Free The Sentinel by Holly Martin Page A

shielded themselves and Quinn, who was luckily the furthest away from me, had time to leap behind a stone pillar before the fire consumed the church.
    Flames licked the walls, hungrily, spreading quickly, burning and destroying the bricks that had stood for hundreds of years. The Guardians scrabbled quickly to their feet
    I stood in shock. What had I done?
    I could feel the heat, it was intense. The smoke was making it difficult to breathe. A great rumble like thunder tore me from my reverie and I turned in time to see part of the wall cracking and falling towards me. I opened my mouth to scream, but then something hit me with the force of charging bull, knocking all the breath out of my lungs. I was thrown to the floor, trapped under the protective cage of one of my Guardians as the bricks fell on top of us, entombing us in a prison of dust and complete and utter darkness.
    *
    ‘Are you ok?’ That was Mason. Although I couldn’t see him, I could feel his heart pounding against mine.
    ‘Yes. Are you?’ I asked.
    ‘I’m fine.’
    Twelve tonne of bricks had just fallen on top of him moments after I had nearly burned him to a crisp. I guessed ‘fine’ was quite far away for Mason right now. I coughed as the dust settled.
    There were shouts beyond our grave.
    ‘Are the others…?’
    ‘They’re fine too.’
    Suddenly light flooded into our tomb as one of the oversized bricks was torn off as easily as if it was a pebble. Seth’s concerned face filled the gap and then he grinned when he saw me blinking back up at him.
    ‘Thank God. Hold tight Eve, we’ll have you out of there in just a few seconds.’ He disappeared from view.
    ‘I did tell him you were ok, he clearly wanted to see it for himself,’ muttered Mason.
    I realised in the gloom that Mason was holding all the weight of the bricks off me with his body, leaning over me like he was about to start doing press ups.
    ‘Does that not hurt?’
    ‘It’s not the best feeling in the world.’
    More bricks were removed from above us.
    ‘I’m sorry.’
    ‘It’s fine.’
    There was that word again. Had my Personal Guard realised what they were taking on when they pledged their allegiance to me?
    More bricks were lifted off Mason’s back; I could see all the Guardians helping. Eventually Mason was able to sit up, shaking the rest of the large bricks from him like they were merely dust. I sat up too and looked around as Persia and her sisters were putting out the last of the fires, shooting water from their hands like hose pipes. The church was nothing more than a blackened shell now.
    I stood sheepishly as Persia hurried over. ‘I’m really sorry.’
    ‘Don’t be, it’s not your fault.’ She brushed some dust off my coat affectionately. ‘You’ve never used your powers before, they’re bound to be hard to control when you first start using them. To be honest I never expected something so huge from someone so new to their power. I would have never asked you to do that if I’d known what you could achieve.’
    Avoiding Eli’s glare, I turned back to Mason. ‘Are you sure you’re ok?’
    He nodded, seemingly confused by my concern.
    ‘Is everyone else ok, no one got burned did they?’
    They all shook their heads. But then I noticed Quinn, shaking his arm, his jumper clearly singed. I ran to his side.
    ‘It’s nothing, it barely hurts at all,’ Quinn laughed, though I could see he was in real pain. His left arm was covered in big blisters, his skin raw where the fire had torn through his flesh.
    ‘I tried to shield him but I was obviously a bit too late,’ said Izri as she looked in horror at Quinn’s wounds.
    Alexandria whistled as she looked too. ‘Good God, Quinn, I think I’d be crying like a baby if I’d been that badly injured.’ I smirked at the thought of my Guardians crying. ‘I’ll give Constance a call to come and look at that. It’s your vulnerable human side; you’re not as thick skinned as the rest of us.’
    ‘Nah I’m