“Can I just walk back in?” I asked, remembering the shield was mostly meant to keep evil out.
“Not without this.” Jules handed me another vial. “Don’t worry, I have several more where those came from, so as soon as all of the students are gone, we’re busting you out of here. I promise.”
Taking a few steps forward, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged tight. “Thank you so much.”
“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Raegan. Remember that next time you’re in trouble instead of trying to shut me out.” She smiled, but I could tell from the tone of her voice she was serious. It had hurt her more than I realized when I kept my struggles at the academy from her for so long.
My eyes met Enzo’s, and he nodded his confirmation that he was ready for the second round. It was time to go back to my living hell.
Doing everything just the same as I had done before, it was a lot easier to get in than it was to get out, which surprised me for some reason. Probably because once I was back in, the further forward I continued to go, the less pain I was in.
That was only until my eyes caught on the main entrance of the school. Walls were shaking and gargoyle statues were falling from the rooftops, shattering into thousands of pieces as they hit the ground.
I had been outside the shield too long.
MALINA! I demanded. I won’t go as long as you leave the school alone, but if you continue, I’m out of here and I won’t ever come back.
Don’t threaten me, child, she snarled in return. I control you, not the other way around. You’re lucky I need more time, or I’d gladly make this academy turn to rubble right before your eyes, just so you could feel the blame of all of those deaths. See what happens if you test me again.
Malina pulled out of my head as soon as she finished her threats. Glancing around, the buildings began to settle, and students stopped screaming from within the school. She had kept her word, but I had finally pushed her too far, and for the first time, I truly feared how far she would go to punish me if I did it a second time.
Chapter 23
Hours later, the tremors finally stopped from Malina’s wrath and the students went back to the dorms. When it had all started, the council sent out emergency alerts to all of the students on their tablets, telling them to gather in the commissary.
When the four of us entered, everything was in chaos. All of the council members and teachers were present, answering questions and trying to calm everyone down, but the hysteria was constant until the building finally stopped shaking.
“Did anyone get hurt?” I asked Headmaster Stone when we finally pushed our way through to him.
He shook his head. “Not seriously. A couple of head bumps and bruises from falling items, but nothing to be concerned with. Are the rest of you okay?”
I nodded, but Jules spoke first. “Yes, everything went better than I thought until we realized Malina was retaliating.”
“I promised her I wouldn’t leave again if she stopped whatever it was she was doing,” I said. “She mentioned not being ready yet, and then stopped. I haven’t heard from her since.”
“Very well,” Headmaster Stone replied. “At least we know what she’s capable of now. As soon as the students are settled again, the council is going to meet, and we will come up with a plan. Since it appears Ms. Reeves is more involved than I realized, the four of you are welcome to join us.”
The last bit was said with a disapproving tone toward me for filling in Gemma without their permission, but I didn’t really care. She had been there for me throughout every obstacle since I arrived. I wouldn’t shut her out, regardless of what the council thought.
“Thank you, Headmaster. We appreciate being included,” Enzo said from beside me.
Glancing over, I realized he almost always stood at my side, rarely in front of me or behind me. He treated me as his equal. As that revelation rolled through me, I knew without a doubt I had found the best partner I could ever ask for.
Headmaster Stone walked away, and the four of us filed out of the commissary, trying to avoid the crowds, but not doing a very good job. We were split up at the doors but found each other again at the dorm entrances.
“What do we do now?” Gemma asked.
“We prepare for finals and hope everyone gets off campus before Malina decides to strike again,” I said.
At that point, I had zero faith that we would be able to beat Malina. The council didn’t seem to have any ideas on what to do, and until the connection I had with her was broken, I wasn’t all that keen on trying to kill her. A part of me figured there would be consequences to that action, and I had no desire to find out what those were.
“So, we just play defense for the time being?” Gemma quirked a brow at me, but I glanced at Enzo and Jules for confirmation.
“It seems like the best option at this point,” Enzo answered. “Malina escaping is inevitable. All we can try to do is make sure the collateral damage is as small as possible.”
Collateral damage meaning people. How many people would die in Malina’s quest to free herself from the dungeon? That was a question I didn’t have the answer to, and I wondered just how responsible I was for all of it.
I had been the one to open the dungeon door, but the pull was there before I did so. It hadn’t been all my curiosity. Malina had a hold on me the moment I stepped foot into the academy. It might not have been as strong as it was right then, but it had been there, nonetheless.
“Let’s go check our rooms and make sure there’s no real damage. Then, hopefully the council will be ready for us,” Jules suggested.
Since three of us had rooms in Hybrid Hall, Enzo came with us in case we needed help with anything if stuff had fallen over.
When Enzo followed me into my room, I was relieved to see only a few things had moved from their previous locations. The biggest disturbance was that my butler box was on the ground, but Enzo righted it for me while I checked my dresser and bathroom.
A few picture frames I had on the dresser had fallen to the carpeted flooring, but none of them were broken. My hand ran over my favorite picture of me with my parents two summers ago. I couldn’t believe they had been gone for more than a year or how much life had changed since then.
I was no longer the naïve girl in the picture staring back at me. Pride rolled through me as I thought of all I had overcome in the last eighteen months. My only “what ifs” were how different my life might have been if my parents had been honest with me.
What had been the point of hiding me away? What good did it do? Were my birth parents really that awful that I needed to be kept away from the world I was born into? All of those questions I had hoped to answer since arriving at Shadow Veil Academy, but I was no closer now than I had been then.
“Your butler box still works,” Enzo said as he handed me a warm cup of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating at the top.
“Thank you.” I put the picture down and took the drink from him as I ventured to the bathroom. “My mirror is cracked, but other than that, everything seems to be fine. Hopefully the others were just as lucky.”
“Let’s go find out.” He grabbed my hand, and I set the mug down before we went to Gemma’s room.
She was just coming toward the door when we arrived. “Nothing broken, but there’s a mess I’ll need to deal with later.”
Releasing Enzo’s hand, I wrapped an arm around her back. “I’ll help you.”
We followed Enzo to Jules’ room. The door was cracked open, so we let ourselves in. She was kneeling beside her bed.
“Shit.” She hissed before placing her pointer finger in her mouth.
“Are you okay, Jules?” I asked, moving to her side.
“Yeah, there was a glass on my nightstand that broke. I was trying to pick up the glass and cut myself. Should be fine in a minute. How were the rest of your rooms?”
Glancing around hers, it appeared to have the most damage, including a hairline crack going up the wa
ll next to me.
“Nothing we won’t have cleaned up later when we get back,” Gemma answered.
Handing Jules her small garbage can, I moved in to help her, but she pushed me away. “I got this. You go with Enzo and check his room. It’s further up and might have damage that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. After a quick hug goodbye, I pushed Enzo out into the hallway so he could zap us to his door. Knowing that those with the same ability couldn’t just drop into any room was a really great thing most of the time, but I could have done without that perk just then.
“Ready?” he asked as he wrapped both arms around me.
Leaning up, I pressed my lips to his. “Now I am.”
He winked, then the hallway disappeared, and we were standing in front of his door. Quickly, he entered his code, but the door would only open halfway. Enzo stuck his head through the small opening and managed to reach his left arm through. Something thudded on the ground, then the door fully opened.
“What was that?” I asked before entering.
“Maybe you shouldn’t come inside,” he said instead of answering me.
Pushing him out of the way, my hands covered my mouth as soon as I got a peek inside. Jules had been right. All of the windows were cracked, some even missing chunks of glass. There had been a piece of drywall blocking the door that had fallen from the ceiling and was now on the floor in front of me.
Stepping over it, I continued into the dorm with Enzo. He went toward his bedroom while I went to the kitchen. The granite countertop was cracked down the middle of one side, and some of the smaller appliances he probably never used had fallen to the floor, but no other damage that I could see.
Venturing into the living room, I gave the windows a wide berth, wanting to avoid the glass on the floor. Paintings and pictures were on the ground, but there didn’t appear to be any personal affects damaged.
“My bedroom is going to need some magical work, and the windows will need help, but not as bad as I feared,” Enzo said as he joined me.
“You expected worse and still came with us to our dorms first?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course, I did. There was a higher chance of you needing my help than there being anything I could do to prevent any more damage here. What was done, was done.”
“Can you fix this yourself?” I asked, looking back at the windows.
In some of my witch trainings, I knew I would have been able to do so with some more practice, but I wasn’t ready yet for something of this magnitude. Hopefully, his elven magic would be sufficient.
“Yeah, I’ll close up the windows and worry about the rest later. The council is ready for us.”
Taking a deep breath, I watched in fascination as Enzo gathered magic into his hands while walking toward the windows. When he stood in front of each one, all he had to do was place his palms on the surface, and the glass slowly melded back together.
On the last one, he glanced back at me. “Do you want to try it?”
Shaking my head, I said, “We don’t really have time.” But I would have loved to try it if we did, I thought to myself.
Disappointment must have been evident on my face, because he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “The council will wait. You’re an important piece in all of this. If you can’t get it, we’ll take off, but it won’t hurt to try. I already sent a message to Jules, and she and Gemma will meet us there. We have an extra few minutes.”
Giddiness filtered through me as I followed his previous steps and met him at the last window. “What do I do first?”
“Find your tether within, and pull on that magic. Gather healing magic in your hands. Even though you’re not healing a physical being, you’re still fixing the glass.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on my inner energy, searching for the tether I had become so familiar with over the last few months. Once I latched on to it, my thoughts focused on healing and fixing as I drew the magic to my hands.
“Very good,” Enzo said.
Peeking down, there was a yellow glow to my fingers, which surprised me since it was normally teal, but healing energy must have been different. As long as Enzo wasn’t questioning it, then I wouldn’t either.
“Now, place your palms on the window and gently push the magic into the glass. Not too fast or you’ll overwhelm it and the whole thing will shatter.”
Geez, no pressure there, I thought.
Stepping forward, I did as he asked, keeping my eyes wide open on the window before me. Gradually, I pushed the energy from my hands into the broken glass, but nothing was happening.
“A little faster than that, but not too much,” Enzo urged.
Ugh. Magic was so precise. I almost pulled back, not wanting to shatter the entire surface, but when my foot made even the slightest movement Enzo’s hand pressed to my lower back.
“You can do this. Give it one more try,” he whispered in my ear before backing away again.
Not wanting to disappoint him, and also really wanting to know if I could do it, I tried again. This time with a little more push on my part. The spiderweb cracks around my hand began to close, and a grin spread across my face.
“A little more and you’ll have it,” Enzo said as he watched intently.
Doing as he suggested, I gave just a bit more push, then tilted my head back in amazement as my energy filtered through the rest of the window. Within a minute, it appeared as if nothing had happened to it.
Removing my hands, I pulled my magic back in before sliding closer to Enzo. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“You will always have me in your corner. Now, let’s go see what the council has planned for us.”
A piece of his bronze hair had fallen out of his hair tie and rested on his cheek. I brushed it back as he leaned in for a kiss, which I happily returned. We headed out of the room together, and he zapped us to Magic Hall.
We appeared right behind Gemma and Jules. When I placed my hand on Gemma’s arm, she squealed. “Don’t do that shit,” she snapped, causing me to laugh.
I shrugged. “I was just trying to let you know we were here. My bad.”
Headmaster Stone opened his door with a solemn look on his face. Something had happened, and it wasn’t good for us.
“What’s wrong?” Jules asked.
“I’m afraid there will be no meeting. The council is divided, and we need to sort a few other matters out before proceeding. As soon as I know more, I will call for you,” he replied in a confident voice that was betrayed by the worry lines around his eyes.
“If there is anything we can do, please let us know,” Enzo offered.
The headmaster nodded, then slipped back into his office and closed the door behind him.
None of us said anything, because there wasn’t much to say.
Malina had done exactly what I believed she wanted and only time would tell how much that was going to screw us. If the council couldn’t work together, I wasn’t sure what hope we had in making sure nobody else was hurt in Malina’s quest for freedom.
When I looked around, I knew without a doubt if any of the three people at my sides were harmed because of the council’s lack of cooperation, they would find out just how pissed off I could get.
Chapter 24
Five days had passed, and finals were over. The council still hadn’t met with us, but we hoped that didn’t mean there was nothing happening on their end. Earlier that day, students began to leave the academy and by tomorrow morning, it was supposed to be deserted.
Enzo assumed we wouldn’t be able to leave until the council figured out how to keep Malina from ripping the school in half.
While laying on Enzo’s bed and staring up at the ceiling, my mind was running wild with questions. “How is Malina so much more powerful than the council combined? I never really questioned it, because they continued to put forth so much effort, but now that it seems like they’ve given up, I don’t understand.”
> Enzo stopped rummaging through his desk to turn toward me in his chair. “Malina is a Doyen, an original being, the last of her kind that we can prove. They can only die by another Doyen or willingly. Malina wasn’t always evil. It wasn’t until after the council was formed and the other originals chose to die that she grew greedy with her power. There was no one left to keep her in check.”
“So, you’re saying we have no chance at killing her, even if we can stop her?” I asked.
He nodded. “That’s why she’s been trapped underneath Shadow Veil all these years. She would never choose to die, and without another Doyen around, the only thing we can do is contain her. But, it seems as though she is even more powerful than she was last time she was free.”
“How did the council beat her then?”
Enzo opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t hear anything he said. My palms pressed against my ears, though it was no use. The ringing in them was rising to screeching levels, and Malina was back.
Hello, my sweet. Did you miss me?
I couldn’t even find the strength to respond to her. Everything hurt, and I was extremely grateful I was already lying down.
Enzo’s face came into view. He was speaking, but I still didn’t know what he was saying. He pulled his phone up to his ear, but then the bed started to rattle, and I knew the time had come. Malina was ready for her grand escape.
That’s right. We’re getting out of here, and I’ll show you just how powerful you can be without all the rules of the council.
I won’t go with you. I will fight you with everything I have.
We’ll see about that, she replied mockingly, then disappeared from my thoughts, and the pain receded.
“I don’t know. She can’t seem to move. I’m bringing her downstairs before things get worse,” Enzo’s panicked voice sounded from across the room.
“I’m okay, but we won’t be for long. Malina is coming for us,” I said as I slid my legs off the bed and slowly stood up.
Delayed Admission Page 20
