by LJ Swallow
Tobias glances at me and I catch his fear. “They’re on campus?”
“Oh yeah, striding in full view towards Petrescu, apart from nobody else saw because of the fucking shifters!” snarls Andrei.
“I told you, Vince’s army are the distraction. That’s how they can walk the grounds untouched and to their secret entrance,” says Jamie.
“We looked and never found anything,” I protest.
“There could still be a way in,” says Tobias. “Come on.”
The run to the tunnel entrance feels twice the distance and I wish I had vampire speed. A woman’s figure stands beside the slabs, which are now slid away from the hole leading down, and Tobias pushes me behind him as we approach.
She turns her head and her red hair shines in the moonlight.
Theodora.
“What are you doing?” asks Tobias. “You should be with your students.”
Her hands tremble as she points at the entrance. “I didn’t think this could happen. The spark lit.”
“What spark?” snaps Tobias.
“We kept them down there. Even when the Blackwoods tricked us, we managed.” She points at me. “The Winterfall was supposed to maintain the seal. She needs to try again.”
“Is anybody else down there?” Andrei demands.
“I don’t know.”
“Gabriella could be opening the barrier now! Why didn’t you look and stop her?” I ask.
Theodora chokes a laugh. “Me? Alone? You’re the powerful ones.”
“What do you mean the spark?” Theodora blinks at Tobias’s question. “Theodora?”
“Maeve’s spell wasn’t enough!” Theodora says through gritted teeth. “Why wasn’t she enough?”
I shrink back as Theodora steps towards me and the twisted transformation in her lamia face, shadowed by the night, scares me. “I tried,” I stammer.
Her features settle back to normal and she smiles. “Apologies. I’m concerned. Let’s try again. Perhaps we can seal the pair inside and they can spend their last days in agony.”
Wow.
Theodora gestures at us to enter the tunnel and I look to Tobias.
She’s behaving strangely.
He nods curtly and moves towards the entrance. Jumping down, he reaches up to help me down. Andrei lands next to me on the stone floor, closely followed by Theodora and Jamie.
“Yes, that’s the best plan,” she murmurs as she strides purposefully ahead.
“She’s weird,” says Jamie, echoing my thoughts.
“Theodora just witnessed her students being massacred. She might be in shock,” I suggest, wanting this to be true. But the dulled heartbeat sounds stronger in my head as my blood pulses with a rhythm to match.
“I don’t know…” says Jamie. “We can’t trust her anymore.”
“Which is why she’s not coming into the tunnels alone,” Tobias replies.
“Theodora’s obsessed by keeping the academy safe. She could help us against the others,” I suggest.
Jamie narrows his eyes.
With Jamie’s witchlight illuminating the way, we make our way after Theodora, whose heels click and echo along the tunnel. I’m aware of the three guys surrounding me, but the missing Ash creates a hole in my heart.
Please let him be okay.
The end of the tunnel looks no different than when we left it—blank stone to everybody else, but the strange runic shapes show for me. I examine each one, but all are intact and shine as brightly as the day I covered the Blackwood runes with Winterfall.
“Can you sense something?” asks Theodora, looking at us. “I think Gabriella and Anastasia might be around.”
Andrei shakes his head. “I can’t.”
“But there are other ways into the tunnels. If Maeve is right, they will be here.” She chews her lip. “Could you look around the tunnels while Maeve works on the runes again?”
“How do you know?” asks Tobias sharply.
“Why else would they go to Petrescu?” she snaps.
“I don’t know what else I can do, Theodora,” I say gently.
“Trace over them again. Try and remember the words you used. Can’t you sense the presence growing?” Her eyes fill with fear as she touches the wall. “We must do whatever it takes to stop this opening.”
“We’re not leaving Maeve,” says Tobias.
“If the pair are in the tunnels, more than one person needs to challenge them,” Theodora says.
“I’ll stay with Maeve,” says Jamie. “Tobias can’t go alone, so you go with him Andrei. I can help strengthen Maeve’s magic.”
“Good idea.” Theodora claps her hands together, almost her old self.
“I don’t want to leave Maeve,” Tobias retorts.
“Same,” retorts Andrei.
“She’s safer with us than if Andrei fails and dies, leaving his mother and the witch to find us.”
Tobias drags a palm down his face and looks at me.
You choose.
Don’t send Andrei alone.
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Fine. We’ll quickly check below Petrescu,” says Tobias gruffly. “Two minutes.”
“Good, good.” Theodora’s face brightens with relief. “Maeve can use her magic while we wait.”
I only half-hear what’s happening around me, because the presence behind the wall leaches through the stone and into my mind. The whispers I’ve heard in my dreams grow louder. The same phrase.
She wants your blood.
Don’t waste your blood.
I swallow. “I think Gabriella and Anastasia are nearby.”
Tobias seizes my face in both hands. “I’ll come back.”
“What if—"
“I’m strong enough to kill Gabriella, remember?” he says.
My heart pushes against my chest. “Not on your own. Don’t try. Bring her here—that’s where she wants to be.”
I’m not leaving you alone for long.
I moisten my lips and nod just as Andrei seizes me in a strong embrace and kisses me hard on the mouth. “A couple of minutes. That’s all.” He looks between me and Jamie.
I clench and unclench my fists as they head around the corner at the speed I couldn’t match and focus on finding the magic inside me. The rune directly in front glows brighter and I suck in a relieved breath. Carefully, I touch the wall, tracing the shape again with my finger until the rune outshines the Blackwood shape below.
Jamie holds my other hand and I gratefully absorb some of his spell energy to charge my magic, pushing more into the symbol. Theodora speaks to him but I’m too entranced by my magic to hear their exchange. Jamie’s grip loosens from mine and I try to seize hold again as his fingers begin to slip away.
“Hang on, Jamie. Not much longer. Two to go.”
The conduit breaks and I jerk out of my trance as Jamie drops to the ground beside me, silent. I back against the wall and look around for Gabriella before crouching to touch his head when I can’t see her.
He’s clammy, breathing shallow, and I look to Theodora. “Did I take too much from him?”
“I don’t know. I’ll tend to him in a moment. Let us finish your task.” She holds out a hand and I take her slender fingers as she pulls me to my feet. “Look at the runes, Maeve,” she says, her voice wrapping around me like silk. “Focus on what you need to do.”
My mind clouds for a few moments as the rune before me blurs. “I’m trying, I—"
The wall hits my face as somebody pushes me forward and twists my arm behind my back. I yell out, shocked when I recognise the scent of lilies from the person behind.
This isn’t an ambush by Gabriella.
“What are you doing?” I ask Theodora, as my cheek squashes against the rock.
“I need your blood.”
My blood? Theodora isn’t hemia. Or is she hybrid too?
“Let me go,” I say and attempt to pull my arms away. Her body presses against me, a steel strength in her slender figure. “Tob—” Theodora twists m
y head until my whole face is against the rock, muffling my attempt to cry for help
“The Blackwoods painted in blood. That’s where we’re going wrong.” Theodora’s hot breath engulfs my ear and shock dizzies me.
“How do you know?” I ask hoarsely.
She roughly turns me and presses me to the wall by my chest, then drags a small black-handled knife from her jacket. I shrink back in panic. “Don’t you want to save the world, Maeve? Your blood can stop this.”
I’d laugh at her dramatic comment, but the knifepoint beneath my chin silences me. “Tobias!” I shout.
The word has barely left my lips when I wince at the sting from the knife blade.
“If I need to use my blood to stop them, I will,” I say hoarsely. “Just let me go. This is insane, Theodora.”
The woman whose eyes are centimetres from mine is nothing like the one I met on my first day at the academy. They’re filled with fervour and determination—those of someone who’s lost to everything but achieving her aim.
“But tell Maeve how much of her blood you want, Theodora,” purrs a voice close by.
Chapter Sixty-Three
MAEVE
I slide my eyes right. Gabriella’s cajoling tones match Theodora’s and there’s a mix of surprise and amusement on her face. The last time I saw Gabriella, her face was a mask of pure evil as I attacked her, while in possession of her consort’s body. Tonight, she’s dressed as if attending a celebration, raven hair pinned from her face and stunning features accentuated by painted lips and cheeks. She wears a necklace and earrings with emeralds to match her eyes, and diamonds, both glinting in the dim.
This is her celebration.
Her moment.
“I never expected you’d be the one to lure her down here tonight,” Gabriella says softly.
Theodora’s mouth parts and the point against my neck moves. “I don’t care how much of Maeve’s blood I need. The First stays inside.”
The First? Theodora knows what exists beneath her academy.
Cocking her head, Gabriella walks forward and prises the knife from Theodora’s hands. “This was always futile, my dearest Theodora. The First could never be constrained permanently. Look at your students. The hemia. The animals murdering each other.”
“Which is why the gateway stays closed!” shouts Theodora, her hand trembling.
I dart a look around for my means of escape, but the knife is still dangerously close—and in Gabriella’s hand.
“I think not.” With a tight smile, Gabriella looks over her shoulder. “Could you hurry, please, Anastasia?”
She steps from around the corner and brushes a loose strand of dark hair from her face. “I had some trouble.” She smiles at me. “Dealt with.”
Omigod.
There’s nobody with her. No other sound.
No.
She isn’t strong enough for Tobias, but Andrei?
“Can we get inside before anybody else decides to join us?” she retorts.
“No!” screams out Theodora as Gabriella tears her from me. My legs almost buckle and I cringe as she sends Theodora crashing against a wall further down the tunnel.
Gabriella cocks her head as she watches for Theodora’s next move and my heart sticks in my mouth when she doesn’t stir.
Anastasia steps up to Gabriella and they both study me. Anastasia’s beauty struck me the first time I met her, something I later wondered if magic helped, but beside Gabriella she’s plain. Unlike Gabriella’s cruel amusement, Anastasia’s eyes are brimful of hatred. She knows I helped murder her brother.
Every inch of my skin crawls as I avoid their eyes and stay focused on the knife. “How extraordinarily rude of Theodora not to ask your permission.”
“And you will?” I cough out with a half-laugh.
“I don’t want your blood.” Gabriella runs her tongue around her lips as she looks at my bleeding skin. “I want your life.”
The two women crowd me against the wall and I fight the terror seizing my mind and my magic. There’s no sign of Tobias and Andrei, and Anastasia now stands over Jamie sneering at him.
“Anastasia, wipe the Winterfall runes. They still hold—barely.” Gabriella hands her the knife. “Quick.”
She purses her lips as she takes the knife and I shrink back as Anastasia holds up the knife and smiles. My hand goes to my neck and she laughs before lifting a hand and slitting her index finger. “Do control yourself around my blood, Gabriella.”
Gabriella scowls at her.
Anastasia carefully paints over the runes, obliterating the Winterfall with Blackwood and replacing the white glow with red. She straightens and sucks on her finger as she studies her handiwork. The Winterfall runes clatter to the ground, pushed away by the Blackwood magic.
The red glow intensifies as the rune shapes change, reaching out to each other and forming a circle. The pounding heartbeat in my ears grows, and I pinch my temples as pressure grows behind my eyes.
“I need that pendant,” says Anastasia as she holds out a hand.
Swallowing, I dart a look behind her. Where are Andrei and Tobias? I can’t attack both women at once. “What did you do to the others?”
“Give me the pendant,” she repeats.
“I do hope you didn’t kill my son,” says Gabriella. “That would be unwise.”
With an exasperated sound, Anastasia lunges at me and the weak leather snaps as she pulls the pendant from around my neck. Blood smears the stone as she takes hold, and her excitement rolls towards me as she looks to the middle rune on the wall.
“Is that it?” asks Gabriella. “Hurry before your hybrid traitor breaks free from whatever you’ve done and kills you.”
Anastasia blinks and traces her bleeding finger around the final stone before pressing it into the centre of the circle. The other runes spread again, lines crawling towards the centre until the whole circle grows and spread, covering the stone with the red light. I cover my eyes and look away as the intensity hurts my eyes, and when Gabriella shrieks with glee, I tentatively open them again.
The barrier no longer exists and I’m staring into a black void. Somebody pushes me in the back, and I stumble before pushing back and refusing to move.
“In,” snaps Gabriella.
“No.” I’m surprised my voice doesn’t show the fear overtaking me. Are they pushing me into a hole? I can’t see anything but the void.
With an exaggerated sigh, Anastasia crouches down and takes Jamie by the blazer collar and pulls him into a sitting position. His head lolls in unconsciousness. “Such a sweet guy. I hope nothing bad happens to him.”
“Leave Jamie alone!” I snap and attempt to step past Gabriella towards him.
She sidesteps to meet me face to face and arches a shaped brow, then jabs a finger into the dark. “Then walk in there.”
Theodora groans nearby and the pair are distracted by her movement. Propping herself against the tunnel wall, Theodora peers from beneath her long hair hanging into her eyes.
“No! You can’t take her in there!” she cries. Theodora’s figure blurs and she appears in front of us, before flying backwards as Anastasia raises her arms. “You don’t understand what will happen!”
“Too late,” scoffs Gabriella as she walks to stand over her. “Your little witch failed.”
As I watch in horror, Anastasia seizes my arm and I scream as she tears my shirt and draws the knife in a line across my arm. My body jolts as Anastasia appears in my mind, mocking my weakness as she takes control of my body.
I could fight, but I’m biding my time. Saving myself for the moment where my strength can overcome Anastasia, the first time she shows weakness. Jamie’s figure remains on the ground and I thank the stars they haven’t hurt him.
They won’t if I walk away with the pair.
As Theodora’s guttural scream reverberates, I don’t look round to see what Gabriella is doing. Anastasia grips my body and forces me forward.
Chapter Sixty-Four
MAEVE
I continue to fight Anastasia's magic, but I’m engulfed; each time I resist, a sharp pain screams through my mind.
My feet touch solid stone and I almost collapse with relief. A cavern, not a hole.
Underneath my terror, I’m angry. Theodora gave Anastasia the opportunity she needed, by tricking me. We could've faced her and Gabriella together and defeated them to keep the stone barrier closed. Why would she do something so stupid?
Two hearts thud in my ears—mine and whatever lies in wait—and I can no longer hear anybody’s voice. Through the black, I picture Tobias’s and Andrei’s faces and sickness grows.
What happened to them?
I stumble as I walk forward in the dark, as drawn to the cavern’s centre as much as I'm forced to walk there. I swallow down the rising bile as I drag another foot forward, shoes sliding along the ground as I resist. Blood from my arm drips and hits the stone below my feet, and a sudden glow appears.
Behind me, Anastasia exclaims in excitement and I'm forced to stop. A partial rune shines up from the cavern floor.
Blackwood.
"No. Not good," snaps Gabriella. "She’s still bleeding, and her magic will neutralise the next runes, you idiot. She'll close the gateway, not open it."
I gasp out as Gabriella seizes my arm and curls her hand around my wound, pulling me away from the rune as she does. "And light the cavern. Maeve can't see where she's walking," she continues.
Anastasia lifts a hand, clicks her fingers and illuminates the surroundings in a flash like Amelia’s lightning above the academy. The cavern ceiling is as low as the tunnels but the area wider, almost the whole size of Petrescu’s ground floor. A damp, mustiness pervades the silent space.
My eyes dart from place to place, searching the roughly hewn stone walls for more signs of magic, but see nothing. The stone ground beneath my feet matches the tunnels too—apart from the centre. My lungs constrict as I stare at the large pit surrounded by crumbled rocks dominating the cavern. I attempt to stop walking as the heartbeat thumps louder, calling to me.
"Do you know how long I've waited to step inside here and reclaim what is ours?" Gabriella’s green eyes glitter in triumph as she looks at me and the worst part is I could be looking into Andrei's. Dropping her gaze to my hand, she moistens her lips at my blood now coating her porcelain skin.
