My breath sucked in sharply. Her death threat had taken it to the farthest level and my defense against her shifted to a higher level.
I needed to destroy her. She'd left me no option.
And doing it in front of all the students and faculty of Hazeldene was going to get me blackballed and kicked out for sure.
None of it mattered now though. We were in danger and sadness brewed within me for all that would be lost.
Then, catching glimpse of Clayton's rising angst, a new energy grew within me. One that turned my thoughts to one thing only. Ending the banshee with him.
But she was fast.
I was lucky Clayton could see her too.
Anyone else would miss her presence entirely, unless they knew what they were looking for.
As Clayton fought to control his eruption into the wild beast, the pain in his eyes proved it was too late. He knew the banshee wouldn't stop her attack until I was broken. And he wasn't going to watch it happen.
And that was the moment his shoulders tore out of his jacket. Like a beast of hell, his dark muscles bulged as he bared his fangs that glowed bright. His face transformed into wolf-like features and tribal tattoos trailed down the side of his face and neck. He swung his head from side to side, evaluating his surroundings, choosing his target.
Graney Greta blew the whistle, but its sound was lost in the chaos, as everyone stood and started shouting. The Higher Order had left their box, bounding toward us, but the distance was too great to make any difference.
Clayton's bloodshot eyes shot to Josie as he took on the soulless glare of a wild animal. There was no trace of him in his face anymore, and whatever had taken him over looked like it was capable of ripping apart whatever it touched.
"Piper, please," I cried, reaching to her and Noah again.
This time, without hesitation, Noah stepped out of his ring.
Graney Greta blew the whistle again, making any attempt at regaining order, but that didn't stop him.
Noah moved closer to Piper and held his hands over hers. His eyes rolled up as he shuddered with every ounce of energy he had.
Almost immediately, I tasted death. The foulness of the rotting banshee. Then the smell. It wasn't just the smell of dead decay, but sickening burning death. A gruesome death of a hundred suffering souls.
It was Noah's gift.
He had the ability to taste and smell the spirit world, and suddenly, I could too.
"It's working, Noah," I cried.
Piper's eyes burst wide as she pulled his energy through her hands and shot it toward me. The two of them combined into a force that nearly knocked me off my feet. Purple sparks shot from my palms, and I turned to Clayton in excitement, ready to pull his raging ferocity out of his body with my awakened element.
But it was too late.
He'd transformed completely into the fullest form of the beast, and steadied himself into an aggressive pouncing stance. His black skin glistened with sweat as his enormous muscles rippled in twitching attack-mode.
My voice swelled in my throat, readying a scream to distract him, when Josie caught my eye.
Her panic from the sight of Clayton washed terror across her face. She glanced nervously toward a figure sitting in the bleachers. Staring at the hooded person, she narrowed her eyes as if waiting for instruction. The hooded stranger gave a nod, and Josie shot her gaze directly on me. Flames grew in her eyes as cried out, "The curse of the banshee is upon her!"
The students in the bleachers froze from Josie's words. Being cursed was one of the most feared conditions at Hazeldene and was enough to make one permanently untouchable. Even with the shock of the beast on the field, the students twitched nervously from the idea of a curse on the loose.
And with that final attack from Josie, Clayton let out a fierce growl that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and he reeled back, launching himself at her. I screamed, just as his feet lifted from the ground.
His determination to break her connection with the banshee set him into motion that he might not be able to control. It was every reason why he hid the beast for so long. It was too dangerous and unpredictable.
Reaching for him, I used my growing purple flame to suck the energy from him. I consumed it voraciously, burning his rage like combustible fuel. I absorbed it into my furnace generating more power within my core than I'd ever felt before.
As he sailed through the air in full attack, his enormous girth shuddered from my sudden draining of his frantic energy. In a surge of twitches, he broke his form in mid-air and fell to the ground. Without hesitation, he attempted to get up and continue his attack. But his muscles were unsteady and his body quaked in readjustment. As steam rose from his furnace-like skin, his form grew hazy in the mist and as it cleared, he remained down on one knee, having returned to his normal self.
Josie had stumbled back from the threat of his attack, and shook with the fear of coming so close to a threatening beast. She quickly shifted her terror to a dramatic response of having been disrespected and offended. Her lips curled in disgust of Clayton's loathsome shift and she turned her back on him.
Her manipulative attempt at making him look like a freak literally added fuel to my fire, and my flames grew higher. Churning balls of purple grew in my hands, and as Josie held her judging gaze on me, I turned and fired at the careening black cloak that still threatened to smother me.
Fireballs blasted from my hands in a continuous stream and I directed them at her imposing demon-like form. As the banshee's eyes penetrated my soul, she continued to send pain and suffering into me.
And then my fiery assault struck her.
The spray of fireballs knocked her back, striking her over and over.
Her cloak lit up in purple flame as her wretched, bony arms flailed above her head.
With a screech that could wake the dead, the banshee retreated in pain, and then its wail shifted and the sound traveled into the bleachers.
The cloaked stranger stood, and her hood fell from her head as she reeled back in pain. It was as if she'd been struck by my fireballs instead of the banshee.
Although my flames had been shot in the opposite direction, the stranger screamed out as if on fire. Her arms flew over her head for protection, and everyone stared as she reacted to her invisible attack.
I looked back for any sign of the banshee, but she had vanished. Only black wisps of smoke remained where she had been. Now, it was the stranger who took on the essence of the banshee. They were connected.
Josie covered her open mouth with her hands, shocked by the crazed spectacle of her accomplice. And instead of running to help her, she turned away as if they were strangers.
With a gasp, Piper called out, "It's Miss Rosco. The woman from the town. She's a spy."
All eyes fell on her, knowing that she had insidious plans to ruin Hazeldene, one way or another. Her accreditation evaluation process was just the newest scheme in trying to shut us down.
And now, everyone knew Josie was conspiring with the enemy.
Josie retreated as all eyes moved to her. And then she screamed, "Laney, get out of here!"
But before Laney could escape and take their secrets with her, Hannah Luna and two other faculty members surrounded her.
Josie spun around, not knowing what to do. In desperation, she called out to Troy and Liam.
"Do something, you idiots! Don't just stand there!"
They'd been so awestruck by Clayton's unexpected transformation, they continued to stand shell-shocked within their rings.
Troy then took a step out of his ring, preparing to defend Josie. He stepped closer to her, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, waiting like a loyal soldier for her next command.
As she called him closer, she gazed deeply into his eyes, and I knew immediately she was hypnotizing him to do as she pleased. His blank stare proved his susceptibility to her power, as well as his weak-minded tendencies. And the last thing we needed was a puppet carrying out her will.
&n
bsp; So, I turned on him.
I shot a wall of purple flames between them, to separate him from Josie.
He jumped back as the heat and brightness shocked him. Reaching to touch it with his finger, he recoiled again, knowing there was no passing through without being incinerated.
With the same curtain-like fire, only dulled in its intensity, I surrounded Clayton and pulled him toward me, moving us closer to Piper and Noah. The four of us pulled together inside my ring, huddled closely. The thin veil of flame moved around our group and flickered all around us, keeping us within its safety.
"We're okay," I said, letting out a huge breath. "We'll protect you, Clayton."
We knew he'd be Josie's next target now. And everyone else's for that matter.
"We got you, man," Noah said, recognizing that Clayton was instrumental in saving my life from the attack of the banshee.
Clayton panted, speechless, but his quaking body leaned into us, proving he accepted our friendship and was one of us.
Our coven was strong. It was powerful.
No one could break us apart now.
Except maybe the rules of the Higher Order of Hazeldene.
And that was when my attention shifted outside of our circle, and I listened to what was happening among the faculty and in the bleachers.
Either we were about to be expelled, or maybe even arrested. I couldn't tell at first.
The roars from the bleachers clouded every other sound from my ears. And then I focused more intently on the shouts from the crowd.
It wasn't filled with fear or judgment.
It was filled with raucous cheering.
Filled with wild excitement.
And filled with the chanting of our names.
I stared wide-eyed into their faces—Piper, Noah, and Clayton. The four of us were a spectacle to be seen. We'd just upset the trials to the point of no return. Such mayhem had never occurred before at Hazeldene, and I had no idea what the consequences might be.
"Shaye!" Hattie's voice broke through our firewall.
"Clayton! That was awesome!" Asher shouted as well.
I reached my arms through the purple curtain of rising fire, and pulled them in safely.
"Whoa," Asher gushed, looking at the flames all around us, wondering why he hadn't been burned.
My control of my flame was strong now. It obeyed my every command.
And now the six of us were together. The Mystic Coven.
Everything outside of our flaming enclosure appeared purple and a million miles away.
"Are you okay?" Hattie asked, touching my hand. "Did she hurt you?" Her face grimaced as she sensed the discomfort that still resonated through my body.
The banshee had hurt me. It was pain and suffering that I never knew could exist. The hurt was so unworldly, it made my heart ache the most. How anyone could cause that kind of attack on another person was unbelievable to me. And the worst part of it was the fact that I knew I was only feeling a residual replay of such torture. I knew deep in my soul that that kind of suffering had been real—inflicted, at some point in time, on others.
"She tried to hurt me," I said, allowing Hattie to pull some of the pain out of me. "I didn't know why at first."
"Because of Josie," Asher spat. "She did that to you."
I nodded. "I know. But it was also the woman in the bleachers..."
"The one with the hood!" Hattie shot.
"Right. She was controlling the banshee through Josie." I hesitated. "She's the one I truly need to fear."
Everyone fell silent with that thought.
Then Hattie squirmed her way out of the center of our huddle and stood at the edge of the ring.
"Everyone, hold hands," she said. "Create a locked circle."
We stood close together, remaining inside the boundaries of my hoop, and held hands.
As soon as our circle was connected, a rush of energy moved through it. The surge swept my pain out of my body, and I watched as each member of my coven felt it. Their faces grimaced, one at a time, as it moved through the circle. Noah coughed as it passed through him. Piper winced. As it made its way back around, it jolted through Clayton without causing any reaction, but when it hit Asher, he cried out.
Hattie squeezed her hand tighter on his, giving him immediate relief, and then, as I braced myself for the pain to return to me through her, it never did. She released it into the rising flames above us, and we all relaxed as it spread to the sky in a burst of silver smoke.
As we continued holding hands, the energy between us moved faster and stronger, tightening our bond to each other.
Noah and Piper smiled, feeling the connection more than ever before.
"Noah," I said.
I couldn't find words to express my gratitude. He'd pushed himself to the point where he exposed his gifts, allowing them to join with Piper's. If it weren't for that effort, I wouldn't have been able to get my fire started.
"You were amazing," I murmured.
He grinned.
"I know."
His feigned arrogance was new, and I didn't mind it. He deserved a moment to feel confident about his abilities.
"Thank you. Both of you."
I watched as Piper squeezed his hand, and a jab of jealousy of their new closeness hit my gut.
Then I turned my attention to Clayton.
His silence and lined brow gave away his intense level of worry. With ripped clothes and deep regret oozing from every muscle, his condition proved he was a wreck.
Piper glanced at me and then at Clayton. Her lips pressed to the side as she urged me to say something.
My words caught in my throat. His actions had taken me by surprise. There was no way I could have been prepared for his defending me like that. I'd spent the past day convinced he'd betrayed me. I'd been such a fool.
Instead, he'd sacrificed everything to protect me.
And now his whole world was shattered and upside down.
"Clayton, I..."
And before the words could form properly, a voice erupted from outside of our fiery sanctuary.
"Take down your fire, Shaye," Chancellor Kelly demanded.
The sound of Chancellor Kelly's commanding voice made me drop my fire power instantly. The wall of purple flames collapsed around us, leaving sparks and lavender ash floating in the air.
Exposed now, I shot my attention to Josie's location to be sure she wasn't planning another attack. I struggled to see past Graney Greta and her assistants as they corralled Josie, Troy, and Liam. The officials moved the three off to the sidelines as they resisted with flinching shoulders and judging glares.
I focused back on Chancellor Kelly and swallowed my pride.
"I'm sorry we ruined the games," I said.
"Ruined?" she huffed. "No, Shaye. You and your coven gave the finest display Hazeldene has ever seen."
My jaw dropped along with the others.
She continued, "The bravery we saw today..." She glanced at Clayton. "And the loyalty to each other, was beyond anything we could have trained you for. Your coven has achieved a higher level. One we've only witnessed once before in the history of the academy. And it is to be celebrated."
She lifted the microphone and turned to the crowd.
They silenced immediately, waiting for her next words.
"Esteemed faculty of Hazeldene House. Gifted students. I'd like to present to you the chosen Ambassadors of the Fire Festival." She waved her hand across all of us.
Our jaws dropped from the sudden change of events.
We'd thought punishment was in our futures, but instead, Chancellor Kelly saw the true nature of what had occurred.
Piper bounced in her heels, as Asher and Hattie grabbed each other’s arms and swung around.
I continued to stare in shock at the chancellor. Having my coven be recognized formally as ambassadors was an unexpected shock to my system. It was the most wonderful outcome I could have ever wished for.
"And as I'm sure you are all anti
cipating," Chancellor Kelly continued, "I'd like to announce our new Marshall."
My eyebrows pulled together.
How was it even possible for her to be able to select one person at this point. We'd all used our skills together. Without each other, we would have failed.
"A graduate who has risen above controversy. Faced adversity. Remained loyal to her peers and students. All while practicing control over her fire element. The most difficult element to master."
I swallowed hard.
It was unbelievable.
"We all witnessed it today. The use of a destructive power, turned into one of safety and sanctuary. The likes we've never seen before."
She paused and waved me over.
"I'd like to introduce the Marshall of the Fire Festival. Mentor Shaye Murphy."
Everything blurred into a roar of applause, mixed with embarrassment and shock.
I couldn't believe it.
It seemed that as soon as I forgot about wanting to be marshall, everything fell into place. I'd trusted my instincts and used my power to do what was right.
Piper hugged me as the others surrounded us.
"Well done, Shaye," Noah said, bumping his fist into my arm.
Clayton stayed back, doing his best to avoid any additional attention.
As the students began emptying from the bleachers, the faculty directed them away from us and toward the tables where they could play with the trinkets we'd demonstrated earlier.
Through all the excitement, we moved off to the side of the field on our own.
"I can't believe you were named Marshall, Shaye," Asher gushed. "I knew you could do it." His proud smile radiated from his face.
I huffed. "Thanks Asher. I'm a little shocked, actually."
"Well, you shouldn't be," Hattie said. "You were amazing."
I smiled, trying hard to remember the details of what happened, but the rush of adrenaline and fear in the moment churned it all into a blur.
Hattie and Asher turned to Piper and Noah then.
"You guys made your power work together," Asher said. "Just in time."
And as they chattered about the course of events that came together so perfectly, I stepped over to Clayton.
Mystic Coven: Fire Festival (Supernatural Academy Graduates Book 1) Page 15
