in the face—the end wasn’t coming; it was here.

Water pelted the ground in front of me, splashing into the air like tiny explosions, and thunder crashed from above as the last streak of ashy water trickled across the road.

“Willy…” My voice was so quiet I almost couldn’t hear myself.

Whoever said death couldn’t be measured was wrong. Death was a football field. Death was a sprint. Death was a measurable distance I wasn’t fast enough to reach.

Three thousand six hundred inches.

Three hundred feet.

One hundred yards.

That was it. One hundred yards was the difference between life and death. At least for Willy.

“Willy...I’m sorry.”

######

About the Author

M.R. Merrick is a Canadian writer, and author of The Protector Series. Having never traveled, he adventures to far off lands through his imagination and in between cups of coffee. As a music lover and proud breakfast enthusiast, he's usually found at the computer, between a pair of headphones and in front of a large bowl of cereal.

Connect with Matthew

Website:
http://www.mrmerrick.net