Sage gasped. “She’s going to turn him.”
“He can’t be a Fallen!” Mason declared, already running for the door. He was inside before Sage had even taken a step to follow.
She quickly grabbed the steel bars covering the window and pulled herself closer to see. Arielle had half-shifted, her tiny fangs protruding through her lips. She was about to clamp her jaw around Ben when Mason charged in.
“Sorry, Mom,” Sage muttered to herself. “I’m not staying out of trouble this time.”
She pushed herself away from the window and ran for the door. Once inside the studio, she bolted to catch up to Mason.
Seeing them both, Arielle moaned and dropped Ben’s shirt. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Stop, please,” Mason begged. He moved slowly toward the ring, careful not to startle anyone.
Ben rolled his head around so he could see past Arielle. He rasped, “Don’t fret, brother. I’ll be all right. I want this.”
A wide smile spread across Arielle’s face.
“Trust me,” Mason said, inching closer. Sage kept herself on his heels. “You don’t want it. Not like this.”
Arielle leapt to the edge of the ring, lip curling. “Back off.”
Sage tugged on Mason’s wrist, urging him to stop. Mason halted and tucked his chin over his shoulder. He whispered, “What if I turn him?”
Remembering Makoto’s lesson on personality, she replied, “It takes a certain type of person to become a True Guardian. He might still be a Fallen. What if your father was right to worry?”
“Bite me, already!” Ben yelled, saliva spitting everywhere.
Arielle glowered and slipped away from the ropes, all too ready to comply with his wishes.
Sage pushed against Mason’s back. She whispered loudly in his ear, “You save him while I distract her. Makoto has her blood, we can cure him.”
Shifting into her owl, Sage flew around Mason and headed straight for Arielle. She clutched Arielle’s collar with her talons and dragged her across the ring. Arielle flailed her arms, scratching at Sage’s legs to let her go. A claw tore through Sage’s wing, sending searing pain down her arm.
Half-shifting back, Sage collapsed to the floor. Her wings bunched beneath her as talons grew from the ends of her fingers. As blood dripped down her arm, she pressed her palm hard against the wound on her bicep. Arielle bared her fangs and crawled over Sage’s body.
“That’s all you’re good for, Sagey. Just a distraction.”
Arielle swiped at Sage’s chest, her claws tearing through material and piercing skin. Over and over again, she scratched, burying her claws deeper every time. Sage screamed out in agony; shock, fear, and pain rendering her immovable. She felt warm blood as it dripped down her torso, making rivers in the divots of her ribs. The edges of her vision began to blur.
As Arielle lifted her bloody hand for one final blow, fingers curled around her wrist. Her body went flying over the ropes, across the room, and skidded into the stack of weights. Mason stood in Arielle’s place, hand reaching for Sage.
The moment of reprieve sent cool healing to the cuts on her chest. She felt the wounds tingle as her skin sewed itself back together. She took a breath, and Mason’s hand. As she stood, she noticed blood around his mouth.
She blinked and whipped her head across the ring. Ben slumped back in his chair as teeth marks healed around his mark. Through her half-shifted eyes, she could see his aura sparking green, and his jaguar Guardian moving beside him.
Chapter Thirty
“What have you done?” Arielle screamed, clambering to her feet. “He was mine!”
The door swung open and Sage hoped against all hope that it was Makoto coming to put an end to all this. But instead, AJ walked in. His blond hair fell over his eyes as he scanned the room. He took one look at Arielle and turned his glaring gaze to Mason.
“There’s no bullying me now…” AJ motioned to his buffed up body.
Mason widened his stance, both fists at the ready. He growled, “I was never going to hurt you.”
AJ shrugged, half-shifting into his bear.
Mason took a step in front of Sage. He wiped his mouth, streaking the back of his hand in blood. “But I’ll hurt you now.”
“Try.” AJ lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers in a come here motion.
As Mason headed for AJ, a loud shriek resonated through the studio. Arielle brushed past Sage, throwing an unexpected fist against her temple. White dots sparked across her vision. Light-headed and knees buckling, Sage fell to the floor. As she caught her breath, she glanced up to see Arielle leaping onto Mason’s back. Arielle wrapped her legs around his waist and clenched her fingers through his hair, bending his head back.
“Get him!” she commanded.
AJ’s eyes flashed orange and he rolled his neck. “With pleasure.”
AJ swung his open hand, slapping hard against Mason’s jaw. Mason stumbled and the weight of Arielle on his back sent them colliding into the bars in the middle of the room. Arielle’s head smacked hard against metal and her eyes rolled to the ceiling. Her limbs falling limp, she released her hold on Mason and tumbled to the floor. Sage felt her mind clear, silently praising her body for its fast healing capabilities. She reached for the ropes of the ring and pulled herself up.
With Arielle now off his back, Mason shook his body and steadied himself. The fall had made his Guardian retreat, returning him to human form. He heaved a weighted bar over Arielle’s body to keep her in place. Opposite him, AJ stared wildly at his trapped Alpha. He growled and lunged for Mason, throwing his fist in a wide swing. With no time to shift, Mason dodged the punch and jabbed his knuckles hard into AJ’s gut.
AJ doubled over, gasping for air. Mason grabbed his shoulders and quickly jolted his knee up. It connected with AJ’s chin and the impact sent him barreling to the floor.
Grinning, Mason turned to Sage. “Remember my lesson on finding weakness?” Tapping his head, he said, “Strong but slow. I didn’t even need to shift.”
AJ flipped his head up and bared his fangs. Still on the ground, he reached for Mason’s leg and clutched his ankle, ripping his foot from under him. Mason joined him on the floor.
Sage jolted to life. She glanced around the room. Arielle was knocked out. Ben was sleeping. The other two marked boxers were tied up. And AJ was climbing to his feet.
Mason writhed on the cement, a patch of blood coating his eyebrow. His arms shook as he tried to help himself up. Sage panicked. She needed to help him. But how? A distraction, again? Is that all she was good for?
“Let me help you up,” AJ jeered as he thrust his fingers around Mason’s throat. He lifted him up until Mason’s feet dangled above the floor.
“Stop!” Sage cried.
AJ gave her a side-eye. He scoffed and turned his attention back to Mason, squeezing tighter. Mason’s eyes flashed red and he half-shifted, digging his claws into AJ’s fist. Wincing, AJ released his hold and swung his other arm around. His fist connected with Mason’s jaw—the collision knocking him out instantly.
Sage jumped through the ring to the ground. “Mason!”
AJ flung his head around, rage in his eyes.
It was just her. It was all left to her. A mere distraction wouldn’t cut it this time.
In a heartbeat, she shifted and flew back through the ropes into the ring. AJ’s bear chased after her headfirst through the ropes, but as he leapt up onto the ring, his back legs became tangled. As he thrashed to get loose, Sage wasted no time to rush toward him feet first. She scratched at his face, aiming for his eyes.
AJ kicked his legs free and lunged, snapping his jaw. His teeth scraped through the tips of her wings and tore a cluster of feathers out from their roots. As he spat them on the ground, pain soared down her arm.
I will heal, she convinced herself. Forcing her wings in motion, she moved forward and swiped at his face again. In one swift movement, he swatted at her small owl. His paw thumped against her body and
she tumbled across the ring, skidding to the other side. Wheezing, she flipped herself upright.
AJ bounded for her.
Sage wasn’t a carnivore or a beast. She knew that she didn’t have the strength to beat him, not even if she half-shifted. But she was small, she was svelte, and she was nimble. They weren’t great odds, but it was something.
Grimacing through the pain, she spread her wings and lifted off the floor. AJ’s large bear shook the ring as he took a leap for her. Still in the air, she tucked her wings and legs into her body and rolled to the side. AJ swept right past her, breaking through the ropes as though they were soft spaghetti. As soon as he landed on the ground, he spun around, eyes on Sage.
She squared herself up again, not daring to let him out of sight. AJ leapt into the ring and landed with a thud. He spread his claws and swiped. Sage rolled again, dodging his attack.
A frustrated growl rumbled from AJ’s throat that rippled around the studio. He swiped again. She ducked and rolled. But this time, he was waiting. As she flitted away from his paw, AJ widened his mouth and pounced. He clamped down—half her body caught in his mouth.
A vile tang wafted from his mouth as saliva coated her body and one of her wings. It took her a moment to realize it was her own blood she could smell. The sting of teeth piercing skin was enough to render a normal human unconscious. But Sage wasn’t a normal human. She was a freaking owl Guardian.
She craned her neck as far as it could go. Mason was still on the ground, sleeping as peacefully as he had when she first turned him. On the other side of the studio, Arielle was unconscious too, trapped under a hundred pound weight. It was up to her to take AJ down. She had to; she had no other choice.
Against her body’s initial desire to recoil, Sage pushed her wing further inside AJ’s mouth and grazed the top of his palete. He buckled, and as his jaw twitched, she slid her legs free. AJ growled and clamped her wing between his teeth.
This was it, do or die. She flicked her legs, aiming her talons for his throat but she couldn’t reach. AJ huffed, his delighted eyes bearing down on her.
She couldn’t get away, she’d accepted that. But there was no way she’d let a Fallen win. How many more people would die?
Only her. She decided.
Sage ran the end feather of her wing along his palete again and this time when he twitched, she swiveled the position of her body inside his mouth. He clamped down, enveloping her neck. As teeth the size of daggers pierced her small owl, she swung her legs forward. Sage felt the warmth of his skin as her talons just missed their target. Her body was hot and wet and tearing in two but again, she swung. As AJ forced his jaw down, she pushed into the bite.
One of her talons hit his skin. She hooked it into his flesh and dragged it along his neck. Deep enough.
She released her talon and let the searing agony take over her body. As Sage hung limp, her body tearing in half, the sound of gurgling liquid rose in AJ’s throat. His jaw slacked and he spat her out with the blood. She fell to the floor, her critical wounds instinctively shifting her back into human form.
AJ transformed, too. He collapsed in a heap, a stream of blood pouring from his neck. His head tilted back, hollow eyes glaring at Sage. He blinked once, twice, and then no more.
She wasn’t sure in that moment, what her assignment actually was. To turn Mason. To stop Ben becoming a Fallen. To stop Arielle. Or even AJ. Either way, in that moment, she knew it was done.
As she stared into AJ’s lifeless eyes, darkness vignetted her vision; and everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-One
Sage stirred. As she woke, her whole body ached as though she was held by a tightening vice. A wet cloth pressed against her collarbone, it dabbed across her shoulder and down her arm. Memories of why she hurt rushed to the surface. She opened her eyes and inhaled a fierce amount of air.
Makoto crouched over her, wiping her wounds with a towel. His eyes crinkled into a smile. “There she is.”
She strained to sit up, but Makoto pushed her back down. “You’ve been through a lot. Let your body heal.”
Sage was laying at the edge of the ring in the same spot where she fell. AJ had been moved—in his place was a stain of crimson, glistening under the fluorescent lights of the studio. Arielle had been tied to a chair next to a still sleeping Ben. She stared at Sage, her short red hair hanging in strands around her scowling face.
Outside the ring, Caspar and Nadya were coating the spiral marks of the two varsity boys with a pinkish white ointment. Sage assumed it was the cure, which meant they hadn’t been turned yet. Somewhat of a relief.
Craning her neck, she searched the room. “Mason?”
Makoto leaned out of the way and revealed Mason, sitting against the steel beam in the middle of the studio. His arms hung over his lifted knees, head hanging low. He turned his face, wet from tears, and glanced her way.
Sage’s heart sank. She knew what it felt like to make the decision to turn someone. The look in his eyes swept her back to the night she did the same thing to him.
But a hint of fear shadowed over him, too. No matter who Ben was turned by, there seemed to be an overwhelming risk that he would become Fallen anyway. Because of Mason though, he had more of a chance of becoming True.
Time would tell.
Sage’s eyes fell to Arielle. Blinking slowly, she asked Makoto, “Did you know that she’d be here?”
He shook his head. “The Elders always speaks in riddles. Sage is the only one who can stop it, was all I got from them. But it makes sense now, that it was your assignment to complete it alone.”
“You’re such a bad ass,” Camila’s voice shrieked from the side. She ran to the edge of the ring and clutched at the ropes. “Such a freaking bad ass.”
Makoto helped Sage sit up and she checked on her wounds. Only dried blood remained. She took a deep breath and smiled.
As the thought of Arielle’s marking spree hit, her smile faded. “What are we going to do with the Fallen?”
Makoto opened his mouth to speak but Camila climbed through the ropes and skidded alongside Sage. She pointed to Arielle and Ben. “These two are the only ones left. We managed to cure all the varsity team she’d marked.”
Sage hesitated to ask, “What are we going to do with them?”
“Uh,” Camila raised her brows. “The obvious.”
Sage swallowed and spun to face Makoto. “We don’t know if Ben’s Fallen, though. Mason turned him, just in case.”
Makoto winced and averted his gaze.
“Makoto?” Sage pleaded. “What are we going to do with them?”
An emphatic “No” echoed around the studio. Mason leapt through the ropes and stood in front of Ben. “You can’t kill him!”
Camila glowered at Arielle. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to kill her.”
Arielle sat up straight, her head tilting like an innocent puppy. She fluttered her large brown eyes. “Aww, kill me? But you’re my bestie.”
Taking a threatening step, Camila raised her fist. “Can I do it now?”
An unmistakable look of fear washed over Arielle’s face. She clenched her jaw and lowered her gaze. Her thumb ran over the rope that tied her wrists.
Makoto took a deep breath and stood up. “It’s what I’ve always done. There’s no cure for the Fallen. They’ll always have the urge to kill.”
Mason shared a worried glance with Sage and raked his hands through his hair. “There has to be another way. We don’t even know if he’s Fallen yet.”
“Okay. We’ll wait,” Makoto said, a twinge of frustration in his voice. “But you’re responsible for him. The Fallen are great at deception so you’ll need to be on your A game.”
“I will.” Mason nodded eagerly. “I have to. He’s my brother.”
Makoto shook his head. “I have siblings, too. One is…” he snapped his mouth shut, sucked his bottom lip, then said, “Let’s just say, I understand. But trust me, sometimes it’s easier to cut your losses
before he loses control.”
The studio fell silent. All eyes on Mason. He was stuck in an impossible situation. Even Arielle turned her attention to him, her piercing eyes glaring through strands of matted hair.
Mason sniffed at the same time Nadya climbed into the ring. She moved slowly—carefully—a rare peace-keeping smile on her face. “We’ll all help you,” she offered. “We can make sure he stays True. As a team… as a clan.”
Caspar followed her in. He held out an empty vial and passed it to Makoto. “Their marks have disappeared.”
“Good,” Makoto said, slipping the vial into his jacket pocket. “That’s all of them accounted for.”
Arielle huffed. She slumped in her seat, the look of a disappointment hitting her face. Like she was a birthday girl who asked for a Rolls Royce but ended up with a Go-Kart.
“What now?” Nadya asked.
Makoto glanced at Arielle. She immediately began squirming in her seat. “Please, Makoto. I don’t wanna die. I haven’t killed anyone… no one innocent, anyway. I just... I couldn’t…” Her forehead wrinkled. “I couldn’t help it.”
Sage studied Arielle and a twinge of sorrow tugged at her heart strings. The thought of killing her seemed so brutal. It was easier with AJ, she was fighting for her life. But Arielle was tied up, it didn’t seem fair. Even the worst of humans still got jail time.
Makoto closed his eyes, a growl rumbling in the base of his throat. When he opened his eyes again, they flashed gold. He snapped, “You don’t get to beg for your life, Fallen.”
Sage jumped, shocked at Makoto’s outburst. Surely, as a Guardian, they were supposed to care for everyone, not just the good. She tried to remain diplomatic as she asked, “You aren’t really going to kill her, are you?”
Without taking his eyes off Arielle, Makoto flung his arm in her direction. “This is a life lesson, students. The Fallen will deceive. You just need to have enough strength to deal with it before it’s too late.”
Academy of Magic Collection Page 136
