"You're so beautiful when you burn for me," Jade growls, his demon voice making me shudder and clench around him.
My response comes out in gibberish, lost to pleasure, my fire manifesting in controlled bursts that Jade drinks down eagerly. When we finish, both of us trembling and satisfied, Jade turns hungry eyes to the rest of them.
"Who's next?"
We don't make it through everyone before Ambrose's warning contracts start screaming. Not literally screaming, but the magical equivalent. His entire body goes rigid, green light flashing around him in patterns I don't understand.
"What is it?" Skye asks immediately, already on his feet and moving toward Ambrose.
Ambrose's face has gone pale, all the color draining from his features. His green eyes are wide with alarm as he reads something the rest of us can't see. "My monitoring contracts just detected massive essence signatures mobilizing. Multiple citiesacross the country. All moving in coordinated patterns toward specific targets."
Everyone tenses, the reaction rippling through our connection. My fire flickers hot, threatening to manifest. "Dmitri?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"Dmitri's loyalists," Ambrose confirms grimly, his hands moving through the air as he pulls up more contract information. "He's been planning this since the Council vote. Organized his remaining supporters, people who benefited from the old system and want it back. They're planning something big. Something coordinated. And according to the essence signatures I'm tracking, Phoenix Sanctuary is one of their primary targets."
Rumi's wings manifest immediately, golden feathers spreading wide. "How many? What kind of forces are we talking about?"
Ambrose's expression gets darker as he processes more information. "At least thirty Magila heading this way. Maybe more. Mix of elements, all combat trained. They're not coming to negotiate or intimidate. They're coming to destroy."
"When?" Harlow asks, his death-sight already activating as he searches futures for the answer.
"Tonight," Ambrose says, and the word drops like a stone. "They'll be here in less than two hours."
The office goes silent for a moment as we all process that. Two hours. We have two hours to prepare for an attack from an organized force of loyalists who want to destroy everything we've built.
"We need to evacuate the students," Skye says immediately, his power already surging. "Get them somewhere safe."
"Where?" Jade counters, his demon form manifesting as his protective instincts kick in. "The wards around PhoenixSanctuary are the strongest protection we have. If we send students out into the open, they'll be vulnerable."
"He's right," Harlow adds, his essence flickering between worlds. "The attack will be focused here. Dmitri's supporters want to destroy the symbol of rebellion. If students are scattered outside the wards, they become easier targets."
Rumi moves to the window, looking out over the sanctuary grounds. "Then we defend this place. We've got over two hundred students here, many of them with combat-capable essences. We've got faculty who are on our side now. And we've got six fundamental forces who took down Council hunters."
"This is different," Ambrose warns, his contracts still flashing with incoming information. "These aren't hunters following procedure. These are zealots who believe we're destroying the natural order. They won't hold back. They won't follow rules. And they're organized specifically to counter what we showed in the demonstration."
The weight of responsibility settles over all of us. A week ago we were just trying to prove I wasn't dangerous. Now we're responsible for protecting hundreds of students from an organized assault.
"We need to tell Tamara," I say, forcing my voice to stay steady even though my fire wants to explode with panic. "She needs to know what's coming. And we need to organize defenses."
Skye nods, already moving toward the door. "Ambrose, can your contracts give us tactical information? Weak points in their formation, routes they're taking?"
"Already on it," Ambrose confirms, green light intensifying around him as he works. "I'll have a full layout in ten minutes."
"Harlow, use your death-sight," Skye continues, falling into command mode with his Praestes authority backing every word. "Find the futures where we win. Figure out what actions lead to those outcomes."
Harlow's eyes go completely white as he phases partially into death realm. "I'm seeing multiple timelines. Success is possible but not guaranteed. The key variable is whether we can get the students organized in time."
"Rumi, Jade, Stellan," Skye turns to the three of us. "You're our heavy hitters. Once we know their approach routes, you'll lead the defensive lines. Jade can feed on their emotions to weaken them. Rumi can use divine power to disrupt their coordination. Stellan..."
He looks at me, and the confidence on his face mixing with fear. "You're the symbol they're coming to destroy. Which means you're also the rallying point for everyone defending this place. Students need to see you fighting, see that the phoenix they're named after won't back down."
My fire surges, not with panic anymore but with determination. "I won't let them destroy what we've built. Any of it."
We file out of the office together, moving fast through corridors that are about to become a battlefield. Students look up as we pass, sensing something is wrong through the sudden tension in the air.
By the time we reach Tamara's office and explain the situation, she's already pulling up security protocols that have been gathering dust for decades. "We have defensive wards that were installed when this place was first built. They were designed to protect against external attacks, though they've never actually been tested."
"Activate them," Skye orders with Praestes authority. "Everything you have."
