I smiled as the guard’s voice trailed off. I wasn’t sure what was attacking them, but it wasn’t hurting the children. I also knew that the playing field was now different. There were only a few guards left—the ones who had flanked me.
My power flared inside of me. The headmistress didn’t know it yet, but these few men, along with herself, were no match for me.
A guard grabbed my elbow, and I spun into him, laying my palm against his chest. He was dead before he hit the ground.
I took a step away from the other two approaching guards while keeping an eye on the headmistress and wendigo. The sandstorm came whirling to a stop beside me, and my mouth dropped open in shock. The biggest wendigo I had ever seen stood beside me with murder in his black eyes.
Both guards looked shocked as they turned to face the wendigo.
“How did this one escape?” The headmistress shouted.
One of the guards, who was crowding closer to me, shook his head. “I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Now!” the headmistress shouted.
The smaller wendigo had edged closer to me while I was transfixed with the menacing-looking one. Then, as the wendigo reached for me, a chain of events began to unfold.
I grabbed the wendigo while I chanted silently to myself, “Don’t kill, don’t kill, don’t kill.” Unfortunately, the wendigo hit the floor. The good news was it didn’t turn into a pool of black oil, so maybe I hadn’t failed Sandalphon after all. Then again, the thing wasn’t moving.
The headmistress’s eyes widened, and then she pointed at the huge wendigo. “Change her into a wendigo now.”
I could have sworn the wendigo smiled before he bared his teeth at her.
She took two steps back before she turned and made a run for the door. The guards weren’t so lucky. The menacing-looking wendigo was upon them before they could flee after the headmistress, tearing the remaining two guards to shreds.
I bit back bile as I looked at their remains. A grizzly bear would have done less damage.
When the wendigo stood upright with blood dripping down his black talons, tears flooded my vision as the strings around my heart tightened.
The wendigo’s chest heaved until it saw the trail marks left by my agony, then it roared.
As it started to flee, I screamed, “Finn, no! Stop!”
It was too late. He was gone.
The strings around my heart loosened, and I knew that, with his unnatural speed, Finn was already miles and miles away.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, crying, but eventually, Remy was shaking me.
“Snap out of it, chicka.”
Then she shouted, “Ezra, make sure the glass doors are shut tight. That’s all we need right now is a party of wendigos.”
As Luna walked back into the room, she pulled her pink hair up in a high ponytail and scrunched her nose in disgust over the mutilated bodies. “Guys, does anyone want to explain what just happened to me? Did I really just witness a vigilante sandstorm?”
I shook my head. “It was a wendigo.”
Ezra ran a hand over his chiseled jaw. “That whirlwind out there was no ordinary wendigo.”
“No,” Trev said, “it was a wendigo that had been fully blessed.”
Ezra’s eyes searched mine. “And perhaps it had a touch of the devil in it.”
“Not it,” I said. “He will never be just an it.”
The moment Luna caught up, she said, “Oh shit.”
Remy rubbed my back. “You can say that again.”
A gurgling sound came from behind me, causing me to whirl around. The moment I saw who made that noise, I laughed as Luna and Remy cheered. Even the brothers were smiling from ear to ear. Things were looking up. Everything would be okay. I just had to track down Finn.
We helped the naked boy to his feet, and then Luna took off her sweatshirt and handed it to him. He tied it around his waist like a loincloth.
He had shaggy, reddish-brown hair that hung to his shoulders. Dark brown eyes were narrowed as he looked around at his surroundings.
I stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Gabriella. You probably need a minute. Do you want to sit down?”
He groaned. “I feel like I’ve been on a year-long acid trip. My whole body hurts.” He looked at his hands, turning them over and over. “I can’t believe I’m me again.” He lifted his brown eyes to search our gazes. “How did this happen? I thought I would be stuck like that forever.”
Remy clapped me on the back. “Our girl here is amazing! One little touch from her and … poof, you were standing in all your naked glory, right here in front of us to ogle.”
I gave the boy a nod. “I wish I could stay and chat but I need to go check on our friend Hannah. I’ll be back.” I started to leave when Trev shook his head.
“When we dropped her off in your room, she asked to be left alone. She probably just needs a half hour to process. She’s been through a lot.”
She was one of my best friends, so I didn’t think that I would count when she said she wanted to be alone.
Remy touched my arm. “Let’s give her half an hour, okay? And then we will break down the door if she refuses to let us in.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
I needed to keep busy, or I would fall to pieces myself. The boy and our victory was all but forgotten as I started to think about Finn.
Trev cleared his throat. “Gabriella, I know your instinct is to go after Finn, but I think, if you chase after him, he will run or, worse, go into hiding. He is unbelievably powerful in this new form, and it must scare him.”
Remy nodded. “He doesn’t want to hurt you, babe.”
“The bond is obviously still there,” Ezra added. “He can sense when you need him, like tonight. My suggestion is we lay a trap for him, and he will come to you.”
I wanted Finn now, but what they said made sense. “What kind of trap?”
“The marked still need to be free,” said Trev. “Just trying to figure out how to do that will be dangerous. Plus, now that we know you can change the wendigos back to their original self, there will be moments when you are naturally scared. The commander will sense your fear.”
I thought back to what the headmistress had said. “And I know exactly which wendigo marked your people—the one that is tied up.”
“Without the headmistress, though,” Luna piped in, “we won’t be able to control the wendigos.” She looked around the room. “She wouldn’t happen to be part of this carnage, would she?”
I shook my head. “Afraid not. She escaped while her guards were being torn to shreds. I should have gone after her, but I’m pretty sure I was in shock from seeing Finn in that from. He ripped into the guards like a wild beast.” We all did our best not to look at the mess that was puddled on the ground. The newcomer couldn’t help himself, though, and started to gag. We all pretended not to hear him. I was a sympathy gagger, and that was all I needed right now.
I focused on the glass cage that held three wendigos. Earlier, Ezra had hit a button, closing the glass doors. Walking over to the lever I started experimenting on how the controls worked. I flipped the lever downward, and watched as more wendigos came crawling up from the floor. They stood around looking at us and tapping the glass before one by one they grew bored and started to go back to the pit below. When there were only three left again, I flipped the lever. I was scared that more would come up. I could have waited to see if the last three would go back to their pit, but it was a gamble.
“Well,” Remy said, “we now know which lever releases the beasts.” She winked at the naked boy. “No offense.”
“It’s Porter, and none taken.”
“Cute. So, anyway, we release the wendigos by popping that lever and hitting the big red button next to it, have our girl here restore their humanity, find the one tied down, work that magic on her and, bada bing, bada boom, everyone is released from this hellhole. Then we beat Gabriella until she fears for her life, luring back the hotness. We change him back
to said hotness, track down the headmistress, and kill that bitch. The end.” She took a curtsey.
We all just stared at her until she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Was that plan too easy for all of you?”
Trev shook his head. “We can’t just release all of the wendigos at the same time. If they overpower us and make it out of here, we will have literally released hell on earth.”
“Also,” Ezra said, “we aren’t sure yet if we can stop them, too, or just Gabriella.”
Remy rolled her eyes. “She shared with us her power, um … so I don’t know about you lame-os, but I’ll be able to stop some damn wendigos.”
“They do have a valid point, though,” I told her. “We’re going to have to let them up one at a time.” I looked over at the pale, tired-looking boy. “Porter, how many wendigos are down there?”
He shrugged. “Too many to count. A thousand maybe?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why could nothing in life ever be easy?
Everyone was quiet for a few moments.
“Okay,” I said. “We need to turn the wendigos back to their demi or fully blessed status. Like the brothers said, if they accidentally escape, we’re screwed. This should be two birds, one stone. When we come across the original, she will lift the mark on the academy’s people.
“Luna, can you release everyone from their cells and get them into suitable rooms? And take Porter with you.”
“Of course.” She took off running.
“Ezra, get ahead of her and gather all students, staff, and if there are any guards left, and tell them that—”
“There’s a new sheriff in town!” Remy shouted. “And if they don’t like it, the power of the Flaming Sword shall strike them down.” She shook her fists in the sky while laughing in a deep voice.
I grabbed one of her hands and brought it back down. “The extra power is making you a little cray-cray.”
“Nope. Don’t try to give me an excuse. I was born this way.”
I shook my head. “Ezra do you think that the headmistress has another way to get to the wendigos?” My gut was saying no but I still needed to ask the question.
“I do not think so,” he said. “Someone saw her flying from the academy. With most of her guard’s dead I don’t think she’ll return. At least not tonight.”
My intuition was telling me that he was correct. “Ezra, please tell them that the headmistress is no longer in charge, and once we free the people of their mark, I will be absolving this academy. And if they have an issue with it, they can come see me.”
He saluted me. “My pleasure.”
“Yasss, baby, yasss,” Remy purred.
Lord, give me patience.
I turned to Trev, who was chuckling. “Please don’t encourage her.” Then I clapped my hands together and said, “Let’s start releasing these wendigos one at a time. I don’t feel tired after changing Porter back, but I’d like to test my limits.”
“And maybe you can train us, too,” Remy suggested.
I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure how. Using the power of the Flaming Sword felt natural, like breathing.
Trev clapped his hands. “Then, we begin.” He locked the golden doors that led into the room.
I watched as one wendigo came forward and bashed his hand over and over against the glass wall.
“Aggressive little booger,” Remy commented.
“You ready?” Trev shouted.
I nodded as I faced the glass wall and waited. Trev went to the wall and pushed the button that opened the glass enclosure. Once one wendigo came into the room, he immediately pushed the button again, closing the doors.
“Here it comes!” Trev shouted.
“Remy, go block the door just in case it makes it past me.”
“On it,” she said as Trev came to stand beside me.
The massive wendigo strutted into the room as it tilted its head back and roared loud enough to cause me to jump. I let it walk to me. I wasn’t meeting it halfway.
“Trev, you need to step back,” I said, but before he could the wendigo backhanded him in the wall that was at least fifteen feet to my right. I wouldn’t be able to outfight it. It had too much power and strength. The wendigo threw a fast right punch and I barely had time to duck under the wendigo’s arms. As I came up behind him, I knew I had to act quick so I shoved his back with my palm as I silently commanded him to turn back into its original form.
The wendigo stumbled forward before it hit the ground instantly.
Remy’s eyebrows crashed together. “Dude, did you do something wrong?”
“No. It takes a minute.”
The three of us sat and watched the wendigo turn back into the fully blessed or the darken that it used to be. Maybe once the headmistress if fully out of the picture all of the darken will realize that they can choose a different path. The wendigo started gaining color to its pale skin. The veins no longer were visible as it began to morph. The body began to shrink as the dark magic left the wendigo. If I would have blinked I would have missed the black nails disappearing and the body hair coming back. When female body parts started taking shape the boys turned their back. It was truly an amazing transformation.
While the naked female got her bearings, Trev went to score some blankets for the other naked people we were about to have. When he came back, we were done explaining to Terra what had just happened. Then I did the remaining two.
Trev let up an additional two that I changed back before I started feeling tired. It could have been the lack of sleep or that I was literally draining myself. I couldn’t find it in me to stop, though.
Remy had checked on Hannah, who was dead asleep. If I couldn’t comfort her, I might as well be productive. Besides, the more blessed I brought back, the more chances we had of freeing everyone, and I needed Finn to come back to me. Maybe if he felt me draining myself, he would come back.
When there was a knock on the door, I didn’t bother turning to see who Remy let in as Trev released another and another.
Finally, Luna came up beside me. “Let one of us give it a try.”
“No, I got this.”
“Of course you do,” Remy said. “We are just going to give you a little break.”
I looked around the room. Ezra was now back to leaning up against the golden doors. The last wendigo that I had touched was lying in a corner with a blanket thrown over its body, waiting for it to return to normal. I had stopped taking the time to wait until the blessed came back to us. I wasn’t debriefing them anymore either. However, I heard soft voices behind me and knew that someone was cluing them in. It wasn’t going to hurt me to let someone else take over and help.
I rubbed my chest. Finn wasn’t near.
“Okay,” I said, “listen up. I’m learning as I go, too, but this is what I know about using the Flaming Sword. Whatever I think happens, happens. When I was under attack at the Academy of Seraph, I thought to myself that I had to survive. Hannah had to survive. Those thoughts alone stopped Zack, because he died. When I wanted to give each of you the gift of the Flaming Sword, I did so with just a thought. When I touch these wendigos, I want them to turn back. I don’t want them to die. Think about it, and it will happen.”
They all nodded.
Luna hung her head. Without meaning to I plucked grief from her thoughts.
“What’s going on, Luna?”
“That wendigo that I killed, he or she was just like all the ones you’ve turned back so far. They were just innocent blessed, trapped in a form that they didn’t ask for. I murdered someone.”
Her thoughts were ramming into me—pain, grief, shame. I had to build walls around my mind to escape from them.
I squatted in front of her. “Luna, that was not your fault. Did you know you had the power to kill a wendigo?”
She shook her head.
“Did I tell you what you were capable of?”
Again, she shook her head.
“Then, if we are going to blame someone, blame
me.”
She jerked her blue eyes to mine. “I can’t blame you, but I can see what you’re doing. Thank you for that.”
“Luna, all of us are new to this. We are going to make mistakes. I decided to save you, and because of that, a blessed died. I will have to live with that, and when I have time to grieve, I will, for Hannah and for that blessed. Just know that this was not your fault.”
Ezra cleared his throat as I stood up. “I’ll go first.”
“No, the hell you won’t,” Remy said. “I’ve been watching her for almost two hours using this party trick, and I want me some of that. My turn.” She jumped up and ran toward the glass. Bouncing from foot to foot, she said, “Okay, I’m ready.”
I went to stand by the doors next to Ezra just in case the thing made it past my friend. I was beginning to feel emotionally and physically drained but I needed to remain steadfast. Every minute that went by I realized more and more how many people were truly counting on me. I stood up taller as my eyelids grew heavy. I watched as Remy popped her neck and threw out a couple of right hooks to the thin air.
I called out, “Remy they are extremely strong. You can’t hesitate. You have to be quick about it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “I got it.”
What happened next would have been comical if I hadn’t been so tired.
The doors opened, but the wendigo just stood there, staring at Remy. She whistled and patted her legs like she was calling to a dog. It tilted his head at her. Then she started lecturing it on what a proper wendigo would do. When the wendigo still didn’t move, she whined, “I think mine’s broken. Maybe you should have had this one, Ezra.”
With her guard down, the wendigo then tackled her to the floor.
We all stood there in shock as they rolled around, and Remy cussed better than any sailor on any ship on the sea. The wendigo grabbed a handful of Remy’s hair and pulled.
“Remy!” I shouted. “Use your power.”
“Hello! I’m trying.”
The wendigo screeched as it pulled more of her hair.
“Oh em gee, are you from Jersey?”
Trev walked closer to the rolling pair. “Need help?”
Remy slapped the wendigo, causing it to shriek again. “No, I don’t need help.” She put her hand against the wendigo’s chest. After a few seconds, the wendigo stopped fighting and passed out. Remy then crawled on her hands and knees toward Luna, who had tears streaming down her face because she was laughing so hard.
Captured: Academy of the Seraph Page 11
