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Karma's Bite
Friction And Fighting--30

Friction And Fighting--30

Silas sped around the corner, Dominicus to his right and the rabbit beastfolk on his left. His face was a mask of frantic fear, and satisfaction twisted through me.

This was a man who'd done great wrong and was now facing down the consequences. He should suffer for the rest of his life, but Time was right. He was too dangerous to leave alive.

Fast Forward hummed under my skin, ready to sink into Silas. I raised a hand, willing it toward him, only to freeze when familiar power built in my arm. Vivid memories of pain–of my arm disintegrating into a throbbing stump–slammed through me, and my hold on the spell faltered. It lashed out, brushing the tapestry next to my head. Dread sank like a stone in my gut as the cloth rapidly faded, holes opening throughout it, before it finally dissolved into dust.

I hadn't seen its effects on my arm, thank every deity in existence, but it wasn't hard to imagine after seeing that. My stomach rolled uneasily, and Time cut in, his voice urgent.

Focus. The king is in sight now.

I shook off the echoes of pain and built up Fast Forward again, ignoring every instinct that screamed like a siren to drop the spell. There was no other option. I had to do this.

The power vibrated under my skin, a phantom ache pulsing in time with my heartbeat as the spell readied. Pain slowly surfaced, rising to a fever pitch as Silas inched closer.

Instinct blared to let go, and when a hand squeezed around my lungs, each breath and wheezy hiss, I did just that.

I launched the spell toward Silas as if it were a molten piece of metal I couldn't hold for even a second longer.

Halfway to him, the spell sputtered and fell to the carpet, the vibrant red rapidly fading to gray. Silas stared at the spot, confusion and calculation warring behind his eyes. Sick dread welled in my stomach as he spun toward the corner I hid in, his eyes locking on just like last time.

Manic glee lit his expression, and he stepped forward, twisted smile in place. “Ah, there's our dimension-crossing savior now. Quite the power you have, exactly what we need in our time of crisis.”

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His hand raised, and instinct bristled. I couldn't let him touch me, but there was nowhere to go. The wall pressed into my back, hiking the adrenaline higher.

He was a yard away and closing fast, but just as he reached for me, he froze.

No, he didn't freeze. Time did.

His hand hovered in front of him, one leg still lifted. The others were equally immobile, their chests not moving, eyes fixed ahead. Relief hit with the force of a semi when I realized what happened.

Until Time materialized between us, his eyes flashing like obsidian daggers.

“What are you doing?! I cannot rewind the entirety of Nexus again. This is your only chance and you're throwing it aside?!”

I flinched back, his power thick and choking in the air. Rage throbbed off him, poking at my skin like tiny needles. The last day’s events crushed down on my shoulders, and I snarled back.

“I'm not doing this on purpose, you prick! I tried to aim it at Silas and it fell halfway there! How is that my fault?”

He shook his head, jaw clenched tight as he visibly fought to keep his composure. “It failed because you didn't let the spell finish. It was almost done, but you threw it early. Magic is useless if you do not give it the proper time to cast.”

He had a right to be frustrated, exhausted and on edge over the oncoming apocalypse, but you know what? I had a right to be too.

Throwing my hands in the air, I snapped back at him. “Well, I'm fucking sorry that I cast the spell wrong! The only time I've ever used it, it disintegrated my arm. So excuse me for not mastering it on the second go!”

He grimaced, lips pulled thin, but he didn't interrupt. Good, because I wasn't done.

“I haven't had any experience or lessons in spell casting, even for lower-leveled ones. Fast Forward is level ten. To expect me to pull it off without issue is like expecting an infant to run a marathon!”

And that wasn't even touching on the absolutely awesome bonus that was trauma. The pain I'd felt trying to cast that thing had only been in my head, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

More than anything, I wished I could hogtie Silas and drop him at the resistance leader's feet. Let them decide how to handle him. They were the ones he'd wronged, after all. Then I could focus on hunting down information on the apocalypse, the entire reason I was here.

Focusing on Time, I shook the thoughts aside and finished with a grimace. “Even without that, I was a doctor, not a fighter. I didn't come here to kill people.” Though I'd wound up doing it by accident–and on a breathtaking scale at that… “I had no plans on using offensive magic. Especially not a spell like Fast Forward. So cut me some slack while I try to paddle through this absolute cluster fuck of a situation.”

I would clean up this mess, but I'd be damned before I let him get pissy with me over fumbling that spell.

The hard scowl carved across Time's face softened and, after a moment of silent staring, he heaved a long, tired sigh.

“I forgot that you are an infant. My apologies.”

I bristled. Oh, he did not just say that.