A meager amount of clapping echoed through the room. Sarah pinned her murderous stare on me, and I realized who the match would be.
“Oh shit,” I whispered under my breath.
Aidan shifted closer to me, his body tense.
“Let’s have a great time tonight,” the headmaster continued, clueless as to what was about to go down. “And remember, let’s keep it clean, okay?”
A nervous laugh bubbled up my throat as my eyes shifted to my sister and Rhys, huddled close together on the fringe of the crowd.
The headmaster turned off the mic and put it down just as Sarah stepped forward, eyes darting between Aidan and me.
“I warned you, slut!” she screamed. I braced myself for the brunt of her magic, but instead found myself shoved behind Aidan just before it hit.
I felt her energy wrap around his throat and clamp down. But it didn’t last long. Anger shot through him like a bullet, and those familiar black tendrils snaked out from his body in response. They took hold of her invisible grip and ripped it away. Sarah’s eyes went wide, along with most of the fey, standing together in a group. A low, collective rumble escaped the crew of shifters near the windows, and they all pushed off the wall and stepped forward as a unit—as a pack.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath as a crackle of magic sparked from the sorcerers and a gust of wind circled the witches.
Rhys and Maddy rushed over to us as the tension in the room built to the breaking point.
“What do we do?” she asked me, like I had any fucking clue.
The marble in my hand flared again in annoyance. I clutched it tighter and tried to call forth a sense of calm I sure as hell didn’t feel, hoping I could defuse the war that was about to be waged in the cafeteria. The one for which I’d unwittingly set the stage.
“I can stop this,” I said as I stepped forward, eyes closed. I tapped into the crystal ball—the power it lent me—and willed the battle to stop before it started. But with every passing breath I took, nothing happened. My eyes shot open as the soft click of fangs protracting rang out through the room.
“Time to get this party started,” a large male I didn't recognize called out before he and his fellow vampires turned their attention to the crowd. “What sounds better, guys? Fey or shifter?”
Before anyone had a chance to answer, he shot with lightning speed toward the fey, snatching a smaller female and wrapping his mouth around her jugular. His attack was met with a blast of ancient magic from another fey and a war cry from the shifters. They crashed as a group upon the others, and the melee began.
“I can’t override them,” I said as I turned to Aidan, helpless. His black stare met mine for a long moment before he turned to the far entrance, where four commanding men now stood, watching. The remaining members of the Council.
“This is what they want,” he said, looking at Maddy and Rhys. “We have to stop this.”
Then he threw himself into the fray.
“Aidan!” I shouted as I lunged for him.
My sister caught me around the waist. “No, Cece! You can’t. Stay here and keep trying,” she said, pinning me in place with a look that would have made her mother proud. “I've got this one.”
Rhys conjured a shield of green magic before he and Maddy charged the crowd.
Headmaster Warren ran about the room, doing all he could to calm the student body, but it was no use. Caging their magic for so long had consequences. It would be let out at any cost.
With that realization in my mind, I turned to glare at the Council members, who were soaking up the sight like a warm, sunny day. They were basking in the magic unleashed in that room, and the dragon's words ricocheted through my mind, as did those of the Council member Rhys had enthralled.
It was then that I knew what I had to do.
I ran for the exit, crushing the tiny crystal ball in my grip. I might not have been able to help my sister, Rhys, or Aidan in this fight, but I could bring down that which held us prisoner—or so the vamp-bitten councilman had said. And if I brought down the wards for the building, then we’d all be free.
The Council couldn't succeed in collecting the power that was owed if the source was gone and Wadsworth’s finest were no longer imprisoned.
As I shoved the doors open, the mark on my hand shone bright gold. A warning. A plea.
Time seemed to slow. The volleys of magic whizzing through the room grew sluggish, as did the movements of the students attacking each other like wild animals. Standing in their midst was Aidan, his dark eyes flashing and pinned on me.
“I can do this,” I said, though there was no way he could possibly hear me over the din. “I have to.”
His head slashed a slow nod—one clear dip and rise of his chin. His approval. His farewell. I swallowed back the emotions rising in me and bolted from the room.
I had a power source to destroy.
And a power-hungry Council to stop.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Maddy
Rhys cast a protection spell over us, and we leaped into the crowd.
I slammed into a vamp, who leered and reached for my neck, until I unleashed a bit of my beast. Either the claws erupting from my fingers warned him off, or the fire I blasted in his face told him he didn’t want to mess with this shifter, but he lifted his hands and stumbled backward.
Never mess with a dragon.
Rhys stomped up beside me, snarling, his fangs bared. The vamp pivoted and rushed toward a couple of fey girls casting entrapment spells that encased a pack of shifters in shimmering cages. The bloodsucker who’d attacked me shrieked as he was caught in the web and stuffed in with the others, whose arms smoked as they reached between the bars.
“We have to stop this,” I yelled. I kicked out at a housecat shifter who had slunk close, claws extended. He hissed and leaped away, redirecting his attention to a group of great cat shifters who had cornered three fey in the far left corner.
Rhys ducked, dodging a fist swung his way. A flick of his finger, and the guy went flying into a bunch of witches, barreling them over like bowling pins.
“See if you can knock some sense into the witches and shifters,” he said. “I’ll talk to the vamps and sorcerers.” He darted to the left, weaving around vamps stalking prey and shifters leaping off tables and onto other supes’ backs.
Wolfy jumped between me and a witch stalking toward me with her arms raised. A fine green mist floated off her fingers. Wherever it hit the floor, it smoldered and sunk in like battery acid. The sheen in her eyes matched the color of the mist. Wolfy charged toward her, yapping and snarling, but I skidded forward onto my knees. I grabbed him around the chest and crawled backward with him, not stopping until I smacked into—thankfully—an empty table. “No way, little guy. You’re gonna get hurt.”
He shot a peeved look over his shoulder. “And you won’t?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cece running through the door to the hallway outside the cafeteria, her purple gown swishing around her calves.
“Go help Cece,” I said, nudging Wolfy toward the hall. “Rhys will watch out for me. Hell, I’ll watch out for me. I can turn into a dragon, remember?”
His gaze took in my blue dress. “In that get-up?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry about me.”
Bristles of fur lifted along his spine. “I worry no more than you do about me.”
“Yeah. So help her, but watch out.”
“I’ll go as long as you promise not to let yourself slip so far that you can’t come back.”
How could he try to reason at a time like this? “I’m aware that I shouldn’t fully unleash the beast. I mean…” I took in the ceiling arching at least twenty feet overhead. “It would be a tight fit.”
“You’d blast your head right through the tiles.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, then.” I pushed his little butt toward the entrance. “Go. I’ll be okay.”
He growled. A leap up, an
d he licked my chin. Sometimes, my friend acted so much like a dog, I wanted to snuggle on the sofa with him. Pet him. But who would cuddle a freakin’ sentinel?
Without another word, he skittered toward the door, dodging around fights, but he paused in the opening. “Stay out of trouble!”
Yeah, sure. That would be easy. I shook my head as I took in the snarls and blasts of power shooting through the air around me.
The green-mist witch came at me again, arms lifted, but a fey dove past me and collided with her. The two skidded across the floor, a tangle of mist-coated limbs. They smacked into the wall, and a poof of slimy ooze clouded the air. Inky-green wet stuff pooled around them on the tiles as both turned to stone.
My eyes wide, I jumped up onto the table to assess the situation. Somehow, Rhys had gathered together about eight sorcerers, and they huddled off to one side. Whenever someone got close, a tall one would flick her arm out, and the supe would pivot and stumble in another direction.
Aidan had clearly caught on to the plan. He stood with a cluster of fey, waving his arms around and shooting glares at the Council.
The Council member with acne slunk into the hall. Where was he going?
I didn’t have time to follow.
To my left, a shifter’s head morphed into a wolf’s, and he bit down on a witch’s arm. Shrieking, she blasted the shifter with a lightning bolt of blue power, but it skimmed across his flesh and hit the floor beyond him, leaving a deep gouge in the tile.
All the while, the three remaining Council members remained along the wall, a shimmer of inky power surrounding them, keeping them safe from the fray.
Aidan’s assumption was confirmed. They were somehow benefitting from the battle going on around them.
What if…?
I rushed over to Rhys and nudged my head toward the Council. “You see that?”
He frowned as he stared. “Shit.”
“Exactly.”
“The Council—”
“They’re feeding on the power,” I gritted out.
The Council members had lined up against the wall, their rapt gazes locked on the fights going on around them. One nudged another, and they both grinned.
“Why would they do this to us?” I asked.
“I think…” Rhys glared toward the men. “I think they’re drinking in our anger, our power.”
Shit. How was that even possible?
Although, that seemed to be the norm for Wadsworth.
“Keep working on the witches,” Rhys said. “I’ve got vamps to talk to.” He dove into the crowd, calling over his shoulder. “And hurry!”
With witches scattered everywhere throughout the room, how the hell was I going to get even one to listen?
Two sorcerers drifted close to the remaining Council members, but instead of pushing them away, one lifted his arm, his fingers curling upward. The sorcerers stopped and stared blankly toward the man, then stumbled right up to him. They remained motionless in front of the Council member before slumping to the floor.
They were definitely doing something to drain the rage pouring through the room.
Damn, this was just like that weird class where everyone had sunk into a trance—except for Rhys and me.
Was that what had happened back then? Had the students in that classroom been tapped for power drainage? Were the Council, the headmaster, hell, maybe a bunch of adults in charge of the entire magical realm using the kids at Wadsworth like vamp-enthralled sycophants?
We were a tappable resource.
My belly lurched, and I ran to a group of shifters.
“Get lost, witch,” a guy with fangs snarled, hauling a fey guy backward by his hair. The fey flung a cloud of power into the shifter’s face, and the shifter let go. The fey barreled into the shifter, taking him to the floor. I reeled back, trying not to get snarled in the mass of snapping, magic-wielding limbs.
To make this work, I was going to need to find the head of each of the two factions. Since Rhys appeared to be making headway with the vamps, if their slow nods were anything to go by, it was time for me to step up and do the same.
I dove around fights, making my way to the witch who’d turned herself and the fey dude into twisted statues. I drew up power and, with both hands lifted, released magic across them.
The witch blinked and turned glazed eyes my way. I hustled over and stooped down beside her. When she lifted a shaky hand coated with green mist, I growled. My claws extended, and I waved them in her face.
“You...you figured out how to shift!” Gulping, she slithered backward, slamming into the wall. Her hand flew out when she hit, and the mist shot toward a cheetah shifter, who turned to stone.
“Yeah, and it’s badass.”
“Leave me alone!”
“I’m not here to shift and rip you apart,” I shouted, “although, it might be nice for you to remember that I could do it if I wanted to.” Damn, it felt good to finally be able to host some sort of magical self-defense. “You need to see what’s really going on here.”
“Go back to your hybrid table,” she snarled, rising to sit with her legs splayed out in front of her. A fey guy tripped over her leg and went sprawling, knocking over the cheetah statue.
I lifted one eyebrow. “You’ve got some sway with the other witches. Otherwise, I would’ve left you for the janitors to haul out and place on the front lawn as a statue.”
“Get lost.” She struggled to stand, and I left her alone. No need to come in contact with the mist floating off her hand.
I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “Take a look at those guys over there.”
“Yeah, what about them?” Her blurry gaze drifted that way.
Three fey rushed by, shooting fire toward a pack of hyena shifters.
“They’re part of the Council, and they’re somehow controlling this. Feeding of it.” I growled, and smoke churned from my nostrils. Cool. I needed to play with that feature sometime soon. “They’re draining energy from all of us. They want this fight. Do you really want to keep giving your power to them?”
Her gaze cleared somewhat. “If that’s the case, and that’s a big ‘if’, what do you expect me to do about it?”
I shrugged. “Use your influence. Unless they see the truth, we’re all gonna get drained. Spread the word. Do what you can to stop this before it gets worse.” If that was at all possible. “You in? Or do you want to go back to lawn ornament material? ‘Cause I’m outta here regardless.”
A long breath hissed from her, and the mist dissipated from her hand. “Help me up.”
I rushed in to help drag her to her feet. “I’m going to go talk to some shifters.” Whirling around, I started toward the great cats, who continued to slash and snarl at a pack of vamps, but the witch called out behind me.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll do what I can.”
With a nod, I looked around and...wow. Janie? She stood near the entrance wearing a dark green gown.
I started toward her, but met up with Aidan before I made it halfway across the room. He gripped my forearms and held me back when I would’ve darted around him. “Just the shifter witch I was looking for.”
“I’m going after…” I peered around him, but Janie was gone. A quick scan of the room showed that she was nowhere to be seen. Had I imagined her being here? “Actually, I was going after the head of the shifter pack,” I said, shoving hair off my face. Forget Janie. We had more important things to do. I hitched up the dress that kept dragging down in the front, threatening to reveal my boobs to the world. Who the hell wore things like this?
Well, I did. For now, anyway.
“I think we three need to handle this ourselves, together,” he said, casually shifting sideways to avoid a blast of flames roaring across the room. Hey, flames were my thing. I looked around but couldn’t identify where they had come from.
“Where’s Rhys?” I caught my boyfriend charging toward us. He’d lost his suit jacket. And his shirt. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’
t complain about him hanging around bare-chested, but the nasty slash across his right pec looked like it was festering already. Great cat-inflicted?
He joined us. “You thinking what I am?” he asked Aidan, who nodded.
“Yes. I believe—” Aidan frowned. He swept his hand upward, and another blast of fire hit his palm. It arced up toward the ceiling, but lost energy before it connected and poofed out. Ashes drifted down around us, coating our hair and clothing. “We should get out of the fray.”
“Awesome idea,” I said, frowning as a pack of chipmunks with very long teeth raced by. They leaped en masse onto a sorcerer, tackling him to the floor. Red fog erupted from the sorcerer, and the chipmunks scattered like roaches.
Aidan guided me over to where we normally picked up trays of food, where the battle cries and action seemed lighter.
“We need to combine our power and end this,” Aidan said, pivoting me away from a fey diving in my direction. Aidan’s finger flicked out, and the guy froze before stumbling backward, his eyes wide.
Yeah, don’t mess with Aidan.
“How?” Rhys said, smoothing his hair.
“The Council member on the far right seems to be the one in control.” He tipped his head in that direction. “If we all shoot power at him at the same time, we might be able to break through his spell long enough for those we’ve reached to wake up the others.”
The witch I’d spoken to had gathered three girls and a tall, skinny guy, and they huddled near the entrance. Maybe Aidan was right.
“Let’s take care of this,” I said, starting to charge toward the Council with my fangs popping through my jawline and my claws extended.
Aidan snagged my arm, and his low chuckle rang out as he tugged me back beside him. “I do appreciate how eager you are to rip them apart, but hold on to your dragon for a sec.”
“I have an idea,” Rhys said. The speculation in his eyes directed my way brought me to a complete halt. “I want to play with this guardian thing that was supposedly stolen from me.”
Rogue Reformatory: Broken (Supernatural Misfits Academy Book 2) Page 20
