He didn’t have to tell me twice. Now that we had Harley, I was anxious to get back to Lumen Academy. Quicker than I ever have before, I gathered my magic and commanded it to grow. Gage and Indigo slipped into a defensive stance facing the door as Dash lifted Harley into his arms and rushed to my side, readying himself to bolt through the portal the moment it was large enough.
I lifted my arms, pointing my hands at the back wall while purple fire licked my fingertips. With a grunt, I brought my magic forward and forced it from me. A stream of power shot from my palms and a small portal about the size of a dinner plate appeared. I swear I spotted Drea’s surprised face through the round opening just as something slammed into my side. A massive amount of electricity hit me. It threw me off my feet and into the wall.
Stars danced at the edges of my vision when my head connected with the drywall, and I crumpled to the floor. The smell of burnt ozone filled my nostrils as I twitched on the ground, the last vestiges of whatever magic I’d just been hit with burning itself out.
Stumbling to my feet, I blinked my eyes rapidly to clear my vision, hearing angry shouts followed by a deep growl. When I finally got my bearings, I saw two men and a woman standing in the entry of Harley’s apartment. Gage and Indigo were closest to them, and Gage’s face had changed. His jaw protruded and all his visible skin was covered in black fur. He bared his teeth at the newcomers, flashing his pointed fangs, as sharp claws started to grow from the tips of his fingers. He looked more hellhound than man at the moment, and I was sure he was about as far into his transformation as he could get without going full-blown beast.
I swallowed my fear that he would fully transform. There wasn’t mental space to worry about that right now when the people we were facing off against were all clearly members of Dash’s very powerful Shade family. They had his dark features and light eyes, and I recognized one of them as the dude from the poolhall earlier today. Dash was a younger version of the other guy, who I assumed was his father, and the woman his mother. The looks on all three of their faces broadcasted their anger and even disgust as they stared at Dash.
Dash stepped in front of me and then set Harley down behind him, keeping her protected as he returned his family’s vicious stares.
“I told you I saw him,” his brother spat, his voice filled with venom. “I’d recognize that piece of dirt anywhere.”
I knew Dash’s family hated him, and even wanted him dead, but hearing his brother talk about him like that was still a shock.
“You okay, Tatum?” Gage called back to me, his voice garbled and only barely distinguishable as human. The hellhound pitch grated my ears and brought on a headache.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said as I glared daggers at Dash’s family.
“Did you come back to grovel for your place in our household?” asked the older man who I assumed was Dash’s father.
“Never,” Dash growled.
“We wouldn’t take you back anyway, you filthy Lumen traitor,” his mother said, her face twisted with hatred.
How did Dash come from such hateful people? It made me sick.
“Well, then there’s only one thing left for you to do,” his dad said. “Die.”
I blinked, and then Dash’s mother threw a dark ball of smoking fire so quickly I didn’t see her arm move. The projectile streaked in Dash and my direction, but before I could react with magic of my own, Indigo jumped in front of us. She threw up some sort of shield made of green magic and the ball smashed into it and immediately dissipated. Indigo’s shield sputtered out shortly after.
Then the apartment erupted into instant chaos.
Gage ran at Dash’s mom, snapping his jaws and slashing with his claws. Dash’s brother and father both shot streams of what looked to be black lightning at Dash, who spun and snapped his wings out, hunching over Harley as he absorbed the impact of their attack. Some of Dash’s feathers turned black or caught fire as he got pounded by their Shade magic.
A woman screamed, and then Dash’s mom’s body flew across the room, smashing into a dining room table. When her body hit the ground, she didn’t get back up. She was knocked out cold.
Gage appeared behind Dash’s brother and dad while they were distracted with attacking Dash. He sank one clawed hand into the brother’s shoulder and tossed him aside as if he weighed nothing, before punching the dad, knocking him to the floor.
Yes! That’s my man!
Gage was fierce and certainly holding his own against the master Shades, but I wasn’t going to let him keep fighting alone.
I started forward, pulling two daggers off my body, and releasing my own wings.
“Tatum! No, wait,” Indigo yelled as she threw up another shield to protect us. “Open a portal! We gotta get out of here!”
Free of his brother and dad’s onslaught, Dash had risen to his feet and formed his own ball of magic between his hands, something I’d never seen Dash do before. As Gage exchanged blows with his brother, Dash chucked the white ball of light at his father, knocking the man off his feet again just as he’d regained his footing.
I wanted to join the fray, especially after these bastards talked so rudely to my friend, but Indigo was right. We had to get back to Lumen Academy. Dash and Gage seemed to be able to handle Dash’s psycho family on their own for now, but if Harley woke, or any more master Shades entered the fight, we were done for. Not to mention Apollyon was on his way.
Focus, Tatum.
Turning, I re-stored my weapons as I faced the blank wall behind me. With my eyes wide open, I pulled my power forward and then released it. A portal had already begun to form, and in record time I’d created a portal straight into the armory basement, right in front of the cell they’d put Gage in. Taking in a deep breath, I pushed more magic into it and the mouth of the portal widened to at least two feet so that I could see Drea again. Marlow and Jacob stood behind her, and they were all armed to the teeth.
Seeing the battle behind me, Drea’s eyes widened and she started forward like she was going to jump through the portal the moment it was large enough.
“No!” I screamed. “The wards will kill you!”
