Read Online sorcery and science 04.5 - masquerade by Ella Summers - Free Book Online

yanked the knife out of his heart and stood to face the seven remaining assailants.
    “What now?” Terra whispered as she came up behind him.
    Jason took a firm hold of her hand, which seemed to be all the answer she needed. She matched him step for step as he sprinted toward the portal. They cut around the scattered Elitions, who threw every knife they had at them in an attempt to stop them from reaching it. Terra gasped in pain as Jason pulled them through the portal. The sea breeze gave way to foggy skies, and Jason blacked out.

 
     
     
     
    ~ 5 ~
    516AX April 18, Mist Veil
     
     
    A BRIGHT LIGHT shone against Jason’s closed eyes, burning him into consciousness. He jumped up, looking around for the Siennans, but he and Terra were the only ones there. She sat on the ground, cradling her leg. Drops of blood oozed slowly through her closed fingers, staining her hands with blotches of crimson color.
    “Let me see,” Jason said as he crouched down beside her.
    A wet slap creaked out as she peeled her hands off her thigh, revealing a gorge in the flesh. Why hadn’t that healed? He leaned in for a closer look and identified the culprit. The handle of the Leaf had torn off, leaving the scattered shards of a broken blade lodged deep inside her leg. Jason wasn’t sure how the knife could have broken like that—it was pure metal—but it looked bad.
    “How long have I been out?” he asked.
    “Just a few minutes.”
    “I’m going to have to get those pieces out, you know.”
    What little color remained in her face washed out. “I tried, but I couldn’t get a good grip on the pieces. My fingers kept slipping. And…and it hurt too much.”
    “I’m not going to use my fingers.” He leaned his back against a tree and motioned her forward. “Come on. Quickly.”
    Terra looked like she’d rather do just about anything else, but she crawled over and pressed her back against him. Jason wrapped his arms around her torso and his legs around hers, locking her in place. Then he closed his eyes and tried to focus his attention on the metal shards. As they began to move, tearing back through the flesh that had only partially healed, a scream of pure pain burst from her lips. She struggled to break free, but he held her firmly in place. She kicked and bit and cried—and then finally, as the shards slipped out of her body, she went limp. Jason set her against the tree trunk and kneeled before her.
    “Terra,” he said, trying to shake her awake.
    She remained as limp as a wet noodle.
    “Wake up. You have to wake up,” he insisted, slapping her face.
    “No,” she muttered, eyes still closed. “You can’t…tell me what to do…give me commands… I’m higher…”
    “Yes, you are. You’re the next high queen, and I’m a nobody. Order me around all you want. Just wake up,” he pleaded.
    A pained snort buzzed through her parched lips. She’d lost so much blood.
    “Don’t want to be…high queen.” Her eyes opened. “And you’re not nobody. You’re my friend.”
    Relief rushed through Jason, compelling him to hug her harder than he should have.
    “Ouch,” she piped. “Still hurting here.”
    “Sorry.” He helped her to sit up straighter. “I was just worried that you…”
    “Like I was going to let a few pieces of metal kill me. I may not have your Phantom super powers, but I’m stronger than you think, Jason.”
    Terra brushed her hand over the wound. It had sealed completely, leaving behind only a strip of torn fabric in her pants and a slathering of blood on her skin.
    “Yes,” he said, looking at her healed leg. “I’m starting to see that you are.”
    Terra pulled herself up and looked around. “We’re in the north. It looks like Mist Veil.”
    Jason had noted the blue evergreens. And the shiny black temple down the hill. Looking big and imposing, it sat between two lakes.
    “But close to the Strand of Aurelia,” he said, pointing toward the temple. “Lake Yvonne and Lake Almira. And