by R L Medina
“Let’s go.” Grayson’s voice made me jump.
His eyes met mine and the concern I saw written there made me sigh. I forced a reassuring smile on my face and followed the others to the van. From what I remembered, all the vehicles were cloaked so that we could surprise the witches.
Everything had been pre-planned in phases and we all had a part to play. Dread filled me. Would I be able to play mine when the time came?
Conversations drifted around me as we drove to the supposed hideout of Luna Negra. Try as I could to focus, doubt riddled me and fear choked me. We’d cheated death one too many times. What if the next time we didn’t have any more chances?
The van took us farther from Malibu and to an empty beach. I blinked in surprise. This was where the witches were hiding? I sucked in a breath as we parked. Tío rose to his feet and swept his gaze over us. His eyes met mine and slid to Javi, a flash of regret shining in them before disappearing once more.
Was he worried about trying to keep us safe? We’d barely had time to discuss anything since the attacks, but I made a silent vow to stir less drama after everything was over. There were things we could still fix in our family.
I turned and met Javi’s eyes. “I’m sorry. About what I said the other day.”
He frowned at me. “Don’t start apologizing now, Rose. You’ll get plenty of time to make it up to me after today. We can all go back to Glo—” He stopped himself.
“We’ll go somewhere and celebrate,” Shiloh finished for him.
Overwhelmed with the task at hand, I nodded, unable to say anything. I wanted to believe everything would work out okay. That we would all survive, but were the odds?
“Alright, let’s move out,” Tío snapped.
Swallowing my nerves, I rose to follow the others. Our boots pounded against the floor of the bus. It rang in my ears as we filed out.
Dragons. Real, live, fire-breathing dragons filled the sky. I stared in wonder as the beasts sped past, their giant wings blocking out the clouds.
I couldn’t imagine what the GRIMM would have to do to mind sweep everyone from remembering this. Roars echoed around us, making the ground tremble.
My lips spread into a smile. The dragons were on our side and the witches wouldn’t be able to take them down so easily.
Rafael and his pack. I was surprised to see them among the other extraordinaire, who were walking up with Miss Weatherstone and other men and women I didn’t know. My eyebrows rose at the sight. The Council of Extraordinaire Rights? They were there to fight with us?
Today, she wasn’t wearing office attire. They were all dressed to fight, and I wondered if she’d brought her taser gun or the real thing this time. Though after seeing her rip a literal hole through space and time, I didn’t think she needed a weapon.
The woman was total badass. Maybe if I survived the fight, I could look into joining her in the union. I liked the idea of helping the extraordinaire and protecting humans at the same time.
Better than killing. I shuddered. Which was what I’d have to do now.
23
It didn’t take long for the witches to appear along with hundreds of extraordinaire. Hundreds. My blood turned to ice at the sight. How were we supposed to win against all of them?
Fighting for real was nothing like the simulations. My body trembled as adrenaline rushed through me. The likelihood of survival was poor, and it was freaking terrifying.
Even with the agents yelling drills out and trying to maintain order, it quickly turned into chaos and every man for himself.
I stood transfixed in the middle of it all, watching the violence ensue. My stomach churned at the horrific scene.
Everywhere I looked GRIMM agents were falling. The dragons launched their fire, slowing the witches’ advances slightly, but we needed more soldiers on the ground.
My throat turned dry. I just wanted it to end. Why couldn’t it end? A wave of panic rose inside me. What kind of end would it be? How could we hope for anything good now?
“Rose!” I turned to Grayson.
“We have to go after Cassiano. There. If we can trap him, we bring down their shields.”
I gaped at the spot he was pointing. The wizard was floating above the cliffs, arms spread open. All the GRIMM were launching attacks at him, but nothing seemed to be penetrating his barrier.
“Where are all the wizard traps?” Javi growled in frustration.
“They’re not working,” one of the agents answered.
“That’s because Cassiano is the one who spelled them,” another replied.
“You let the wizard charge the wizard traps?” Brady scoffed.
“We didn’t know he was the wizard, genius,” the agent snapped.
Brady sent a spell forward at a group of oncoming vampires and looked at the older agent. “If you survive this, you can be sure there’s going to be a lot firing and demotions.”
Turning toward us, Brady pulled out the metal can and handed it to Grayson. “I’ll follow you and cover you.”
“How are we going to get up there?” I asked.
“Dragon?” Shiloh offered, pointing at the agents who’d hopped on the moving beasts in order to get closer to the supreme and Cassiano.
My eyes bulged. “Is there another way?”
“I could try to hold you,” Shiloh suggested.
Javi frowned at her. “That’s too dangerous. You need to watch the ground in front of you for attacks.”
“How else are they going to get to him?” she argued.
“A plane?” James interrupted.
He nodded to one of the small aircrafts the GRIMM were boarding.
“Works for me. Let’s move.” Grayson led the way.
“Are you sure you two are the best options?” Javi interrupted.
“He’s right. We can’t mess this up. The strongest casters should go. That would be me and Shiloh,” Brady said.
James frowned. “Uh. Hello. Witch here.”
Grayson frowned. “With the trap, he won’t have his magic. I don’t need to cast to use my sword.”
Before they could argue, he pushed past and headed for the plane. I followed on his heel.
“I’m coming too,” Javi insisted.
Brady, Shiloh, and James trailed him. Jesse was shielding Ash as another wave of magic ripped through the air. I glanced at Tío, who’d spotted us just as he launched another volley of what looked like grenades.
Voices and explosions erupted all around us. Tío met my eyes but turned back to the front line. There was no time to explain what we were doing. The GRIMM shields were shattering. Extraordinaire broke through their ranks. They needed help.
Turning back to my friends, I raced for the plane.
The roar of the jet engine filled my ears, drowning out everything. James and Brady had hijacked the plane for our own use, leaving only the pilot to get us up to Cassiano. I’d been in one plane before in my life—the one that brought me to Malibu, and now I was squatting in small jet along with my friends about to attack a floating wizard to end a war.
It was crazy and hard to believe I was living in reality at that point.
As we flew closer, Brady and James shot out their combined spell to break Cassiano’s shield. Though it didn’t crack, it did get his attention.
He opened his eyes and turned to face us. With a scowl he waved a hand toward us, knocking the plane back.
“Hold on,” Grayson yelled as the force of the wizard’s power sent us tumbling through the air. My stomach lurched.
“We have to get closer. I’m going out there. Cover me.” Grayson turned to Brady, his voice nearly drowned out by the plane.
“I’m coming too,” Javi and I spoke in unison.
We exchanged glances.
Brady spoke to the pilot. “Get us back up there,” he turned to us, “Shiloh, James, and I will cover you from here. Be careful.”
Be careful. The words made me scoff. What we were doing sounded like suicide. I could barely hol
d my shield long enough to get close to Cassiano, Grayson couldn’t cast, and Javi wasn’t the strongest caster either.
We were probably the worst choices of our group, but if we wanted to get him in the trap, we would have to rely on the stronger casters to keep us from falling out of the sky.
Pushing down the wave of panic, I nodded to the others and joined them at the door. My heart raced. Everything inside me screamed that this was crazy.
What if it didn’t work?
Grayson squeezed my hand, his eyes pinning me with their intensity. “This will work. We can do this.”
Though he meant to reassure me, I couldn’t fight the nausea rolling inside me or the doubt rising. We were just teens. Not heroes. Not even fully trained GRIMM. This wasn’t a movie or a story, this was real life, and it was terrifying.
“We’ll do it together. I’ll cloak the trap. You guys distract him while I set it up,” Javi yelled instructions to us.
He patted my shoulder, eyes meeting mine. “We got this.”
I nodded though deep down I didn’t share their confidence. But we had survived so far. One crazy thing after another. Maybe our luck hadn’t run out just yet.
“Go now. He’s distracted with the dragons.” Brady waved us closer to the door. Holding Grayson’s hand, I slowly made my way over. We’d strapped on parachute packs in the event that their hold on us broke and we dropped out of the sky. A very real scenario that I tried not to think too hard about. My stomach was already rolling.
Javi, Grayson, and I crept over to where Brady was. He smiled at us. “Alright, you guys. It’s all up to you, but you know, no pressure.”
Grayson slapped him on the shoulder. “Keep me up there, Brady.”
They shared a grim look. Shiloh hugged us, promising to watch out backs. Though James didn’t speak, his firm nod told me he would do his part to help. Which was another unbelievable part of the whole plan. James—the very witch who had tried to kill me before—was now on my side and using his magic to make sure I didn’t fall out of the sky.
Fighting every instinct I had to strap myself into the plane and forget the whole thing, I followed my cousin and Grayson. Brady threw the door open for us, air rushing in.
My heart slammed into my ribs. I shrank away from the edge, but before I could bolt, James lifted me off my feet and sent me tumbling forward first.
Fear shot through me as my body floated away from the plane. I didn’t dare look down. Javi and Grayson joined me in the air. In front of us, the dragons were circling the wizard, fire lashing toward him.
A part of me hoped they would finish him off before we could even get to him. Then we could go back and forget the whole suicidal mission. I didn’t want to face Cassiano again.
“I’ll set the trap. You guys distract him. Shiloh has me cloaked.” Javi’s voice rose above the sound of the plane and dragons.
“Of course, she does. Show off.” Grayson smiled.
Though I appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood, I couldn’t think about my friend and her amazing magic abilities in that moment. None of it would matter if the trap didn’t work.
Doubt filled my mind. What if the fairy had tricked us and we were basing our entire mission, all our hope, on a metallic piece of trash?
“Rose?” Grayson’s voice drew me out of my thoughts.
I turned him, head spinning as I glimpsed the ground below. I shoved down my fear. “Yes. I’m ready.”
Gripping my sword in one hand, I pushed forward. My stomach did flip flops as we glided in the air. For a moment, I was awe struck at the fact that we were practically flying. Flying. Never in a million years would I have thought it possible, but there we were, zooming through the sky like superheroes. I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream.
It was like every flying dream I’d ever had before. My body felt weightless, graceful, as I followed the others.
The dragons were moving away, giving up on the wizard and heading to the cliffs where the witches were launching attacks.
Cassiano turned to us.
Surprise flashed in his eyes as he spotted Grayson. “You? I thought you were dead.”
I glared at him, gripping my sword tightly. What he had done was unforgivable. Holding Grayson hostage and trying to make a guinea pig of him. I wasn’t sorry for what we were about to do.
Cassiano had chosen his side and we were choosing ours. The GRIMM weren’t completely innocent, I knew that, but at least they weren’t all monsters unlike the wizard and Luna Negra. Aside from a few of the witches like Jesse, Ash, and James, the rest of the coven deserved whatever end was coming for them.
They’d brought this war upon themselves.
My eyes darted to where Javi had been, but he was gone. The cloak. Trusting he knew what he was doing, I floated beside Grayson and confronted the wizard.
Shouts rang from the ground below. Hopefully, it was the GRIMM halting their attacks while we were up there. We didn’t have time to look.
Cassiano was staring us down. “How did you come back?”
His curiosity at Grayson’s resurrection was more of a distraction than we could have hoped for.
“Turn yourself in, Cassiano,” Grayson replied.
The wizard frowned. His eyes skipped to me. “Why would I do that when I have the upper hand? You can’t stop what’s already happened. I have worked too hard for too long to achieve what I have.”
“Too bad it was all for nothing.” I glared at him.
He raised his hand toward us.
“You made a mistake. You didn’t check all your surroundings, did you?”
He paused at my words. Slowly, realization spread across his face. Then anger. But it was too late. He’d already stepped into the trap.
Javi’s cloak dropped. The wizard wheeled, throwing a spell toward him, but Javi held the tin can up like a shield, his sword in the other hand.
Even with a barrier, the wizard’s magic barreled toward him, sending him flying back.
“Javi!” I reached out for him, but it happened too fast.
Shiloh’s hold on him broke. No.
I dove for him as he dropped. The parachute caught him before I could. Had someone pulled it for him? His head was slumped, and I couldn’t tell from the distance if he was okay.
“How?” Cassiano’s angry words caught my ear.
I turned to find him confronting Grayson. His hand was raised once more, but before he could cast again, the trap was there. Somehow, someone had kept it from falling along with Javi.
Shock flashed on the wizard’s face. I floated beside Grayson and watched, breathless, as Cassiano’s hands shriveled.
“What have you done?” His words were sharp and icy.
“I’m sorry. You gave us no other choice,” Grayson replied.
He was sorry? I glared at the wizard. Well, I wasn’t.
He’d made himself the enemy by helping the witches, holding Grayson hostage, and going after my friends and family.
I looked away as the magic tore through him. His pained screams were ear splitting. My stomach churned at the sound. I could hear skin being ripped from bone. Bile rose in my throat. I didn’t dare glance back, knowing full well, I’d never be able to unsee it.
Just the sound alone would leave me haunted, but no more haunted than I’d already been before. The tin can shook and disappeared in a cloud of shadow.
“Tell me that wasn’t shadow magic.”
Grayson frowned. “It was.”
I glanced at him. “Princess Maloret?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Dread filled me. “Does that mean that Cassiano is really gone, or did he just become her new prize for her collection?”
“I’m afraid to speculate.” His monotone answer made me groan.
“Rose.” Grayson reached for me and wrapped me in his arms.
Burying my head into his shoulder, I breathed in his scent and tried to block out the images of Cassiano. I couldn’t believe it. We�
��d won.
When the other agents had failed, my friends and I had won. Defeated the most powerful GRIMM. It almost felt too easy. How could a wizard who’d been in hiding for most of his life be so easily defeated by a group of students?
He couldn’t come back after that could he? Though Princess Maloret had brought Grayson back from death. I pushed away the thought. For now, it was enough.
Below us, agents cheered. The plane flew up to us and I was thankful to climb in and rejoin the others.
I turned to Shiloh. “Javi?”
Worry swam in her eyes. “He’s on the ground. I saw the parachute deploy so I think he’s okay.”
“Take us down,” Brady commanded the pilot.
Grayson handed me a water bottle which I took with a grateful smile. A tremor ran through me, my hands, and legs still shaky. I still couldn’t believe what we’d done. Cassiano, a wizard, was gone because of us.
The plane landed quickly, and we wasted no time in rejoining Tio and his team. Javi was passed out in the back of the armored car, but Jesse assured us that he would be okay. He just needed time to recover.
There was no time for the rest of us to rest because despite the wizard’s destruction, the fight was still raging on. Gearing back up, we readied ourselves to join the rest back on the lines.
My heart leapt to my throat. We were losing—badly. Even with the help of the fae. How in the Hell had we become so outnumbered and underpowered?
All around me barriers were broken, and agents fell. Yet, we kept fighting. Didn’t they see how pointless it was? Couldn’t they see we had already lost?
“Where the Hell are those reinforcements?” Grayson growled beside me.
“There are attacks all over the world. We’re stretched a little thin right now, but they’re… coming,” one of the lead agents answered as he sent an attack through our barrier.
Grayson and I looked at each other. The man’s hesitant words weren’t reassuring. Some of the GRIMM from the communications department had abandoned their posts to help fight, leaving the shielding dome under-manned. It was only a matter of time before they lost hold of their spell completely and the glamour blocking us from view of the ordinaire world went down.
