She counted the beats and with each one she pulled in more of the storm.The roaring in her ears drowned out all sounds.The lightning behind her lids blinded her.Ozone and the scent of charring flesh clogged her nose.She tasted blood.
Flashes of cold, and hot, and soft, and hard brushed against her skin, but they couldn’t break through.If she made it through this, she would have to leave.Hide.No storm spirit could do what she was doing right now.
They would know.Hunt her.Hurt her.Wave wanted to scream, but she didn’t dare.Siren’s wail crushed her throat.More heat, followed by freezing cold.Something seductive slithered against her mind, and she batted it away.Softness that felt wrong caressed her skin.She flinched away.
The storm was almost gone.A drizzle of rain fell on her upturned face.It was rain, right?She kept pulling it to her until blackness greeted her.
Chapter 43 – Marc
Theywerehalfwaythroughthe campus when the last of the clouds cleared, and Wayla fell limp in Irishen’s arms.Wherever her skin was visible it was black and blue, and blood trickled from her nose and mouth.Marc didn’t know if he was relieved or horrified that she’d stopped jerking and arching in soundless screams of pain.
Irishen steadily poured cold into her, and his touch seemed to be the only thing she tolerated.When Justin or Sinister had reached out, trying to help, she had lashed out.Sinister still cradled his broken arm, and Justin sported a black eye and a limp as they hurried through the yard.
Surprisingly, it had been Irishen and Hellion working together that had kept the spectacle to a minimum.With their history, no one was surprised that they had demolished one hallway.
Marc kept shielding Wayla from sight.He didn’t know what was going on with his ex-fake-girlfriend, but something was, and having the whole campus up in their business was not the way to go.
His shields were straining to keep Wayla contained, even when she was clearly unconscious.Irishen kept whispering to her, but Marc didn’t hear what.His containment bubble let him see in, but sound was kept inside.
He would have to talk with Yash about that.His illusions and area control mixed with his shields yielded some spectacular results, but right now, he very much wanted to know what Irishen was saying.
Another thing he very much wanted to know was why Wayla was tolerating his touch.Did they really have something going on between them?He had pulled away when Marc had suggested that she should kiss him.
He was going to beat Irishen’s ass over that later.If he had just fucking kissed her, none of this would have happened.Kicking Hellion’s ass on the same principle was probably in order too.
Those two could channel immense amounts of power.Marc was good, very good, at what he did, but he wasn’t inheriting the powers of Hell like Hellion.Irishen was not a match to Hellion in that regard, but he was still heir apparent of his clan.If he hadn’t been such an ass…
He glanced sideways at Jarred.“Did we warn the house?”
Jarred’s head snapped up, and he cursed, before digging out his phone.After a quick call, he nodded.“Grant is informing the rest, and Ilijas and Sim are waiting.”
“Good.”
It felt like forever before the house came into view.Sinister couldn’t portal Wayla in the condition she was in, since Marc wouldn’t be able to keep the bubble up through the portal.Every step took forever.The front door flew open, and as soon as they were through it, Marc dropped his shield.
“Morsel, you have to keep breathing.”
He caught the whispered words, and his heart stalled.Ilijas jumped into action.
“What happened?Lay her down here,” he said and pointed at the cleared living room floor.
Irishen carefully laid her down, but didn’t let go as he spoke.“I got a message from Tulias, one of Elena’s minions, about what was going on in the class.I called Justin on the way over.”
“Justin?”Sim asked while he handed Ilijas the things he needed.
“He’s the only number I have,” Irishen snapped, but his eyes didn’t move from Wayla.“Kelsey, the bastard, was battering Wayla with flames.According to Tulias, she just couldn’t catch them.”
“Weird,” Jarred mumbled.“Why didn’t she just catch them or shield externally?”They were all crowding around Wayla, and Ilijas looked like he wanted to tell them to back off.Marc appreciated his restraint to keep his mouth shut, because he wasn’t going anywhere.
“And then?”Sim prodded.
“I got there and froze the room just before Kelsey’s firewall hit her.”
Jarred growled, his jaguar trying to break free.Marc hadn’t ever seen him so on edge.Justin took over the story.
“We arrived on his heels, and Wayla was standing, shaken but looking all right.It was after we got her out of there that she started to…”
“My best guess is leaking power due to pressure,” Hellion murmured.“How she has enough to leak over is beyond me though.She’s a fucking storm spirit and I haven’t felt the tiniest edge of her aura before.”Now he sounded angry, but Irishen just closed his eyes and breathed in deep.When he opened them, he searched out Hellion’s eyes.
