Back to Atlantis by Bar Sagi (best book reader txt) 📗

symbols in the air. Symbols of power, of her, of the spell. Slowly but surely the spell came alive under her fingers. The magic began to hum, eager to get working.

Yasmin saw Varley chanting his own spell. There was no time, she had to take his power! Controlling the wind, she blew the spell on him. The air glowed bright blue, and Yasmin jumped back.

Varley hollered in pain as his magic evaporated into the air. It would come back eventually, but that would take a while.

Yasmin sat down, too tired to move. She felt exhausted, the magic inside her draining all her energy.

Varley glared at Yasmin. “You’ll pay for this. Someday, all of Atlantis will burn, and the beast will be the last one standing.”

He reached into his jacket and took out a knife. Yasmin’s eyes widened, but she didn’t have the chance to be scared, because Varley stabbed himself in the heart.

She could have sworn she heard him say something before he died, but it got blown away by the wind.

Varley collapsed on the hill, his blood staining the grass.

Yasmin looked away, not wanting to see someone dying right before her eyes.

She couldn’t believe it was over, and they had won. But at what price?

Chapter 25

After the battle

Yasmin tried to stand up, but her knees wobbled and she collapsed in shock. Her body began vibrating again, and she glanced down at her shaking hand, horrified. What was going on?

“Gloriana!” She looked at Gloriana, who also looked scared. “What’s happening?”

“Your necklace!” Gloriana pointed to the necklace, which lay a few feet away. “Your body can’t contain this much magic on its own! You have to put it on, or else you’ll die!”

“I’ll… die?” Yasmin tried to get up again, but her knees were shaking too much. She looked at David in panic. “I can’t move!”

David began to stir as Gloriana rushed toward Yasmin and handed her the necklace.

Yasmin tried to put it on, but her hands were trembling, so Gloriana had to help her. “Thank you.” She sighed with relief as she felt her power flow away.

“Yasmin?” David rubbed his head, still in pain. “Are you okay?”

Yasmin blushed, remembering what he had said to her. “Yeah, thanks,” she mumbled, unable to meet David’s eyes. “David?”

“Yeah?” he asked, inching closer to her.

She felt happy, but also confused and hurt. If he had really loved her, why had he acted this way? But then again, if he hated her, why would he risk dying?

“Do you really love me?” Yasmin had to know. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she had to know.

David took her hand, and she was very aware of his blue green eyes of hers. “Yasmin, I love you.” He said clearly, and instead of clearing things up, that just opened up more questions. “And I will never let you go.”

The look in David’s eyes took her breath away, but she had to ask. “If you’ve loved me all this time, then why have you acted this horrible to me?” she asked, taking her hand away from his. “Why didn’t you end your engagement?” She gasped as a horrible thought came to her. “Unless… do you love Violet too?”

Gloriana watch all of this awkwardly from the side, shaking her head. She didn’t know the prince that well, but it had been obvious that Yasmin had never really moved on. Maybe now they could be happy together.

“What’s going on?” Violet had woken up, and he was looking at David and Yasmin in confusion. “Did we win?”

Gloriana looked at Violet in a mixture of horror and pity. “Oh, Violet, no.” She wanted to reassure her, but she didn’t know how.

Violet’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on. She looked at Yasmin and David, who were in their own little world, and felt tears come to her eyes. She had tried so hard. But in the end, David had chosen Yasmin.

“Yasmin, I can’t explain this in a way that makes me sound good.” David looked ashamed of himself, unable to meet Yasmin’s eyes. “Maybe it’s better if I just tell you the whole story.”

Yasmin began to feel suspicious, but she nodded, a confused look on her face.

“When my father died, my whole world turned upside down. My mother turned from this loving scientist to a dictator who ran the kingdom and did her best. I became terrified of my mother, so scared of her that I could never refuse her.

“When I was seven, my mother introduced me to Violet, my fiancée. I never really gave her a chance, because she was in a way connected to my mother. I suppose that was unfair to her, too.

“When I came to Israel, I felt free for the first time in my life. When I met you, I wasn’t even supposed to really see you as anything but a tool. But I slowly fell in love with you, and I promised myself I would protect you.

“But when we got to Atlantis, it was the same old story again. I didn’t have the courage to face my mother, and I watched you become so hurt because of me. I couldn’t bear it.

“So I decided that the best thing to do was to pretend to hate you. It killed me, I hated it. I hated seeing the hurt on your face as you saw me with Violet. But I foolishly thought that it was for the best.

“But…” David looked pained. “When I saw you dying, I realized how stupid I had been. I can’t bear to be like this anymore, Yasmin. I want to be with you.”

Yasmin rocked back on her heels, feeling very annoyed. “Are you telling me you broke my heart because of your mother?” She felt like hitting him. “Are you kidding me?”

David looked down, ashamed, but then looked her in the eyes. “I promise you, I will tell my mother I want to break off the engagement. So please, take me back.”

Yasmin looked at his pleading eyes, and