Free Chasing Bloodlines (Book 4) by Jenna Van Vleet Page A

drop snow from the corners of buildings. But he did not seem in distress. A bolt of white-hot fire exploded from one of his hands and collided with the chest of a girl who had turned half the gate to ice. She screamed a ghastly tune and flung back into the wall, cracking the ice. He held the bolt burning until she melted into the floor.
    Gabriel looked behind him, flames licking his feet, his white hair blowing in the heat, and his white eyes stared at nothing she could see.
    He strode towards a Fire specter, a net of blue threads exploding from his chest wrapped around it. He did not pause to see how effective it was, turning to an Air specter twirling bits of metal in a cyclone around it. He wrapped a guardian-pattern around the creature and pulled it into the ground. He moved so fast, all three specters dropped in a matter of seconds, but far more entered through the gates.
    Lael strode forward and pulled from Gabriel’s fire, turning it on a Water specter. Dagan ripped vines from the earth and engulfed a hovering Air specter, bringing her to the ground. Mikelle turned her attention on a rotund Fire specter chasing after a fleeing Mage, and Adelaide melted the frozen cobblestones. Galloway, one of the few to wield Water and Fire, bounced between various specters.
    Mikelle’s specter furiously fought against the blasts of water shot at her, the moisture simply wicking off. It seemed the rest were having an equally difficult time with theirs, and the first Fire specter Gabriel battled was back on his feet staggering forward. However, they had a bigger problem. No one could fight the Spirit specters but Gabriel, and they were slowly convening on him.
    “How did your parties do it?” Lael shouted at Dagan through the hiss of flames and evaporating water.
    “I do not know! They never detailed their victories!” Dagan yelled back. “We could try containing them. He threw out a hand, and in four sharp movements, brought chunks of stone up to box a Spirit specter. The creature inside bellowed and shot shards of compressed light into the sky, but it seemed to stay trapped.
    Through the ripping fire, Mikelle heard the delightful sound of fabric tearing and turned to see Gabriel’s wings out. The flames extended along them without burning, and he flicked a black pattern along them that gave the tips a metallic gleam. He stretched them out and spun a tight circle to hit two specters. Mikelle watched in surprise as both staggered back with wide gashes through their fronts. Gabriel repeated the action with more accuracy, bringing one to her knees. The other he shot the razor-tipped feathers at, catching the man in the face and neck. Both sank into the ground with twin screams and were no more.
    Exhilarated by the sight, Mikelle intensified her attack and iced the water faster than the specter could burn off. Taking a running jump, she plunged her feet into the specter’s hip, and he splintered apart, giving one last scream as he melted into the cobbles.
    “Nicely done!” Lael shouted as he charred the remainder of a Water specter. She mimicked an Arconian chest-salute and raced forward to attack another Fire specter. Around her Dagan slowly squeezed an Earth specter between two pieces of stone, Adelaide stamped both boots atop a Water specter as it smoldered into the ground, and Galloway cornered a Fire specter with ice while he burned it with white-hot bolts. The specters Dagan trapped had corporealized and were on the loose again.
    By this time, several more Mages had come to assist, and suddenly Markus rushed past. Two gray patterns wavered in his hands plunged into an Earth specter, ripping it apart with compressed air and force.
    Mikelle looked back to see the remaining specters closing in on Gabriel. He was glorious in a wave of fire, wings whipping back and forth as he slashed and gorged. His shirt blessedly hung tattered off his wrists. He tore it off and went right back to a Fire specter; encompassing it in ice and