Annie Hayden's Arc

Chapter 22 of 27

Vexor's hand clamped Annie's arm and dragged her from the hall. Frost still ringed her wrists, thin now but stubborn. Down a stair he hauled her, past torches that spat and died in the cold air. Annie kicked. She twisted. She screamed until her throat burned. His grip only tightened. His nails bit through her sleeve into her skin. Behind them the stag's cry faded. Kaelen and his father were somewhere in the black castle, but not here, not fast enough. She reached for the fox. The spark was there, warm in her chest, but the frost on her arms sealed it off. She could feel the fire and not touch it. Vexor felt her strain and laughed low. "Pull all you want. The ice knows its work." He yanked her around a corner. "You are a door, girl. I only need you breathing." Annie stopped fighting his grip. Frostwyn had taught her a harder skill than fire. Feel the warmth first. Feel where it wants to go. She closed her eyes and stopped reaching outward. She listened. The fox was climbing the same stair behind them, chasing her scent. She did not pull its fire. She pulled the bond itself, hand over hand, drawing the creature closer. The spark leapt. Warmth flooded her arms, not enough to burn, just enough to melt. The last of the frost cracked and slid from her wrists. Her arm came free of Vexor's fist. He grabbed for her again. She drove her boot heel down on his foot and tore loose. The fox burst around the corner, tail streaming fire. It shot between Annie and Vexor and snapped at his hand. He recoiled from the flame. "No—that stays outside the walls—" He lunged past the fox for Annie. Annie had no wand. She had one thing left: the bond, wide open now. She dropped to a crouch, pressed her bare palm to the fox's flaming tail, and did not stop before the burn. She let the fire come. It ran up her arm and into her hand and she threw it. A cord of flame struck Vexor's chest. He flew back into the stone wall. His clothes caught. He beat at them, screaming, no longer looking at her. Pain seared Annie's palm and forearm, a fresh burn over old scars. She had drawn too much again. She had done it on purpose. "Go," she told the fox. It turned and ran up the stair. She ran after it, cradling her burned hand, back toward the stag's cry and the splintering ice. Toward Kaelen. Behind her Vexor's voice rose, raw and furious. "You won't make it out of this labyrinth alive, little pet"