“Cece,” Sarah ground out, her hold on the student body waning, “today would be great…”
A cry from behind us sent me wheeling around to see Maddy holding up Rhys, his arm slung around her shoulder. Blood ran down his face and pooled at the collar of his shirt.
I grabbed Aidan’s arm. “Help them,” I yelled before shoving him aside and heading for the stairs. Then I turned to the blue dragon. “I need you to keep them inside. Can you do it?”
He gave another snort of annoyance before he and the others dove at the front steps of the school. The soft white of their underbellies grazed my teal hair as they swooped for the front doors just as Sarah’s power gave out and she crashed to her knees by my side. They banked hard at the last second and struck the mass of bodies with their tails, knocking them away from the doors—all except for one.
That lone figure stood glaring down at us.
Janie .
“You can’t keep me in here forever,” she said in that creepy voice that didn’t belong to a teenage girl.
“We came for the mini-wolf—and to bring your ass down,” I replied, feeling bold with my army of dragons hovering at my back.
She looked at my winged army and smiled wickedly. “I see that.” She took a step forward, one foot crossing the threshold.
Kimbra screamed at me in the distance. “You must kill the host to stop Hagan!”
Sarah dragged herself to her feet and raised her arm again. Janie stayed where she was, held in place by Sarah’s magic, but her gaze drifted past me to the others.
“You can’t stop me,” she said, slowly turning her empty eyes to Sarah, whose powers were fading. Then she looked at me. “Neither can you. Only your sister could end this, but she falters when it matters most. All that strength and power in a being without the confidence to do what needs to be done. It’s a shame, really. Too bad it wasn’t you, Celine. You could have been a fearsome thing. Instead, you’re nothing more than your sister’s sidekick. Cannon fodder for everyone around you.”
“You think so?” I asked, looking back at the big blue dragon. “Because this guy seems to think I’m pretty powerful. I freed him and his friends from Faerie. They answer to me now…”
“You think so?” she echoed, her smile widening. Then she raised her hands. The dragons all lifted into the air and froze, as though gravity no longer affected them. “These were my creatures,” she continued, “my creations. And I think you’ll find they’re excited to return to their master.”
Fear rocked me, and I looked up to find the big blue dragon looking back at me with vacant eyes. There was truth to Janie’s words. Shit was about to get real.
I snapped my attention back to her to find her holding my crystal ball, stroking it as I once had.
“I can’t hold her any longer,” Sarah ground out through gritted teeth.
We were officially out of time.
“I think I’ll kill your sister first,” she said, canting her head as she looked at Maddy in the distance. “I mean, she did kill this vessel first. It only seems fair.”
Anger bubbled up inside of me. “You won’t get the chance.”
Her eyes narrowed in challenge.
“Aidan!” I screamed as I raced up the stairs. “Gonna need that sword!”
He took one look at my outstretched hand and threw the weapon in a perfect arc. The hilt hit my palm and I gripped it tight, like I was about to hit a home run. “Nobody fucks with my little sister but me.” With my rage fueling me, I swung the blade at her throat and took her head off in one clean cut. For a second, it sat on top of her neck as though I hadn't just severed it. Then, in slow motion, it slipped to the side as her legs gave way and her body crashed to the ground. Her head rolled down the steps, and I swore everything around us stopped.
A swirling grey cloud erupted from her body straight up into the sky like a cyclone. The top bent like a periscope and pivoted, as though it were scanning the area. When it found what it was looking for, it paused, then shot forward, hurtling toward Kimbra.
“Look out!” I screamed, but she didn’t move. Instead, she spread her arms wide and threw her head back, her mouth open. The grey mass swarmed down her throat as her body convulsed, and everyone nearby backed away with a collective wariness that impaled me.
I felt the shimmer of magic blast out from her body like a shockwave right before she lifted her head to pin coal-black eyes on me. Eyes that were not her own.
“Thank you for releasing me from Wadsworth, Celine,” a male voice said as Kimbra cracked her neck to the side and rolled her shoulders. “I’d forgotten how much I love this body. I hated being separated from it for so long. It really does fit me well.”
Dumbstruck, I couldn’t move or speak. In some part of my mind, I understood what he was saying—comprehended the implications of his words—especially when combined with Kimbra’s. But I refused to acknowledge them because if I did, I would be acknowledging our part in what I feared was true.
Kimbra and Hagan had both played us all along, had used us to meet their ultimate goal: their reunion. Her reasons for hating the Council were glaringly apparent now. She’d said they had taken the thing she loved more than anything. She wanted revenge. But I’d never suspected that what she really wanted was to be reunited with the being trapped inside Wadsworth.
The one I’d just freed when I'd removed Janie’s head.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Cece
Everything stopped.
Everyone embroiled in the battle—or what remained of it—froze in place like statues, and I quickly scanned the yard to find that only my friends and my dragons could move. I wasn’t totally convinced that was a good thing.
Hagan grinned at me in delight from his new vessel as I swore under my breath. In the process of trying to keep things from getting worse, I'd done the complete opposite. The being that the Council and the royals of Faerie had feared enough to magically trap inside a building, at the cost of God only knew how many lives, had just been freed.
With the Council all but dead, recreating what they’d done seemed impossible. And since neither the fey nor the Council had just killed him before to be done with it, I had the sinking feeling that wasn’t even possible. I’d fucked up, big time.
My gaze drifted to Maddy, who stared back at me like she’d read my mind—like she already knew just how screwed we were.
“I have to thank you,” the Hagan-possessed body said, her voice distinctly not her own. “I went to great lengths to lead you to this point—to get you all to play your roles in my release.” The five of us shared a look, and Wolfy edged closer to Maddy’s ankles. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. You can’t possibly think that you managed all you did without help. Without—”
“Manipulation,” Maddy said, her tone as sharp as her narrowed eyes.
“If that’s what you wish to call it,” Hagan said with a shrug. He looked at Rhys, who still leaned on my sister for support. “Surely you don’t think that some of the doors in the building—but only some—just magically opened for you.” The distinct click of Rhys’s canines descending cut the silence. “Or that Aidan knew enough about how to escape to be dangerous, but wasn’t exactly right.” Aidan’s shoulders stiffened. “Your parents never expected you to leave Wadsworth,” he continued, “and in truth, I never would have let you, but I needed you to take Celine to Faerie.” Hagan’s borrowed lips spread into a disturbing smile as he looked to the dragons. “And you did. Your need for vengeance clouded your judgment. It was you I was most worried would figure it out, but your feelings for Celine proved the perfect distraction.” The being turned to look at me. “I can see why. It’s not just her beauty that’s appealing, but her aura. The empath I'd needed all along wandered through the front doors, just to save her sister—the malum . The dragon shifter lying in wait. It was all too perfect to be coincidence. It was a sign.”
“It was you all along,” I whispered, piecing it together. “You led us to the ball and used it to show us t
hings. Things you needed us to find—”
He let out a sigh. “That was a painful process, but yes, you finally figured out what you needed to do—after a fashion.”
“The night Cece destroyed the power source,” Maddy said, passing Rhys to Sarah so she could step closer to the being, “it was you that killed the headmaster and all the students—the staff, too.”
“I was hungry,” he replied unapologetically. “You try being all but starved for decades and see how you react.” That terrifying smile spread. “I imagine your response wouldn’t look much different, malum .”
“Why me?” Sarah called out as she supported Rhys. “Why did you let me live?”
I choked on the realization. “Because he knew you were Aidan’s ticket to Faerie.”
Hagan broke out into a slow clap that made me see red. “Bravo, Celine. And here I thought you were the dumb one in the crowd.” His head cocked to the side. “Too bad for you that you didn’t figure it all out sooner—before you killed the only supernaturals who knew how to contain me. Maybe then you wouldn’t have sealed your fate.”
With a flick of his wrist, Sarah launched into the air, choking in the same manner she inflicted upon others. Rhys, still standing but unstable on his feet, called the sentinels to attack Hagan. Aidan shot his black magic out to try to pull her down from her invisible noose, but it didn’t do any good. Her face grew redder by the second, and I wondered just how long she had before she would fall victim to the madman before us.
And who would be next.
“Maddy!” I shouted, and she nodded. That was the thing about sisters; you didn’t always need to speak to know what the other was thinking. Maybe our dragon connection didn’t hurt, either. Before I had the chance to say anything else, she jumped into the air, shifting at a speed unparalleled before, and shot through the air at Hagan like a dragon possessed.
I screamed for the others to follow her, to take up the fight alongside her, but none of them moved. Horror shot through me as they turned their heads to stare at Hagan. Then, as a group, they bowed their heads.
Shit .
The sentinel army surrounded him, but not one of them dared attack just yet. Power rolled off of him in waves, and it was all I could do to breathe under the weight of it. I bent over, clutching my chest as it seized so tightly that air couldn’t pass through. Wheezing for breath, I looked up to see if Maddy had attacked—or at least disabled him long enough for us to attack as a collective.
What I found scared the shit out of me.
Hagan stood, crystal orb in hand, staring at my sister’s beast and smiling.
“No,” I gasped, fighting against the crushing sensation in my chest.
“The fey girl was right about the ball,” he said as he stroked Maddy’s dragon snout. “It does answer only to its owner, and it does amplify their power. It worked for you because you have empath abilities, like me, but it will never recognize you as its master.” He glanced my way. “Just like the dragons won’t.”
“Maddy!” I screamed, but she didn’t even flinch. She just looked at Hagan while he petted her like a prized possession and continued to choke Sarah to death with her own power. I looked for Aidan and Rhys to find the latter crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from his throat, and the former trapped in a tangle of black tendrils constricting him so tightly that he, too, couldn’t breathe.
Somehow, Hagan was using their powers against them.
But not mine—not yet, anyway.
And it was in that moment, that narrow window, that I realized what I had to do, at any cost. I had no power against him—no way to kill him—but the others did, and if they banded together, I knew they could bring him down. They just needed the chance.
With that thought in mind, I bolted toward him on nearly silent feet as he stared into my sister’s dragon eyes like he’d already won. Like he’d already beaten us. He thought I was stupid and weak; not enough of a threat to worry about turning his back on. He hadn’t banked on my temper—or the gnarly flying head kick headed his way.
I launched into the air just as he looked back at me, dark eyes swirling with fire. Leg extended, I plowed into his back, knocking him to the ground—and the orb from his hands. I crashed to the ground at his side and scrambled for the magic ball. I couldn’t let him have it again, no matter what.
My fingers reached for the smooth glass surface, nearly grazing it, when pain lanced through my body, reducing me to a screaming ball on the ground. Writhing in agony, I could barely see him as he stood over me, smiling like a psychopath.
“So close, witch, but it seems you still don’t see.” He leaned in closer. “There is no way to beat me.”
With a flick of his wrist, my body went ramrod-straight as fire and ice razored through me. My deafening screams were the soundtrack to my torture until my final breath escaped me, and everything went black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Maddy
Mesmerized, I barely noticed anything other than Hagan’s eyes. They stared into mine, pulling at the part of me I shared with no one else. It was his. I accepted that. I belonged to him, as did the other dragons. We had since the beginning of time, and so it would be for eternity.
You are mine, he seemed to say, and I nodded. He was right. We were silly not to have seen this all along. Cece’s dragons—me—we all served him.
I watched passively as Cece plowed into him. I should tell her not to bother, that it was easier to give in.
He grunted, and his hand left my snout. As he tumbled to the ground, I blinked, trying to find...something inside me. I needed it, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
What was I trying to do here? Wadsworth loomed behind him, and at the window stood the lost souls of all the students who’d died to contain Hagan’s power. They stared out at us. Watched us. They were trapped here forever, and—
A gleaming ball burst from his hands and rolled along the ground while he scrambled after it. I didn’t want him to grab it, but I couldn’t figure out why.
Ball…ball… Why should I care about the ball?
Cece seemed to know. She dove toward it, but when her hand skimmed along the surface, she cried out in pain. Hagan rose and loomed above her, taunting her.
My other friends were immobilized, watching in horror as everything unfolded.
Hagan’s arm lifted and magic arced Cece’s way. She shrieked when it hit her, and his cackle raked down my spine with the force of a thousand claws. Her peal of agony cut through me. It jolted the life force connecting me to the person I’d loved from the moment I’d met her. Cece had been my best friend, my confidant, the person I’d trusted more than any other. And now she was in pain, pain caused by this evil man.
Aidan groaned, and one of his feet lifted with a jerk and dropped forward, as if he were mired in quicksand.
I couldn’t stand watching my sister suffer. If I did nothing else, I had to help her.
Her scream burst from her throat, slicing at something inside me. A tie to…
Him.
Aidan bellowed and shifted closer, still moving as if stuck in mud.
A growl ripped from my throat, fueled by the rage of a thousand dragons. He thought he could control the world. Control us. But he was wrong. And he would pay.
I would not let him hurt my sister!
I was convinced that my dad had been murdered because of this entity. I’d lost the chance to ever build something meaningful with my father because of this man’s greed, his need for power. I would not lose my sister, too.
She lay still, her eyes glazed and unfocused. Seeing her close to death nearly killed me, but it also fueled my rage. We were just a bunch of kids with a hodgepodge of magical skills and no real power on our own to do more than stir up trouble. None of us possessed what was needed to destroy what we’d unleashed. But together, we might stand a chance.
He stood over her, his hands lifted to end her precious life. The band connecting me to the man—the one that my sister’s sc
ream had partially unraveled—hung by a bare thread. Fury rose inside me like a tidal wave. Then that wave of rage crested, snapping the tether and releasing me. Releasing all of us.
Sarah, trapped in a magical noose, struck out with magic and sliced her way free. She dropped to the ground in a crouch, then ran toward us.
His face creased with agony, Aidan fell to his knees beside Cece. His hand stroked her forehead.
Hagan had done this. He. Would. Pay.
Tipping my head back, I roared, blasting the air with power. This man would not bind me, or anyone else, ever again.
“Yes!” Rhys yelled, running toward us, still bleeding.
Snarling, I stomped toward my sister. Toward him . Fear flickered in his eyes, but it was too late. We might have unleashed him, but his actions had freed me.
Hagan scanned the yard for something, then darted toward what he’d found. He snatched Rhys’s sword off the ground and pointed it toward me.
Aidan rose and backed away from Cece.
Let’s end this , I cried in my mind, shouting to the dragons. Around us, magic blasted through the air as the sentinels fought, and they turned as if I’d called them, too.
Wolfy hovered nearby, his little body quaking. Yes, Maddy. This. I can help. He dashed toward Hagan and bit the man’s leg. While he wrestled with Wolfy, the sword winked, teasing...no, hinting at something. I shook my head and blasted my fiery frustration into the sky.
Rhys joined me. Aidan bellowed with rage and leaped toward Hagan, but he blasted Aidan with power, shooting him backward. Sarah pinned the man with her gaze, and I was suddenly grateful she was on our team, not his.
Hagan shot power at me, but it soared off of me in broad arcs.
Fury rushed through me, feeding my witch. I was not two separate entities; we all lived inside me. I could channel them both. You are going to pay !
“I’m with you,” Aidan bellowed, but I didn’t spare him a glance. He dropped down beside my sister while she gasped. He’d protect her with his life.
Rogue Reformatory: Breakout (Supernatural Misfits Academy Book 3) Page 19
