There isn’t a single second, not when the onslaught of students continues to charge toward us.
I can’t see Jude in the distance anymore, the bodies obscuring my view. It seems like he enjoys issuing commands and then hiding while the carnage unravels. I wonder if he ever gets his hands dirty.
Grinding my shoes into the ground, I brace,ready for the next person as guilt curls through me. I know I should have taken Rion's advice and made a run for it, giving myself at least a few moments of a head start. Instead, the task remains the same, getting back to Institute Thirteen, but now there are even more obstacles in the way.
Thankfully, Thorne's magic curls through the crowd, smothering one person after another, creating a pathway. It’s somewhat jagged, but visible enough to risk it.
“We need to go, and we need to go now,” he commands as Ocean helps Rion to his feet.
“Heard,” my wolf replies, wiping a hand down his face.
One last side glance from my shadow fae, and he takes the lead. I keep a step behind him, charging through the crowd and heading for the outskirts of The Vale.
My stomach is in knots, anticipating the other shoe dropping as we almost glide through the madness, seeing students fight among themselves as they try to claw their way toward us, only to be met with Thorne’s magic enveloping anybody who gets too close.
Ocean appears at my side as we start down the path to Institute Thirteen, and hope blossoms in mychest. But I quickly frown when I don't feel the presence of Rion. He always stands a touch closer than everyone else, and I can’t sense him at all.
Glancing over my shoulder, I gasp, and my steps falter. Stumbling over myself, I roll across the ground in a tangled mess before quickly scrambling back to my feet.
“Rion,” I yell, panicking as I watch him tussle with another student.
A flash of red etched into their blazer confirms they’re from Institute One.
I don't wait to see if the others have noticed he's under attack; I move without thought, desperate to help. But before I reach him, he shifts. His wolf appears before me once again as he snaps and snarls at the witch before him. He whimpers and writhes, cowering on the path as her words grow louder.
Panic floods my veins as I falter, glancing down at my palms, knowing exactly what I need to do.
Kill or be killed. Or worse: be captured.
I know I'm not alone when I hear whispers come from beside me, magic exuding from my best friend. She tries to keep her distance as she helps. Unfortunately for me, my abilities require me to get closer.
As I approach, blood gushes from the attacker's nose, dripping down his uniform. I slam my hands against his chest, and for the first time, relief consumes me as I watch his head snap back. He falls to his knees, his abilities thrumming through my veins as I try to breathe through it. All I'm hopeful for is that it's enough to stop Rion from hurting any longer.
“Oh my God,” Ocean cries, snapping my attention to her, and my hands slip away from the asshole who thought he could mess with one of my men.
I hear his limbs collapse in a heap as I follow the sound of Ocean’s voice to find her cowering over Rion.
“He's dying. I don't know what he did, but he's dying,” she repeats, panicked.
My heart pounds in my chest as the weight of the world threatens to bring me to my knees.
I can't handle this.
We can't keep everybody away and save him too.
My world is crumbling.
Turning in the direction I last saw Thorne, I desperately seek his help. Except when I look over Ocean and Rion, toward the shadow fae inquestion, I find a blue haze around us, Thorne the only other person inside the domed barrier.
“I can hold us like this for a little longer,” he rasps, his face scrunched with discomfort as he nods toward Rion. “Help him, Elodie, you know what to do,” he states, and I gulp.
Glancing between the witch groaning as he rolls on the floor and my injured wolf, I move on instinct, grabbing the witch by the collar of his shirt and yanking him along with me. Without care, I drop him beside Rion, leaving just enough space for me to drop to my knees between them.
Ocean remains on the other side of Rion, silent and observant.
Leaning closer, I run my hands through Rion’s fur, and he winces in response. Blood is spotted all over him, tiny, deep cuts running the length of his limbs. Anger burns inside of me. This fucker is gonna pay for harming him.
Desperate to take Rion’s pain away, I take a deep breath, planting a hand on the witch's chest first, before pressing my left hand against his. I suck in a breath as magic thrums through me and I become a vessel. Only this time, it's not blades of grass I'm playing with.
