by Callie Rose
Close enough.
He was going after a few students on the ground, swinging at them with massive, meaty fists.
“Hey, ugly!”
I punched him between his shoulder blades as hard as I could, drawing his attention and allowing them to scramble away. Nope, not stronger. Weightier though, and with enough speed, that could compensate.
He turned around slowly, nearly crushing two other students under his feet. With a wordless roar, he lifted his spiked club. He was clumsy and slow, but I didn’t want to find out how hard he could hit. I had a strong suspicion it would feel like getting hit by a truck.
I backed just slightly out of range as he swung, trying to tempt him with how close he’d gotten. Air shifted in front of my face as the club whizzed by inches away from my nose, and my stomach dropped.
Fuck. Maybe that was too close.
Still, at least it kept his focus on me.
“You couldn’t hit me if I ran into your club, you big baby!”
He roared again and charged forward. My people were on the other side of him now, but they were still too near. I needed to get him where he wouldn’t crush anybody when he fell. Assuming I was able to kill him.
A burst of energy exploded beside the cyclops. I looked up to see Hannah riding on Kingston’s back, firing energy balls with surprising force and precision.
“Thanks! I got this!” I shouted at her.
Kingston nodded his serpentine head and turned back toward the thick of things. Hannah was still firing away, slaughtering demons and monsters like a badass. The cyclops lumbered toward me.
“A little farther,” I taunted him, backing up slowly. “I’m right here. You gonna hit me or what?”
He swung again, knocking a stalagmite loose. The spike of earth rising up from the ground shattered, sending little pieces of stony shrapnel flying.
“Watch it!” I scolded him. “You could hurt somebody like that.”
He opened his mouth wide to roar at me. Drool dripped down his single tooth onto his flat, wide tongue, and I gagged. We weren’t even that close, but I could smell his breath from where I stood, and it was like moldy cheese and dirty gym socks had made a baby together. Craning my neck to peer around him, I saw that he was finally far enough away from the main fray.
“Now, you big baby,” I crooned, forcing as much persuasion as I could into my voice. I wasn’t sure if a bigger guy would require more persuasion, but I didn’t want to skimp on it. “Hit yourself in the head, real hard.”
He hesitated, confusion reflecting in his big, bloodshot eye.
“Use your club,” I intoned, pushing my power even harder. “And hit yourself. In the head.”
Nothing.
Goddamn it.
Language barrier, maybe?
“Swing it like this.” I picked up a long piece of broken stalagmite and demonstrated, still pushing the persuasive magic out toward the cyclops. “And bash yourself over the head. Swing very hard.”
I pushed images as well as thoughts toward him, trying to supplement my words with a visual, as if my persuasion was a picture book meant for a child. Finally, the cyclops seemed to latch onto the meaning of my gestures, and I made a mental note to ask a teacher about that if we survived this battle. Seemed to me they should have taught me those little details by now—like whether I needed to be able to speak the same language as someone to persuade them.
Either way, the cyclops did as he was told. He swung the heavy club all the way out to one side, then swung it back as hard as he could. The wet, sickening thud as the spikes embedded his skull had me gagging again.
He was still on his feet somehow, even though his skull was pierced and caved in, thick red and black goo spilling from the wound.
“Fall that way,” I told him, pointing to the side where the club was and hoping that his mashed up brain could grasp my directive.
He fell. The club hit the ground first and smashed the remains of his head to pieces. The thick, noxious goo poured out like a river in my direction. I was trapped between a large pile of rocks and the cyclops, leaving me no choice. I ran as fast as I could toward the twitching body and scaled his bumpy, squishy hide. The stench brought tears to my eyes. As I slid down the other side—so gross, do not recommend—I saw that the battle was starting to turn in our favor.
The little flying whatevers were gone, splattered against the rocks or smoking like charcoal. The harpies were holding their own for now, but there were only a few left, and they were not working together. On the ground, the spider centaur demon thing was still wreaking havoc, but his smaller minions had been crushed or burned. The salamander was split from mouth to cloaca, its black innards spilling out and mixing with a river of lava that ran nearby.
I was still bursting with energy and cocky from my success, so I raced toward the front lines without hesitation. I watched Hannah take out three harpies at once, and whooped for her. That was a mistake. A serpent woman I hadn’t seen lurking in the dark struck at me, nearly taking my head off with her vicious fangs.
“Kill yourself!” I shoved the suggestion at her with all the force of adrenaline that a surprise attack would evoke. She hissed a laugh at me.
“Sssilly child,” she said as she slithered closer. “Look into my eyes.”
Bad idea, bad bad idea, nope not gonna—
Even as those thoughts raced through my mind, my muscles were moving of their own accord, my head lifting on its own. Shit.
“Get out of my head!”
“Ssseek out my faccce,” she whispered.
Shit. Shit. Fuck. I couldn’t stop it.
“Hannah! A little help?”
The serpent exploded in front of me just before I met her slitted gaze, blasting apart in white and blue flames. Kingston lit her on fire for good measure, then projected a thought into my head. Be more careful, damn it!
Though my men and I could sense each other’s emotions and physical state, we couldn’t exactly communicate telepathically. But when Kingston was in his dragon form, he could send out his thoughts like speech, and his voice in my head made me smile.
I was weakened by the battle, but my men were still fighting for their lives. I had to help them.
Come on, Piper, keep going. The battle wasn’t over yet, and I wouldn’t quit fighting until it was. You can do it. You can.
I forced myself to stand up straight, but could no longer hold the larger form. I shrank down to my usual size and scanned the battlefield for a new target. Something dumb, preferably.
As it turned out, I didn’t have much of a choice. A demon twice Xero’s size had him pinned against the wall, blasting fireballs at him. All Xero could do was block the enemy’s fireballs with his own. I launched myself over burnt carcasses and smoldering stones, making a beeline for them.
The enemy demon didn’t even see me coming. Hurling myself at him, I grabbed one of his meaty arms. “Hey, lover. You don’t want to do that. Fireballs are boring. You want to get laid.”
The demon faltered just long enough for Xero to blast him in the face. The hit did some serious damage, but it also broke my spell. I tried again.
“Stop,” I ordered, pulling on the last dregs of my persuasive energy. God, I’m so fucking low. It’s like sucking on the dregs of a milkshake. “Sleep.”
Again, it barely made him falter. He didn’t seem to know what was affecting him yet, but I couldn’t hold on to him for longer than a few seconds. Xero attacked, but he was almost immediately pinned down again.
“Here.”
I turned toward Kai’s voice just in time for him to haul me toward him, pressing me flush against his body as he kissed me hard.
Jesus. It can’t be healthy to go from mortal terror to panty-soaking arousal and back in the space of a few seconds like this.
But such was the life of a succubus, I guessed.
For just a split second, my hands latched onto Kai’s shoulders, holding on desperately as his kiss made my pulse spike and my pussy clench.
And then we broke apart, and the battle came rushing back in.
We both turned toward the demon pinning down Xero. Kai jumped on the demon’s back as I summoned my persuasion again, fueling it with my newly boosted power.
“Relax,” I told the demon, soothing energy infusing my voice. “You’re so sleepy.”
He stopped throwing fireballs at Xero and trying to buck the vampire off his back. Then his eyes rolled up in his head, and his knees buckled.
Kai tore the demon’s throat out before his unconscious head hit the ground. Xero gave a very brief, breathless smile of thanks before gesturing behind us.
All of the students’ energies had converged on the massive spider thing, but it wasn’t enough. Everyone was tapped out. Weak energy balls exploded harmlessly off of its exoskeleton, and tired red flames slid uselessly off of its skin. It paid its attackers no attention. It was too busy pounding on the double doors at the entrance of the school.
“It’s trying to break through!” I called as I started to run. “We have to stop it!”
“How?” Jayce was at my side now, sounding exhausted even with his echoing hellhound voice. His hellhound form was large, bigger than a Great Dane, and wisps of smoke and fire seemed to flicker on his coat, like embers from a fire that’d just been extinguished. “We’ve been at that thing this whole time. It won’t fucking die!”
“The underside!” Xero shouted. “It’s weakest there!”
“Attack it from beneath!” My shout, powered up as I was, couldn’t cut through the chaos surrounding the spider’s legs. Closer, I had to be closer.
Bones crunched under my feet as I ran, and I tried not to look at what the squishy bits were. As long as whatever monster they belonged to were dead, I didn’t have time to care. Xero shoved a path through the crowd, shouting his instruction as he went.
“Attack the underside! The underside!”
People were understandably reluctant to get between the sharp, spiky spider’s legs. His words were having no effect.
With an extra burst of speed, I caught up to the muscled fire demon, grabbing his arm to get his attention. “We need to get through to them. Put me on your shoulders.”
He lifted me up without hesitation, and I straddled his neck from behind as his large hands held my thighs to steady me. The contact, even through clothes, gave me a power boost.
“Get underneath him,” I persuaded, keeping my voice calm and soothing, even as adrenaline roared through my veins. I raised my voice as much as I could without shouting, forcing the persuasion through the words. “Attack from beneath!”
So many people rushed to do as I said that the spider began to topple.
Xero moved toward the fray with long strides, tightening his grip to keep me stabilized. I was pressed so closely to him that my clit found friction against the back of his neck with each heavy footstep he took.
Oh, fuck. Does he know he’s doing that?
Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, it put me back in that place where I straddled the line between battle frenzy and sex, and more power filled me up like a balloon.
“Push him over. That’s good. Push him over!”
I was sending out orders and pulsing with pleasure all at once. If we survived this, I was going to have to thank the fire demon—thoroughly.
The spider screamed as it finally fell onto its side. Its convex shell made it easy for the crowd to roll it all the way over, and as soon as its belly was exposed, all of the mages, demons, and dragons attacked at once. The force of it split the spider at the seam in its abdomen, boiling its innards.
I barely had time to cover my face before the felled monster exploded.
Chapter Sixteen
Bedraggled but whole, our entire slime-covered student body made its way to the castle doors. The dragons had flown out to clean up any stragglers who may have fled, but I didn’t think there were any. We had made paste out of the whole horde.
“No, no, don’t even think about it,” Professor Shen called, wrinkling her nose. She stood in the doorway, keeping us out. “Everybody line up where I can see you.”
We did, silent and compliant in our exhaustion. Shen spoke a chant, and a sparkling blue cloud of magic wafted from her fingertips. It engulfed us, thickening so much that I couldn’t see anyone else around me. As I stood stock still, a deliciously clean smell seemed to run all the way through my body. Every molecule vibrated with the clean sensation, and even the bloody images in my mind seemed to be sterilized. I inhaled deeply, wanting that clean feeling to last forever.
It disappeared in a flash, but so did the mess. Every bit of dirt, blood, and unknown monster goo was gone. We all blinked at each other in awe.
“You should do that every morning!” someone called out.
Shen smiled tiredly. “Trust me, I’ve considered it. Come on in now. Those of you who need medical attention, get to the infirmary. Cassandra is waiting.”
I caught sight of Toland in the crowd, a little singed and battered but no worse for wear. I was a little surprised he’d joined us, though I guessed I shouldn’t have been. He’d been reluctant to send us out into the fray, but he probably would’ve faced the monsters alone to protect his school.
A sudden surge of warmth toward the older man surged inside me. He was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and too much of a rule follower for my tastes, but I got the impression he genuinely cared about this place.
We split up as we left the large entryway of the castle. Those who needed serious medical attention headed toward the infirmary, while the rest of us headed toward the cafeteria. Most of the students who went to see Cassandra were still on their feet, at least. I only saw one person being carried by two friends.
The cafeteria was more than prepared for our return. Piles of food lined the tables, so we didn’t even have to stand in line. That was good. Looking around at the pale, exhausted faces, I didn’t see how anyone could have managed it. As I settled down next to my men, I met the eyes of the kid Sonja had been bullying. Taylor. He smiled at me, obviously proud of himself. Hell, I was proud of him too. He’d fought and survived.
My stomach flipped as I wondered if there were any who hadn’t—everyone who’d made it back to the castle seemed okay, but were any of our own among the bodies strewn outside?
We sat in silence, each recharging however we needed to. There was a blissful calm over the whole room. I didn’t know if it was Shen’s crazy cleaning spell or our victory, but it didn’t matter to me as long as it lasted a while.
After dealing with the worst cases in the infirmary, Cassandra appeared in the cafeteria. She moved around the room as quietly and unobtrusively as a ghost, healing people here and there as she went. Her nurses followed suit. Like a silent wave, they healed and treated everyone in the room.
“We did good,” I said quietly. “I didn’t think we would, not after how badly everyone freaked out with Owen’s pathetic little attacks last year.”
“Everyone in this school has been in the underworld for a while now.” Xero’s expression was serious. “It has a way of hardening you.”
“Or breaking you.” I thought of Wyatt and the others who had been sequestered away downstairs. “Do you think they’ll ever adapt? The ones who haven’t been handling it well?”
Xero squeezed my thigh comfortingly. “I haven’t stopped hoping that they won’t have to.”
I gazed around the room, which hummed with the low murmur of conversation. Everyone was quiet and subdued. They’d all been through hell. That had a way of toughening people up, no matter what their hell happened to be. I’d been to hell and back a few times myself.
So it is doable. Now we just need to manage the “back” part.
We’d been sitting for maybe an hour—all of us too exhausted to move—when Toland came in and stood at one end of the cafeteria. He looked out over all of us somberly, not having to use his power to get our attention. He’d had it the moment he’d walked through the door.
�
��I want to commend each and every one of you for the part you played in protecting our school. You fought well.”
He paused for a moment, seeming reluctant to go on. Dread filled my chest, and I clutched Xero’s hand, squeezing hard.
“The wards were not destroyed, but they have been weakened.” His lips pressed together under his thick mustache. “Although we looked for stragglers at the end of the fight, we don’t know for certain whether any of our attackers escaped, or how they knew to find us here. But regardless, there is only one conclusion we can draw at this time: our cover has been compromised.”
Nobody gasped or groaned, but the atmosphere in the room changed as heavy tension cut through the calm. Everyone was back on red alert.
Toland shook his head. “The wards are still intact for now. We appear to be isolated here, apart from any civilization, so any escaped scouts will need to travel before they will be able to bring anyone else to us. We have time. But we have less time. Your battle studies will become of utmost importance going forward. Keep your heads clear, protect your spirits, and do not lose hope. You’ve proved yourselves to be a formidable army. Take solace in that.”
A wave of depression crashed through me, displaced almost immediately by a wave of adrenaline.
This was it. The clock was ticking, and we were at war.
“Just pray they don’t hang up on me.”
Kingston sat on a pile of blankets we’d smuggled into our secret room above the library. He held the phone in his hand with his thumb poised over the call button.
“Just do it,” I urged him. “And if they hang up, call back and let me talk to them.”
My persuasion wouldn’t work over the phone and across dimensions, but I could chew somebody out from that distance just fine.
