With me as a shield, he stood before the impressive line of my family and friends.
Hudson let his eyes travel down my body and my grandmother cried out as his claws extended further.
“Everyone needs to leave, except for me, Cora, Eloise, and the Principal,” Michael snarled.
My head lolled forward and I blinked, trying to stay awake. “Not happening,” Hudson growled.
“If we exchange hostages with the power rolling through this room, there’s still nothing to stop you from murdering us,” Michael said. “Which means I need to level the playing field.”
Hudson’s instinct would be to protect me before killing them. It was a good plan, but I didn’t like it. “Alternatively, I could just kill her and take my chances. And for every minute you delay, she draws closer to death.” His hand pressed against my stomach, and for a few seconds, I lost the ability to breathe.
“Fine,” Hudson snapped. Murmurs of disapproval swept around me before the supernaturals filed out of the room, leaving the four of us.
“On three,” Michael snapped.
There was a count, then my body crumpled to the floor as Michael released me. Strong warm arms caught me before I hit the hard tiles. “I got you,” he murmured into my ear as he hoisted me up and against his chest. My vision wavered as he ran with me down a long dark tunnel. It felt like hours, and at the same time, mere seconds before we emerged into the blistering sunshine.
“Put her down,” Lenson demanded.
My body was carefully placed on the ground. “Save her,” Hudson snapped.
“Give us room to work. Keep her heart beating, Principal, that’s your job,” Rockhard instructed. Hudson ran his hands through his hair and stalked around the people working to fix my broken body.
The potion masters hovered above me. I could feel them doing things to my body, but there was no pain. I’d become numb, and that wasn’t a good sign.
“You need to let yourself feel it, it will help them find your injuries” Aunt Liz instructed. I tipped my head back, finding her on her knees behind me. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cupped my face. “I know it hurts, Cora, but pain means you are alive. You have to feel it to fight to stay.”
“I can give her my blood,” Sebastian shouted. I couldn’t see him. The figures were shadows as they circled me.
“Not a chance,” Hudson roared.
“You’d rather she was dead?”
“Don’t fight,” I whispered.
“Your blood won’t be enough, and it isn’t a match for what we can do,” Rockhard snapped.
“Can’t she just transform?” Sebastian asked.
“I think she’s too weak,” Aunt Sophia said. “She has to fight this battle as Cora.”
“Let the pain in,” Aunt Liz coaxed.
Someone squeezed my hand and I found a very pale Rebecca at my right. Someone else grabbed my other hand. My head twisted, finding Aunt Dayna there, her eyes full of sympathy. Aunt Sophia moved closer and knelt at my feet, she laid her hands on my ankles and nodded. “We can help, Cora. Let the pain in and we will be here to catch you.”
Indigo was pacing in my mind as the elementals worked around me. “Let me out,” she snarled. “I can heal us.” But her voice wavered like she wasn’t entirely sure of this conviction. Letting her out would mean another two people would know exactly what I was. Seeing it on video was one thing, but confirmation in the flesh of their suspicions was another. My circle of people was widening, but I needed to be cautious. Not everyone would take the news of a Nephilim in their midst in their stride.
I drew in a steading breath and unlocked the shields in my mind. Synapses sprang to life and my back bowed as my family and friends absorbed some of the agony. I clung to their strength and felt Hudson clutching my heart, keeping it pumping, giving me life when it would have sputtered out.
I let in the heartache, the betrayal, the searing pain, and I fed it to my soul. I would live and I would take my revenge. Michael Glaister and Eloise Roberts needed to be stopped.
I writhed beneath the power skittering over my flesh as it listened to my body’s signals and sought out my injuries. I clutched the hands of my family, both blood and chosen, and fought to stay with them. Time moved like molasses.
“We’ve done all we can,” Lenson murmured. He sounded so far away. My body ached. “The rest is up to her.”
Warm arms picked me up and cradled me. Hudson’s scent surrounded and comforted me. My eyes seemed to be glued closed, but I curled into him with a sigh. Lips brushed my forehead.
“How did you find me?” I wondered.
