Her First Mistake

Chapter Seventy-Five: Oh, Hell No

   Her lip pulled into a smile. "Oh, I've been waiting for this." The tattoos on her arms lit up with light as I felt pain shoot through my left wrist. Some of the magic surrounding me disappeared down the string that connected our wrists. I felt it as if sandpaper scratched my brain. I gritted my teeth. 

   The barrier was close enough that the pain in my heart lessened a bit. Magic came just as easily as usual, thanks to the proximity of my source. But the pain of Dani stealing my magic wasn't lessened in the slightest.

   While Dani might have thought she'd been the one waiting, she was way off. I was the one that had been waiting for this. It had been just days ago that she killed Alexie. She killed him. And now she'd spent the rest of her time trying to ruin my life by attacking my father, Tate and his parents, and my best friend.

   It was time for this bitch to die.

   We lunged at the same time. Right before we collided, I twisted sideways and went for a dirty shot. My foot hit her leg and bent it sideways. At the exact same time, a force of equal pressure forced my knee to buckle. A ragged gasp left my lips as I stumbled. Dani cackled, backing up to circle around me. She didn't show any sign of the pain while my knee throbbed sharply.

   "Tricky, tricky." She tilted her head like a cat. "Now you know how it felt when I was strangling you." Her voice turned hard.

   I spat at the ground, seething. "You should've killed me that night." Stalking forward, the blade on my arm dragged against the ground and caused golden sparks. Dani slid her foot back with a gleeful grin, which caused cold to shoot down my spine. The wild look in her eyes . . . eerie.

   She dodged the slash of the blade and her hand -- gripping a dagger -- raced for my gut. A shield condensed in her way, but her foot swung up and crashed into the side of my head. My skull slammed into the floor the same time her feet shot out from under her. Dani caught herself with her hands as I rolled onto my front, seeing double. She launched forward and magic pooled into her palm, preparing to hit me.

   I rammed my shoulder into her gut and locked her hand in a casing of crimson, preventing the spell from hitting me. A force slammed into my ribs and caused me to cough. Dani threw a rope around my feet. I was dragged backwards before she spun, flinging my body into a wall. It was only halfway-solid, but I still felt the impact shake my teeth. I hit the ground, my ears ringing.

   Dani hardly staggered from the blow she'd dealt me. Even though we felt the same pain, she didn't seem to care as much. To make things worse, every time she used magic, my skin crawled with burning-hot sandpaper. It felt like I was being run through a blender. I could hardly think through the pain as I pulled my knees up, tasting copper. 

   Dark magic caught my wrist and yanked. Flashbacks to the eve of the party caused my voice to come out in a feral shriek. I created a knife with my other hand and shattered the shackle before it could solidify, cutting through my own flesh. I wasn't going to let her tie me up again. Not again.

   Refusing to stop, I lashed my arm forward. The chain soared for her knees. Dani batted it aside and crashed her forearms together. Dark magic erupted from her figure, soaring in a massive wave for my body. I slashed my staff forward to cut through it, creating a divot of safety, but she'd been waiting for that.

   The blade -- attached to the chain -- fell forwards. It severed my staff into two clean pieces. All of the magic on my arms turned into sparks, vanishing into nothingness. My eyes widened in shock as she spun, the blade soaring for my throat. I threw myself to the ground, scrambling upright. My hand opened and closed for my staff, but it was gone.