He lifted his arm, his talon shining as the rain smacked down on us. My hair stuck to my face with sweat, blood, and rain. Yet, all I could see was my fledgling.
Wren flashed before my eyes. All of her cute expressions, sweetness, and pureness. So innocent, and yet she took my stern nature in stride.
I was in love with her from the day she walked into my office, and now, I was going to let her down and break her heart just as I promised not to.
A flash of dark green slithered into my vision, slipping against Roak’s form, carefully not touching me as it slipped between us.
He dropped backward, and the tingle of my magic attempting to heal me spread around the opening in my stomach—without replenishing my energy.
My vision blurred as I staggered to my feet, one hand pressed to my gut as I turned my head to Sabine. She had poisoned Roak in her basilisk form.
Disappointment flickered through me at not giving the final blow, but I gave a grateful nod to Sabine, who flicked her forked tongue at me with a hiss before her large snake form slithered away.
Roak gurgled as I stared down at him in disbelief. My eyebrows knitted together as I frowned and moved toward him.
“Rowan,” he croaked. “Help.”
I shook my head, using the last of my magical energy to blow fire at him, turning the pathetic dragon into a torch. The smell of his poisoned body burning would be a pleasant memory for years to come.
I staggered to the ground, catching Alister’s relieved gaze in the distance before he flung blood out of another human that was coming up on his mother.
Sabine crouched next to me. Her basilisk form had been shed, and she wore her uniform. “Let's get you back to the camp.”
“I have to fight!”
“You cannot fight,” she hissed. “Think of Wren. She needsss you. You lost well overtenscales fighting him. Youhaveto go back and rest.”
All of a sudden, Blair flickered next to us. “You may rest, Headmaster Barrington. You have fulfilled your role in the war. You will go to the infirmary at the academy. Finch is waiting for you.”
A low rumble left my throat. There was no way I would be leaving Wren in the war without me close by.
“I'm sorry, Rowan, but you don't have a choice.” Blair snapped her fingers, and Sabine and I ended up back at the academy.
The anger that surged through me faded as I fell forward, and my vision darkened. “Wren,” I murmured before embracing the darkness and going unconscious.
FORTY
Lachlan
Dissatisfactionplowedmybrowslow over my eyes. I hated not being near Wren, and I hated not knowing if the rest of the guys were okay. I was glad Kian had Nightshade with him since we knew that he would be facing the necromancers today, but I wished I could be with one of them to help.
They were my new pack.
I ran a hand through my curls with a sigh.
“Lachlan,” Dad said, and my spine jerked upright as I clicked my gaze with him. “Your mate will be fine, son.”
I nodded, lowering my gaze before covering my face with my hands and sighing again. “There's something I need to tell you before we go.” My chest tightened. “I saw Lily.”
Dad’s brows shot up.
Mom gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Why didn't you tell us sooner?”
“Because at first I didn't know if it was really her, and then I found a journal in the human facility.”
Dad's brows edged closer together as he listened to me, and Mom's eyes simmered with something like anger.
“The journal was written by her. She’d been experimenting on werewolves,torturingthem.”
