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But they just kept coming.

Most of the students had run inside and were hiding behind closed doors. One, though, was crazy enough to join the fight.

A blast of fire took over a feral aiming for my carotid. I flicked my gaze to Jess, who just glared with determination, before blasting another one.

Jesus.

I thought the wards were weaker out here — but they were still in place. I could feel them dragging at my power like wet sand. And without them? Jess could burn this whole place to the ground.

“K!” I shouted, pointing at the glowing sigils along the walls. I felt them straining to numb me.

K nodded once and sent a blast of lightning directly at the closest one. The guards around us froze, mouths open.

The wards never had a chance of holding K. We all knew it.

The only reason he was here was because he wanted to be.

It exploded in asonicboom, and instantly I felt the difference — my power uncoiled, sharper, faster.

Unfortunately, so did the ferals.

They moved with renewed vigour. Three leapt onto a guard beside me. Another snapped its head my way.

I used his blood to throw him back but caught a clawed backhand to the face.

It had once been a man — fifties, maybe. In his former life though, he could’ve been a bodybuilder. Muscles layered over muscles, making him grotesquely massive.

I reached for his blood, trying to seize something inside him, but before I could, he lunged and wrapped a huge hand around my throat—choking me.

He lifted me clean off the ground. My boots left the dirt. I clawed at his wrist, vision narrowing to a tunnel. Spots burst behind my eyes.

Then—

in a single sweeping movement—

He was ripped off me.

Not pushed. Not thrown. Removed from existence.His body launched skyward so violently I lost track of it against the grey clouds.

I dropped to my knees, coughing.

And when I lifted my head, he was just there.

Standing before me.

Expression carved from stone.

Sy.

“Thanks.” I rasped.

Sy nodded once, slow and deliberate. “Where is Seph?”

My chest burned as I sucked in a breath. I didn’t need to answer.

Across the battlefield, Ash was carving a path of carnage straight toward the med wing — ferals ripping apart around him as if they were made of wet tissue. His expression was a single, brutal instinct:get to her.

K was already watching him, jaw tight, lightning crackling faintly over his hands.