It was terrifying to consider returning to that hell, but I knew in my heart that I had to call upon courage. The White Rose was braver than I. She would lead me into battle without thinking twice, because the people of Malovia were depending on us.
And she wouldn’t hesitate to kill if she had to. Once I left these grounds, I had to leave Emma behind, and become the vigilante once more.
It was the only way I’d survive out there.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ethan
My mind had gone clear. I didn’t feel fear or anguish as I slipped on the Phantom mask and donned my vigilante cloak. The only thing coursing through me was the urge to protect my city at all costs.
I hadn’t become the Phantom since I’d banished the demon that lived inside of me. Instead of the pulsing hatred that usually rushed through my veins, there was a cool urge to bring peace and order.
I’d resisted becoming the vigilante until now, but my fears were put to rest. I could still be the Phantom and not turn into the villain. I no longer lost to myself. There was a divide now between the Phantom and I that drew a clear line from who he was and where Prince Ethan began.
Each of my companions flanked me, wearing their corresponding masks and cloaks. The White Rose ran by my side, and in her eyes, I saw no dread. She was ready for this, and so was I.
We slipped out the rear of the university campus to avoid the teachers, then ran through the woods to get back into Dolinska. Once our feet hit the cobblestone, I immediately became aware that this was a bloodbath. Entrails and dismembered heads lay throughout the streets, evidence of the carnage.
Too many, I saw, were little ones. There were more children dead than there were adults. The bodies of shifters, still in their animal forms, lay fallen beside their sorceresses, who were staring out into the blackness of night. The Yuletide decorations had been destroyed or torn down, lying in broken bits of glass and tattered ribbons amongst the dead.
The nearest monster was the cyclops. It rampaged everywhere, kicking carriages and squashing fae underfoot. The cyclops reached down and picked up sorceresses, chucking them into the ground. They barely had time to scream before they were silenced. It’d seemed like everyone had ceased trying to kill the monster, and was running the other way.
“Why aren’t people fighting back? They’ve all been trained to kill monsters at Arcanea University,” Stefan asked.
“No one is going to fight back when their kids are in danger! They’re going to try and get them to safety!” Emma shouted.
A twisted feeling in my gut knew she was right. These monsters were specifically being ordered to target children, so their parents wouldn’t stand and fight. The rest of the people who’d tried to fight back were already dead. Without the help of the soldiers, who Gabby and Elijah had undoubtedly ordered to stand down, the city had been overrun.
“We work together to take them down one at a time,” I told my team. “Let’s move!”
We darted forward, running toward the cyclops instead of in the other direction. Heads turned as people recognized my mask.
“The Phantom!” a woman cried as we rushed past. There were sounds of relief. “We’re saved!”
“The Phantom and the White Rose will stop this!” someone shouted, noticing Emma at my side. There were a few confused faces— people knew the White Rose and the Phantom were supposedly enemies, and didn’t understand why we were working together.
But they didn’t stick around to find out. My friends and I circled the monster, blocking it off from following the retreating crowd. The cyclops’ eye landed on me. It growled, and swiped out a giant hand to smash me into the earth.
I rolled to avoid it, and its knuckles grazed my cloak. The rest of my team began firing at the cyclops with everything they had. Orbs of battle magic hit the cyclops, but they bounced off its tough skin and fell to the ground with a sizzling sound.
The cyclops didn’t appreciate being shot at. It squinted its eye— from within burst a ball of flame, and it shot the magic out of its eye at top speed. Emma jumped aside, and the fireball hit a nearby carriage instead. It sent the carriage flying as the fireball exploded on impact, embers scattering everywhere.
From that point on, all we could do was get out of the way. The cyclops shot fireballs out of its eye, exploding the area where we stood as soon as we left it. Its magic left craters in the earth, bricks turned to rubble at the cyclops’ power.
Odette and Theo worked together to expand a shield over us, and we ran to their sides to take cover. They held the shield up as the cyclops’ fireballs bounced off of it, but with every hit, they winced.
“We can’t hold this forever!” Theo cried out. The shield above him was starting to show cracks, and sweat beaded Odette’s brow.
“We can’t take it down! Its skin is like iron! It’s impenetrable to fae magic!” Delmare cried back.
“It has to havesomeweakness,” Alexei argued.
Kiara shouted, “The eye! I bet if we hit it, the monster will go down.”
We didn’t have any other ideas. Another fireball hit the shield, and the magic broke. We scattered in all directions. We sent battle magic orbs whizzing at the cyclops eye, but it moved quickly, and each shot missed. The cyclops was a large creature, but its eye was so small it was difficult to hit.
“Keep it still!” I bellowed. Magic tendrils burst out of my fingers, and I forced the illusion ropes to wrap around the cyclops’ legs. The others got the same idea, and used their own magic ropes to secure the cyclops to the spot. The cyclops groaned, attempting to rip away, but our magic held. All of us gritted our teeth and held on, trying to keep the cyclops contained.
