‘She’s right here,’Shade told him, and Kian’s power grew on his fingertips.
“Oh, no.” Kian murmured as Samson glanced back at Callie’s body.
Samson broke, throwing himself into the fray of the enemy recklessly, shooting at them as a blank look took over his expression.
I sobbed over her body, unable to stop the pain.
Shade squeaked as he sat next to me.‘She’s sobbing. I’ve never seen her like this.’
Kian built a barrier around us. Norman looked back to see what had happened but continued fighting to keep everyone away from us. I was inconsolable. It hurt my chest, hurt my throat, hurt my soul. Everything hurt.
Callie hadjustsaved Trixie’s life. She didn’t deserve that. She was so pure.
Anger burned through me as I turned to see where the bullet had come from, but I didn’t see anyone with a gun. I saw human bodies with their heads cut off or their hearts ripped from their chests and guns everywhere, though, and I hoped that the Fates were kind enough to have the person who killed Callie meet the same fate.
Her death was just like Mom’s. I remembered it so vividly. I continued to wail, incorporeal, as the war went on around me.
I glanced up through my tears to see Damien kick someone’s head clear off their body as Samson rushed toward Tabitha with one of Norman’s silver scales covered in blood like he’d ripped it off. His gaze never left Callie, though. “Use it and put the ward up.”
Tabitha’s eyes widened as she took hold of the scale, and he helped her sit up.
With a small incantation, the ward shrouded around us again. The light blue of it flickered before becoming invisible like it was supposed to be. But I couldn’t even focus on the good anymore. My body had become numb from the pain.
FORTY-NINE
Rowan
Mystaffmovedthehumans, specimens, and werewolves we managed to catch into the basement of Dragon’s Reach Library, where we had constructed cells to hold them for further information.
Norman wouldn’t leave Trixie’s side even though he was severely wounded and out of magical energy. They were both taken to the infirmary where Langston and Finch were healing the wounded.
Tabitha was still in the middle of campus with Norman’s scale, strengthening the wards, but her worry for her sister was clear. She still needed medical attention too, but her wound wasn’t fatal and she insisted on continuing.
So many were angry that Norman and I didn’t use a scale to start with, but scales were rare for a reason. A scale had to be unnaturally torn from a dragon, and it was not only painful but weakened us massively. A scale held immense energy, but it only held a portion of the dragon or drake’s power. It was much more useful to let them fight in their drake forms than to use a scale to start with. Besides, once a scale was taken, the wound stayed open in both forms, seeping magical energy until the scale regenerated. That could take up to a month.
Blair had the vision in the middle of the battle to use Norman’s scale, and we trusted that it was the right choice. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have done it. Roak may have been handing out scales like candy, but I knew he was probably killing his own to do so.
The moon had started to descend into the horizon, but the battle had taken a terrible toll. Those who hadn’t been injured were restless, and we were cleaning up to put that energy to use.
Samson broke completely over Callie’s death, and I couldn’t imagine the pain he felt at losing his mate. He’d tried to die with her. He slaughtered as many humans as he could, but his strength had overpowered theirs.
The pain rippled through my matebond with Wren, and my heart wrenched. I had never felt that kind of emotional pain myself or through anyone before. I didn’t know we had the capacity to hurt like that.
Damien practically foamed at the mouth with the way he was eating that emotional pain from her as he cradled her in his arms. His eyes were glistening silver as he breathed her scent in.
She hadn’t wanted to move after Samson took Callie’s body, so Damien sat with her to take away the pain. We all wanted to be there for her, but none of us had Damien’s power, so we helped clean up the aftermath.
Moonlight bathed the carnage of the battlefield. We had lost seven students and four staff, which was minimal considering the casualties of the considerably larger army sent to destroy us.
“Throw them all in a pile,” Rhett shouted at a group of students and agents dragging dead humans around.
They listened, piling the bodies on top of each other in silence. It was the reality of war, and it was horrid. We’d have to give Rhett a class to teach on the reality of what this shit did to the mind next term.
I threw up a hand and blasted the bodies with fire. Drake fire burned everything, even the bones. As morbid as it was, it was the best option for clean up.
“Make sure you’re not pushing yourselves too much. If you’d like to go back to the dorms and get some rest, that may be the best idea after the shit show we’ve had. But if you’re too anxious to rest, we appreciate your help,” Alister told the students, who muttered agreements.
“There will be rewards for every one of you who fought by our side,” I shouted, and it seemed to uplift their morale a little as they talked amongst themselves.
