We all scramble away.
“I’ve got it!” Hazel sends another blast of magic, and the trunk explodes, sending splinters flying like missiles in every direction. We all hit the ground, shielding ourselves.
“Stop trying to fix it, Hazel!” Natalie shouts.
“I’m trying to give Oaklyn what she deserves!” Hazel yells, wild with vengeance. Her hair is a mess, her face sweaty, dirt streaking her skin. She strikes again, and a geyser of dirt flies into the air and rains down on us.
“Hazel! Sophia first, revenge later!” I shout, trying to keep tabs on everyone. Shit, where did Sophia, Fiona, and Hayley go?
Hazel keeps advancing on Oaklyn, creating explosions of earth and vegetation, none of which hit her target.
Oaklyn raises her dagger. “I didn’t know she would use you like that! I wanted you with me—”
“Liar!” Hazel shouts. The ground beneath Oaklyn’s feet turns to mud, causing her to sink ankle-deep.
Oaklyn stumbles, genuine fear crossing her face. Hazel falters. Her hands shake, tears carving streaks through the grime on her face. For a split second, there’s a glimpse of my rational, careful best friend.
Then Oaklyn’s expression hardens into that familiar smirk, and something in Hazel snaps.
Her scream rips through the forest as she unleashes more power. The earth between them detonates. Soil and stone shoot skyward, leaving a crater.
I can feel her heartbreak in the air, so raw that my throat tightens. It’s not just anger, not just sadness, but the soul-deep agony of realizing someone you knew intimately has been lying—that you didn’t mean as much to them as they did to you.
With each blast of magic and each explosion of the forest floor between them, it’s like she’s trying to destroy the evidence of what they had. Every kiss, every smile, every touch, pulverized like the rocks exploding into sand at their feet.
“Incoming,” Sky warns, pulling my attention back.
Sophia marches through the hurricane of debris with Hayley and Fiona flanking her like guards. Fiona’s arm is held at a sickening angle, but she doesn’t seem to care, moving like a zombie with a target.
The stolen magic pulses under Sophia’s skin, flowing through her veins like tar. Sweat pours down her face. Her chest heaves. Even for her, the magic isn’t easy to wield—and that might be our only advantage.
Then, something shifts. The sensation of chilly mist gives way. A surge of determination that isn’t my own fills the woods, wild, ancient, and more powerful than any of us.
The trees at the edge of the clearing sway. Leaves shudder. Branches crack. Everyone turns, even Sophia, her eyes darting to the disturbance.
A massive stag charges out of the bush, its antlers reaching skyward, its russet fur rippling over muscle. The ground trembles beneath its hooves.
It’s only the first.
Behind it comes an avalanche of chimeras—a polar bear with gleaming silvery fur, a serpent that could swallow a car, a flaming red bull…and Lucy, magnificent in griffin form, her wings unfurling to blot out the sky. Each feather is edged in golden light.
My heart leaps with hope.
Sophia’s face contorts as she raises her palms toward the creatures.
But there are too many for her to stop. They pitch and roll, dodge and transform, advancing closer.
Natalie and Sky seize the moment of distraction, racing forward to grab Hayley and Fiona. As they drag them away from Sophia, Hayley fights like a wild animal, her nails raking down Sky’s arm and drawing blood. Fiona is more subdued, her eyes rolling back in her head as she struggles against Sophia’s control.
Surround her,I tell the chimeras.Break her focus.
They do, scattering to come at her from all angles. Sophia backs up, teeth gritted, eyes focused like a hawk.
My skin prickles as more magic approaches, and I turn to find dark figures racing closer through the trees.
The Shadows have arrived, bursting into the clearing.
“Sophia has bio magic!” I shout. “Pin her down!”
