Broken Enchantment (Unbreakable Force Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

other now. He the attacker, me the prey. I didn’t know what to do. We’d hoped to take him by surprise, but it was now the other way around.
    “Magic users are so rare down here,” he said, still watching me. “Yes, I have other women. But they lack the spirit, compassion, and fire that I’ve seen in you. They lack the magic. You would be able to give me an heir, someone worthy to take my place.”
    “You would have me produce an heir for you?” I scoffed. “For a man who lies and cheats, who bullies and murders? Never.”
    Matias’ face hardened as he wove the enchantment, wrapping it around me until I was immobile. I struggled against the bonds, trying to cut them with my own magic, but pitting my power against his was like a kitten fighting a lion.
    Matias smiled coldly, coming closer to me. “I hate to do this.” He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. “But sand cats can’t be tamed.”
    My heartbeat raced in fear as he formed a thin blue blade. I hammered against the bonds. I had tried to defeat him, my magic against his, and failed. It was over.

9
Bran
     
    S tanding in the shadows of the stables, Bran watched a couple of guards march by. He smiled to himself. Even if they looked right at him, they wouldn’t be able to see him. Weaving a spell of shadow and light, Bran was practically invisible.
    He bit his lip, thinking. With the help of some Guild members, he had spread enough stories about Matias that the people in Sen Altare were in a lather of angry emotions, but with the guards holding the castle, they couldn’t get in. The soldiers quit patrolling the streets after the last group of them had been torn apart by the mobs that now overran the city.
    Grace and the other two would be in the castle by now, possibly already with the king, and from the dull roar that rose and fell beyond the walls, it sounded like Sirius’ mob had gathered. It was time.
    Bran needed to open the gates. He silently stalked to the stables entrance and went inside. A few stable hands were there, pitching hay, and wouldn’t have noticed the nomad even if he hadn’t wrapped the magic around himself.
    Summoning more enchantment, Bran hurtled a large ball of blue flames over the heads of the two stable hands to land in a pile of hay. The flames greedily consumed the dry hay in a matter of moments, and flared up to lick the walls and loft.
    The two men cried out in shock. One ran to free the horses while the other ran outside, calling for help. Not a moment to spare.
    Bran sprinted over to the nearest stall, taking care to keep the shadows around him. The bay gelding he approached couldn’t see him, but could sense him and whinnied in fear, shying away.
    Leaping onto the horse’s back, Bran forced the bay out of its stall with a nudge of his knees and headed for the stable’s exit. Smoke began to fill the interior, and the remaining horses could be heard screaming and stamping at the smell as the stable hand flung stall doors open.
    Bran urged the bay to a gallop, hooves thundering toward the large castle gates, their glossy, iridescent surface hard and impenetrable, shut tight all morning, opening once only for Aaric and the women.
    Bran reached in himself, through himself, to the strands of enchantment he felt in the sky. There was magic everywhere, if one just knew how to look.
    Dropping the shadows from him, Bran ignored the guards who could see him now. They shouted to each other, some running to meet him at the gate, as if a single man could open those massive gates alone. Bran smiled. He could.
    Pulling strands of magic from the earth and sky, Bran redirected the elemental energy to the gates. A combination of fire and wind hammered at the gates, causing them to shiver and bend. Earth rose with a groan, forcing the gates to finally crumble and collapse.
    Bran swayed, feeling nauseous and exhausted from the amount of magic he’d used, but he pushed it away. He didn’t have time to feel sick.
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