Cassander’s lips tilted up. “Fine. I am here to protect her. But not from the asshole across from me.”
“What are you talking about?” Godric growled.
Cassander lifted his hands above his head and drew his swords, the sun bouncing off the metal in a brilliant gleam. He tipped his head back toward the wooded area he had come from. “We’re about to have company.”
Godric’s gaze slammed toward the trees, and his nostrils flared. He stepped forward, his eyes trained on the tree line. His voice was whisper quiet, deadly, and fierce. “Finn, get everyone out of here.”
Finn was already walking away. “On it.”
Ben leaned toward me, also staring at the trees. “Were they talking about you?”
“I think,” I mumbled in confusion.
There were bigger problems than that right now.
I quickly trotted across the grass to stand next to Godric as the instructors and Finn herded recruits into the train. “Are we about to be attacked or something?”
“Yes,” Cassander and Godric stated together.
I snapped my attention to the trees. “By who?”
Godric’s nostrils were still flared. “I don’t know.”
“Not by who,” Cassander drawled. “Bywhat.”
I stood on the grassy field with bare feet.
And I froze.
Black creatures with razor sharp nails were creeping closer to the edge of the tree line, moving as if they were floating, with no particular straight pattern as they crossed in front of each other and back again. They moved so slowly that a one-legged dog could beat them in a race.
My hands shook down by my sides. “Someone pinch me. I’m dreaming again.” I wanted to wake up now.
“Not a dream,” Cassander murmured.
Neither of the two took their eyes from the monsters.
Finn shoved the last of the recruits, who had made it to this side of the lake, inside the train, then barked at the instructors, “Hurry the fuck up, people.”
They ran inside, the confusion evident on their faces why they were leaving in such a hurry. But they obeyed the orders and raced up the stairs, disappearing inside.
My shoulders stiffened. “We need to get on that train.” I grabbed Godric’s hand with my shaking ones. “Come on, big man. Let’s go.”
“Finn, get Poppy on there!” Godric ordered.
But the door on the train shut on its own.
The train lifted into the air and shot over the lake.
I trembled where I stood, my lips quivering.
Godric bellowed, “What the fuck, Finn! She can’t be here.”
Finn jogged to our small group. He shook his head, his eyes wide in shock and confusion. “I didn’t do that.”
“I snuck in there earlier and set the timer.” Cassander yawned again. “Because she can be here.”
“Are you crazy?” I screamed. I pointed at the monsters heading toward us. “I don’twantto be here for whatever the hell you guys are up to.”
