She managed to cast a successful spell that threw up a wall at the top of the steps, but as we descended, I heard our pursuers blasting away at it with magic. It would only buy us a couple extra seconds.
“I hope you have a plan,” I panted as we came to the bottom of the stairs.
We were in the basement, and from what I could see, there were no windows or areas to escape.
“I do,” she said, pulling me along.
“A portal?” I suggested.
“I don’t know if I can do that again. If it goes wrong, it might close too fast and cut one of us in half by accident.”
“Then what the hell are we doing?” I said, glancing back as an explosion rattled down the stairs. The magical barrier had been destroyed.
“A place Wendy showed me once,” Veronica said, leading me into what looked like a boiler room. “This place didn’t always belong to Balthazar. He bought it and remodeled it into the academy. Before that it had several owners.” She went to her knees before what looked like a manhole cover built into the concrete floor.
She shoved her fingers into two small holes and pulled. Veins and tendons stood out on her neck as she tried to lift the rusty cover.
“Help me,” she said.
If shifter strength couldn’t break that damn thing free, I had no clue what I could do, but I tried, digging my fingers into the edge, and tugging while the sounds of running footsteps grew louder outside.
“Magic,” I grunted, my forearms screaming in pain as I pulled with all my might.
“Veronica!” one of the professors shouted. “Turn yourself in.Now!”
The splintering sound of a door being blown apart by magic told me they were only a few feet down the hall, checking each room and closet as they went.
Veronica let go of the manhole cover and tried a few spells, but she wasn’t concentrating. Every sound from the corridor outside drew her eyes and attention away. The magic sputtered, flickered, and arced half formed and useless against the manhole cover.
“Maybe try to—fuck!” I cried as she shoved me aside, sending me tumbling across the floor.
Before I could ask what she was doing, she shifted into her wolf form. Sitting up, I spotted the professors, all trying to wedge themselves through the door to attack her. I winced as magic burst across the room, spell after spell shooting toward her, but her wolf form was so graceful and fast, Veronica managed to dodge and roll aside as each blast came toward her.
Evenmoreimpressive was the fact that she fought them without killing any of them. Instead of using her teeth and claws to shred them, she batted them away with her paws, tackled them with her shoulders, or knocked them down with her hind legs. I understood her reasoning. These people weren’t evil. Theytruly believed Veronica had murdered Balthazar and kidnapped Wendy. In their minds, they were trying to subdue a killer and child thief. They didn’t know any better, and Veronica didn’t want to kill any of these people. It was also why I hadn’t used my gun yet.
I actually abhorred using it unless my life was in danger, and hadneverused it on anyone who didn’t deserve it. But, deep down, I knew that unless we didsomething, we’d never get out of here.
Veronica spun around, sweeping Burgess’s legs out from under her, and the blow her head took from the concrete knocked her unconscious.
“Howdareyou?” Karmody shouted.
Veronica backed up, lips peeled back in a snarl, as she stood directly on top of the manhole cover.
She shifted back, crouching on the cover, and kept her eyes on the slowly approaching professors while calling out to me.
“Be ready, Declan!”
Ready?Ready for what?
Karmody and his two other friends all swept their hands forward. One of them let out a low grunting sound that might have been a language I didn’t understand. The spells shot forth, spinning and combining into a flaming blast that would tear Veronica apart. Terror erupted inside me in the half second it took me to realize what I was seeing. I opened my mouth to scream at her to move.
Before I could make a sound, the spells coalesced and slammed into her—at least, they slammed into the spot she’d been standing an instant before. At the last possible second, she’dshifted again and leapt aside. The spells crashed into the manhole cover with an almightybang, and the rusted metal broke into three pieces. One spun through the air and lodged into the wall a few feet from where I sat; the other two actually shottowardthe professors, who all screamed and jumped aside.
“Declan! Now!” Veronica shouted, already back in her human form.
Oh, that’s what she meant by being ready. She’d planned that. Used the professors’ powerful magic to do what she couldn’t. Smart as shit.
Scooting forward, I followed her as she went down the hole, using rusty rungs of an ancient ladder to go down while the professors all shouted and cried out in confusion.
