My heart thundered against my ribs as they disappeared, and I caught a whiff of ash in the air.
“What’s your plan?” Reyna asked, sidling up next to me.
In all our planning … I hadn’t come up with this kind of scenario. Maybe I should’ve, but war … like this…
Think, Nai! Think!
“Carson,” I said, looking at the high master of earth, “I hope you have one more earthquake in you.”
The young man grinned. “You’ve got it.”
‘Rage!’ I shouted into his mind, no small measure of relief welling within when I felt his consciousness. ‘I need you to try and herd the blood mages to the edge near the water—’
‘Already on it,’ he growled. ‘We’re trying to keep them on the cliff and out of the woods.’
‘Good.’ A plan was shaping up in my mind, and I needed his help or it would never work. I tapped the single powder bomb at my hip and grinned. ‘Once I step out, I’ll need you to get our teams off the cliff and back to safety.’
I felt his confusion, and he growled, ‘You better not be planning on anything foolish.’
Not foolish. Risky. Courageous. At least … I hoped. ‘I’ve got one more Jakko bomb,’I told him. ‘And a really crazy plan.’
“Let’s do this,” I said. And then we crossed into the branches of the willow tree…
And came out on Shifter Island.
Chapter Eighteen
Pandemonium surrounded us.Screams rent the darkness, and flames sliced into it, illuminating the destruction. The number of blood mages was … unbelievably small. Perhaps a few dozen, but they moved lightning fast. I scanned the small contingent of the enemy but didn’t spot the Queen or Kalama.
As I approached the cliff, I saw exactly why we hadn’t defeated the blood mages yet. Four blood mages darted forward in a blur of motion, unable for me to even track with my shifter eyes. They were way too fast and too strong. Adrianna, the queen of the lions, roared as the blood mages attacked her. She thrashed, but the four blood mages pounced swiftly, too strong.
I hesitated to blast them with my magic for fear of hitting the lion queen. The animal’s roar became a cry of pain, and then the lion went silent. One of the monsters screamed in triumph and held Adriana’s shriveled corpse in his clawed hands.
How had Rage kept the blood mages from overrunning him?
A blast of fire at the four blood mages answered my question. He was using his elemental power to stay alive. The four blood mages scampered away from the dead lion queen as Justice advanced.
But the blood mages were faster than shadows, and they disappeared into the night…
This fight could go on forever … unless we could corral them into one spot and use a power-canceling bomb.
“Carson!” I shouted.
The ground rolled, and I seized the confusion to drop to the earth. As Reyna army-crawled over to me, she whispered, “If something goes wrong and you have to sacrifice one of your shields—or all of us—to defeat the queen, you mustn’t hesitate. The blood mages will never stop coming for us as long as she’s alive.”
What was she saying? I blinked as the meaning of her statement settled. That even if my plan to kill the queen meant I’d be dealt a lethal blow that would take out one of my shields, I should still proceed. But … Reyna was the last to take the oath, so any mortal injury would go to her first.
I stared at her in horror. “Reyna, I can’t—”
She grabbed the sides of my face and glared at me. “The time for sentimentality is gone. This realm will never be safe again until the blood mages are all dead. Make it happen. No matter what.”
With wide eyes, I nodded at her, but the idea of causing any one of my friends’ deaths made my blood run cold. Putting those thoughts from my mind, I focused on what I needed to do right now. With Honor, Reyna, and Kaja surrounding me, I exhaled and let my spirit slide from my body. It was the only way I could think of to find the queen again. The cliff was bathed in moonlight, but still, I needed to get closer to the blood mages to see where she was.
My spirit form raced forward into the melee and immediately spotted Kalama in a copse of trees near the edge of the steep cliff. The moon cast creepy shadows over her face. I crept closer, and their voices became distinguishable.
“If we jump, some of us will be able to escape,” a female blood mage said. Her voice was familiar, and as she turned, I recognized her as Cara, the mage who’d held Kian down while the queen sucked him dry. “Then we can build our force anew.”
I 1000.9% could not let that happen!
