13: AU ‘Astral’ World: Amber: Amber’s Choices

[k_a_webb]

“You have to. Christophe won’t be able to get you if you’re at home.”

“Yes I will.” They both turned their attention to Christophe. “The book had a tracker in it.”

All Amber could do for a moment was blink. She didn’t know how she could have missed a tracker. Trackers had always been a magic that had stood out to her. When she turned her gaze to Ruby she could see the same confusion in her face. Knowing Christophe was unlikely to let her leave, when it was obvious he’d decided that he wanted to own her, which was actually strangely amusing, she made her choice based on what she believed he would do. With a flick of her eyebrow she communicated her next move to Ruby and then they moved.

If it had been anyone else Amber would never even have contemplated throwing herself out of the window, but Ruby had created a bubble of air in the short time it took them to leave the room and soon they were both on the ground running towards the portal. Under normal circumstances it wasn’t too far away. With Christophe behind them Amber felt they should have opened the portal closer, even if it meant the magicians could feel the magic. Every second they took was another second he had to catch them.

A curl of magic wrapped around Amber’s foot moments before they got to the portal and literally pulled her over. Maybe, if she’d been paying attention to exactly what Christophe was doing she’d have been able to avoid it, but tripping over a rock would have been just as bad. Wincing, she tried to move, but the magic would only let her go so far before it stopped her. She managed to sit up, and once she had the magic tightened around her ankle so she couldn’t go anywhere. Christophe was stood by the wall, smirking at her, because he believed he’d got what he wanted. The hand on her shoulder told her Ruby had come back to help her.

“Go back to the house, Ruby. The portal’s only going to be good for another couple of minutes and they need you more than I do.” Amber smiled. “I can handle Christophe.”

“We both know what’s going to happen if you stay here.”

“Maybe, but only if I let myself be seduced by power and I’ve never cared much about power.”

“I’ll come back for you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

The hand left Amber’s shoulder and until she heard the sound of someone running through the portal she had no idea what Ruby was doing. Amber kept her eyes on Christophe, waiting for him to do something, in an attempt to stop herself from wondering what was going on in the house she’d left behind. When she’d first seen the White House she’d believed that they were simply switching the houses, but with the knowledge she’d gained from Christophe she realised that it had been a trap for her. Everyone with her was collateral damage. The Silver House had been the back-up, just in case she somehow managed to escape the White House.

“Exactly what did you have to do to get the magicians in both houses to agree?” Amber asked, knowing Christophe could hear her.

Christophe smiled. “They got the house, Amber. Everything that you’ve stolen is important to someone and getting it back is an important part of the game we play.”

“People are going to die.”

“It happens.” Christophe shrugged. “I have you so I’m happy.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

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