Theo bared his teeth. “I’m far from done.”
The siren blazed out again, and panic began edging away at me. I thought it was my own feelings, until I realized the emotions were coming from Emma. Her expression was stricken, terrified we’d be stopped before we even had the chance to get close to the Crystals.
“We have to move! Gabby will send soldiers after us at any moment!” I cried.
“But what about the iron?” Delmare asked. She pointed at the barbed wire, and all of us withdrew.
Emma tilted her head. She wandered toward the university walls, putting her hand out to touch the iron.
“Emma, don’t,” I said weakly. My fear turned to wonder as I watched her grasp the iron, yet remain unharmed.
“It’s not real. The iron’s an illusion, to deter us,” Emma said. “Gabby put it here as a grand act.”
“Are you certain?” Kiara pressed.
“Yes. Other fae couldn’t be inside the iron circle. It’d kill them. Come and see for yourself.”
We inched toward the walls. I was wary, but I found that when I reached out to touch the iron, it had no effect. In fact, the sensation of the iron underneath my hand seemed faulty… like if I pressed hard enough, it’d vanish entirely.
“You’re right. Itisan illusion,” Kiara said in wonder.
“We still have to get past her ward,” Theo pointed out weakly.
“I can take down Gabby’s ward, but I’ll need a moment to recover afterward. You guys will have to fight for me, for a moment.” Emma took a wide stance. “This is going to take a minute.”
Emma closed her eyes. She took a few calming breaths as her magic worked on breaking down the ward. I watched as the shield dome surrounding the university began to crack and break. The shield trickled into nothing but ether, and the barbed wire faded away as Emma rendered the illusion completely vacant. The walls surrounding the school now looked like the ones I remembered… like the arms of home.
Emma staggered, but I changed into a wolf and caught her before she hit the ground. “On my back,onawilke.You can draw strength from our bond.”
I felt a little energy leave me as Emma took it for her own, but it failed to faze me. I was full of adrenaline, and had copious amounts of stamina. Emma could take whatever she needed.
“Gabby’s pissed,” Emma noted. “I can feel it through her magic. She knows we’re coming for her.”
“Good,” Delmare replied viciously. “Sheshouldbe afraid of us.”
“She’s going to throw whatever she can to stop us from finding her,” I said. “We all need to be prepared.”
“She can summon hell itself to fight us, if she wants. It’s not going to stop us from getting back what we rightfully earned. We proved ourselves to those Crystals. They’re ours,” Alexei demanded. “We’re not giving in unless she kills us.”
I wholeheartedly agreed, yet the pessimistic part of me feared she’d do just that. We crossed through the western gate and approached the university doors. We were forced to halt in our tracks as we saw a horde of guards marching out of the front entryway. There were dozens of them, and they surely outnumbered us.
They weren’t alone. Leading the group were Zander, Oren, and Andrick, wearing dark armor and standing in our way. Elijah’s old cronies blocked our path to the university, once again intent on making things difficult for us.
Andrick sneered as he looked us over. “And we all thought you were dead.”
“You’re going to be dead in a minute,” Stefan threatened. He took a step in front of Delmare, putting himself between his rival and his mate.
But Delmare came out from behind Stefan, placing a hand on his shoulder. “No. This one’s mine,” she snapped.
Andrick threw back his head and laughed. “The last time I remember cornering you, you weren’t able to do a thing about it.”
“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” Delmare said, and she called a battle orb to her palm.
“You should be afraid of us,” Oren called, but his words were shaky. He didn’t have as much confidence as the other two did, and it showed on the alicorn’s face.
“I’ll take care of the guards. You guys handle these jackasses,” Emma sneered as she slid off my back.
“Enough talking,” Andrick snapped. “Let’s show these filth what happens to anyone who isn’t willing to follow Droga.”
