Page 81 of The Princess of Portals

Kato roared in pain.

“…pull out this arrow.” Conner showed him the arrow. “All done now.”

“That hurt,” Kato growled, his voice rough.

“I pulled an arrow out of you. Of course it hurt,” Conner said casually. “If you don’t like the pain, I suggest that the next time you decide to play hero, you avoid getting shot.”

Kato smiled at him. It was his hard smile, but he didn’t quite pull it off.

“He’s obviously in a lot of pain,” I said to Conner. “Can you do something about that?”

Conner took a step toward Kato. Kato’s eyes narrowed.

“Relax,” Conner said. “I’m just going to take a closer look at your wound.”

Kato didn’t relax, but he didn’t try to stop him either.

“The arrow went right through his armor,” Conner reported. “Cut cleanly through it. I can’t see the wound. And I need to see it in order to treat it. The armor has to go.” He met Kato’s eyes, grinning. “I knew your love of armor was going to get you into trouble one of these days.”

“Hilarious,” Kato bit out.

Conner winked at him. Kato waved his hand in front of the damaged armor piece. It disengaged from the rest and fell to the floor. Conner examined the wound. His expression was not encouraging.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“There was a nasty spell on that arrow. Look.”

I was almost afraid to, but I had to know. A web of ominous black lines stretched out from the wound in Kato’s side—and it was spreading.

“Agents are approaching. We need to get moving.” Scorpio stopped when he saw Kato’s wound. “You were hit by a paralyzing spell. You should take care of that. You won’t be very useful if you can’t move.”

Capricorn squeezed in front of him. “Don’t mind Scorpio. He’s not very good with people. Go in there.” She pointed at a closed door further down the hall. “There’s a med kit on the wall in that room. You’ll find an antidote to the paralyzing spell inside.”

Magic sizzled on Scorpio’s hands, fine, elegant threads of lightning. He turned his hands, winding the threads tighter. They coalesced into a hovering, glowing ball. It looked like a miniature galaxy was spinning between his hands. Scorpio hurled it at the pair of agents running toward us. The threads of the glowing ball spread open like a net, binding the agents to the wall.

Whoa. This was some powerful, next-level magic.

Scorpio glanced over his shoulder at Conner and Kato. He kept the rest of his body facing the long hallway. “We will continue clearing a path to the roof. Meet up with us when you can fight again.”

Kato nodded. “Acknowledged.”

Conner helped him toward the room Capricorn had pointed out. I moved to follow them.

Scorpio caught my hand, holding me in place. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I glanced past him at Kato and Conner. “I thought…”

“You thought wrong. You are here to help us, not play nurse to a pair of Knights.”

“But—”

“Conner and Kato can take care of themselves, Savannah,” Capricorn said. “They don’t need you. We do.”

Scorpio took a moment to hit me with his hard stare, then he let go of me and hurried off to scout ahead. Capricorn nudged me forward.

“I still don’t get why Portia thinks I will make any difference here. I can’t possibly change anything.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Savannah.”