Joseph reached into Lennox’s jacket pocket…and pulled out her wand. Then grabbed her by the throat and threw her aside. She crashed to the ground in a lifeless ball.
NOOOO!!! I screamed, but no noise came out. LENNOX!!
Joseph threw his head back and cackled. He then stepped to the center of the pentacle and held his hands out wide. “My people…drink. Then let us have our vengeance on Eden this night.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
WARNER
I wanted to die.
That way I wouldn’t have to watch what was about to happen. My friends wouldn’t see me and know I’d failed them. It was the most cowardly thought I’d ever had, but I didn’t want to watch my friends die because I made a mistake.
One mistake that led to many.
Because it was my blood Joseph used in that dark magic spell. My blood that gave Joseph his corporeal form. My blood that raised a shadow army.
An army that was marching on Eden for a surprise attack.
There had to be a hundred of them.
There weren’t even two dozen Coven members.
They were about to be overpowered, and it was my fault.
I knew The Coven was strong and scary powerful…but I also knew there was something not quite human about Joseph and his people. I knew that one normal human-sized man was carrying me draped in his arms like I weighed no more than a blanket. I was only a few pounds short of two hundred. I was not lightweight, but I wasn’t even a struggle for the shadow-man. The Coven didn’t know what was coming for them.
I craned my neck around to check on Lennox. Another huge shadow-man was carrying her, except she was unconscious. Or at least I prayed she was just unconscious. I hated the way her head and arms bobbed around as he walked. Behind her, the woman, the little dark-haired girl, and my classmate were being carried along. None of them moved. Their skin had turned a sickening gray color. My stomach turned.
I needed a plan. I needed to figure out how to help…but my mouth was covered by some magical tape. My wrists and ankles were bound by an invisible force, and no matter how hard I thrashed, it didn’t budge.
The shadows slowed to a stop. I frowned and turned my head to look in front of me.
Joseph strolled forward then stopped just before the gate into Eden. He turned to face us and held his arms out to the side. “I know we’ve all waited a long time for this. But tonight, we take back what was taken from us. Tonight, we make them feel our pain. Tonight…vengeance is ours.”
The shadows cheered and roared. The trees swayed around us.
My heart sank.
Joseph reached over his head and unsheathed two long swords from the holsters on his back. He twirled them around and glared at his people. “We’ve trained you for this moment. Now’s our time.”
I heard the slide of metal all around me. My stomach tossed and turned like the ocean in a hurricane. I looked over the shadow-man’s arm to Lennox and hissed, but she didn’t open her eyes. I needed her. She was the only person capable of getting some kind of warning to Eden. All I had was a sword and some kung fu. Even if I wasn’t magically bound, I wouldn’t be much good against all of these shadows. I couldn’t even yell for help.
Joseph pointed to the gate. “My child, draw the rune and free us.”
That little blonde brat skipped up to her father. He handed her Lennox’s wand then stepped to the side and let her pass. She gripped the wand in one hand and pulled the gate open with the other. Then she crouched down in her little white fluffy dress and drew the rune Lennox showed them with her own wand into the dark soil. It glittered and glowed a bright gold, and then the air shimmered.
Joseph grinned...and walked through the gate.
Goddess, please. Please, I beg you to warn them. Give them some kind of sign. Please.
As the hulking shadow-man carrying me marched through the gate, I fought every urge to close my eyes and not watch. At least with my eyes open I might be able to see something to help…how? I had no idea. But I had to hope for something.
But as we stepped inside Eden, all of the hope left inside me vanished.
It was dark.
And quiet.
There wasn’t a single soul in sight.
“Child, what time is it here?”
“Just after eight at night, Father. But the school is on lockdown, so they’re all inside.”
He chuckled and it made my skin crawl. “Excellent. They won’t see us coming, then.”
Oh, Goddess.
NO! I tried to scream, but nothing came out. My lips didn’t even move. Why didn’t I learn more spells? Why did I think I was so safe with my weapons? I looked around campus as we marched toward the courtyard. Headquarters was on the back of campus. I didn’t know how many students would fall before they even heard the commotion.
The shadow army moved in eerie silence. Not even their footsteps made a sound.
Bile rose in my throat, but my binding kept that inside too. I didn’t understand why they kept me alive and awake. Was there some further purpose for me, or was this just for torture?
I kept glancing around, scanning the edges of the courtyard for any sign of life, but there was nothing. Not even an animal. We were alone. Whatever form this attack was about to take, it wasn’t expected or anticipated. This was going to be a blood bath.
And I was helpless to watch it.
Joseph led his army to the center of the courtyard, just as Lennox had instructed. Then he gestured for his daughter. “Child, draw the final rune. Then we attack Coven Headquarters first. Without them, the school and Eden will fall to us easily.”
The daughter crouched down and used Lennox’s wand to draw the same rune into the soil. Except this time…nothing happened. We were met by more silence.
Joseph frowned. “Draw it again,” he snapped.
“I drew it the same way as before, Father,” she whined.
An evil, feminine laugh ripped through the silence. It echoed around the courtyard.
Joseph and his army jumped and spun in circles in search of the source.
“What did you draw?” Joseph bellowed to his daughter.
The little girl’s face paled, and she shook her head. “The same thing!”
Bright blue light flashed all around us…and then I saw them.
The Coven.
They were spread out around the courtyard with their magic coiling in their hands and weapons strapped to their bodies. Rainbow mist wrapped all the way around the perimeter of the courtyard, standing between The Coven members and the shadows.
HOLY SHIT, IT WAS AN ILLUSION!
That laughing was Tegan. She held her stomach and laughed with full abandon. Her green eyes sparkled like the North Star.
Joseph gasped and moved closer to the other shadows. “Pull back!”
Willow wiggled her fingers from where she stood just beside Tegan—and then they were all gone again. We were alone in the courtyard once more. The school drenched in darkness and silence.
The shadow army hissed and spun around.
“What’s happening?”
“Where’d they go?”
“What was that?”
“Your worst nightmare.” Tegan’s voice rang through the silence.
That blue light flashed again, and then The Coven was back.
The shadow-man holding Lennox screamed. Lennox jumped right out of his arms. She dropped down and swung her leg, sweeping his feet out from under him. Then she pulled a wand out of her boot and slammed the tip of it in the ground. Golden flames exploded out of it, and two dozen shadow-men collapsed. She leapt over a few of their bodies then drew a glittering orange rune in the air.
Lennox spun to face Joseph and his daughter with a grin. “You can keep that wand. It’s just a toy. But thanks for playing.”
Joseph’s face turned blood red. “RETREAT!”
The shadow-army gasped and jumped. They patted their bodies and looked to each other with wide eyes. My pulse skyrocketed. They were s
tuck. They couldn’t turn back to shadows and smoke. She’d trapped them. Shadow-men turned and sprinted back the way we’d come in, but they slammed into an invisible wall and they burned to ash.
Joseph screamed something, but I wasn’t listening. My heart was pounding too hard. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. They’d set him up. They’d trapped him right in the middle of the courtyard then sat and waited.
Lennox turned and sprinted across the courtyard then leapt through the invisible wall. Emersyn moved to stand beside her. The Empress curled her wrists, and bright orange flames filled her palms. Her golden eyes twinkled with a devilish light. She gave a deadly smirk then fired fire balls into the shadow army.
The shadow-man holding me cursed and threw me down. I hit the ground with a thud, and my bones cracked. I groaned and rolled over. When I was facing up again, I saw the shadows racing toward Emersyn.
Thunder rolled over our heads, and giant bolts of lightning shot out of the dark sky and struck over and over. Each shadow burst into smoke then vanished. I craned my neck and looked behind me. Tegan stood in front of the others with her arms out to the sides and lightning dancing in her palms. Her entire body glowed like a supernova…and she was grinning.
“NOW!” Tennessee shouted, and his body lit up as bright as Tegan’s. He charged into the clearing and then disappeared.
I turned and tried to watch for him, but all I saw were flashes of white and then puffs of smoke. Red lightning flashed through the army, but it didn’t move like normal lightning. It curled around and over people.
One of the shadows swung his sword down right at the unconscious woman’s neck, but thick brown vines shot up out of the ground and wrapped around her. His blade hit the vine then cracked into two pieces. He cursed and leapt back. But then he pulled a dagger from his thigh holster and moved for the little girl, but she’d been covered in metal body armor.
HOLYSHITHOLYSHIT.
Something grabbed my arm and I flinched—
“It’s ME,” Jackson screamed over the battle happening around us.
I sighed so hard my ribs almost cracked.
“Are you hurt? You’re not moving—” His eyes widened. He cursed and dropped his sword. “Let me see if I can get these spells off of you.”
Bettina slid in beside him. But she didn’t look at me. She picked up Jackson’s sword and slammed it into his chest. “GET THE HELL OUT HERE!”
“I have to help Warner!”
Bettina shoved him so hard he actually flew back. “No, YOU don’t! I got him. You go kill shadows! GO!”
He blinked then jumped up and sprinted off.
I like her.
“Bloody moron sometimes.” Bettina shook her head and finally turned to me. “Is your mouth bound, too?”
I nodded.
She frowned and bit her lip. Then she held both of her hands over my mouth…and a rush of warm energy hit my face.
She held it there for a few seconds then pulled back. “Now?”
I opened my mouth—and coughed. I couldn’t get any words out, so I just nodded.
“Good.” She smiled and lifted her sword in the air over her head then slammed the fire opal blade into the ground next to my head. Pink mist exploded all around us. “Now watch my back while I try to get you free.”
“Girl, what the hell did you just do?”
She chuckled. “Honestly, I have no idea, but it worked before. Just tell me if anyone gets through.”
I opened my mouth to ask what she meant by that when one of the shadows came running right for us. He was looking over his shoulder then slammed into a wall of pink mist. He was thrown twenty feet back.
“YESSSSS, girl.”
Pressure hit my hands, but when I looked down, it was only Bettina’s pink magic. My heart fluttered. I hadn’t even realized she’d gotten magic. Sure, I’d seen her fighting when they rescued me, but it was chaos and I wasn’t in my right mind, so I must’ve missed it. I didn’t now.
Bettina closed her eyes and whispered words that sounded like a spell, but it wasn’t one I’d ever heard.
Movement behind her caught my eye. When I looked, my heart leapt up my throat. An ocean swept across the courtyard then turned and wrapped around Tegan’s feet. She held her palm out, and the water disappeared within her. She threw her other hand up, and rainbow magic shot out of her palm. Her long black hair whipped around her…and then I noticed she was floating off the ground.
There was a pop, and then the pressure on my hands disappeared.
I gasped and pulled my arms up. I was free, and there wasn’t a scratch on me. “Girl, what did you do?”
“I really have no idea,” she said in a rush. “It just keeps working.”
I laughed. “Then damn, keep doing it.”
Bettina’s cheeks flushed as she moved down to work on the bindings around my ankles. “That’s what Tegan keeps telling me.”
“Well, she would— Whoa, watch—”
Tennessee jumped through Bettina’s pink forcefield then jumped right through the other side, like it wasn’t even there at all.
“Never mind.”
“I don’t know how he does that, either,” Bettina mumbled. She rubbed her hands together then gripped my ankles and chanted the same spell she’d just used on my hands.
The ground rumbled under us like an earthquake, and then something exploded. The sound was muffled by Bettina’s magic, but the explosion of flames and dirt was vividly clear. Willow and Chutney flew into the air. They screamed but kept firing their magic into the battle. Water bubbles floated into the air right in front of us. They swirled together, and then it was Tegan standing there. She threw her hands up, and the two girls froze far above our heads. Tegan slowly lowered her arms, and they lowered with her. I blinked and then they were on their feet next to Tegan.
Without another word, the three of them took off for the fight, then disappeared around shadows and pillars of smoke. I wanted to get in there. I wanted to fight. I wanted to do my part to make up for my mistakes.
There was a pop, and then my feet were free.
Bettina jumped up and picked up a random dagger on the ground then handed it to me. “Wanna join them?” She plucked her sword from the ground, and her pink forcefield dropped.
I took the dagger and climbed to my feet. “Hell yeah, I do.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
JACKSON
“FATHER!”
I turned toward the sound of a little girl’s voice then spotted her at the edge of the courtyard. She waved for Joseph. I followed her gaze until I found him running toward her.
I don’t bloody think so, mate.
Shadows were disappearing left and right, but I ignored them. My Coven-mates were a force to be reckoned with, and they had it under control. I had my sights on Joseph. I sprinted across the courtyard and tackled him to the ground. We rolled a few times then were thrown a few feet away from each other.
But I was between him and his demon-spawn daughter.
I jumped to my feet then charged at him. But he was no rubbish fighter. His blade met mine mid swing…and then my body fell into a familiar rhythm. I swung my sword right at his face then spun in a circle and back-kicked him in the jaw. He flew back and flipped feet over head. I pounced with my sword raised over my head and the tip of my blade aimed right for his throat.
Water splashed onto his face—and he vanished into a cloud of black smoke.
I cursed and spun around just in time to watch that black shadow wrap around the little girl and disappear from sight. I screamed a string of obscenities I’d never spoken and turned back to face the fight, wanting to take my anger out on something else…but the fight was over.
I gasped. “What? Where’d they go?”
Everyone frowned and looked around the clearing in confusion. No one lowered their weapons like they didn’t trust it was over.
Tennessee sighed. “It’s over.”
Royce scratched his head. “Did they die?”
“We won this battle tonight,” Tennessee said in a low, menacing voice. “But the war is far from over.”
We all fell into silence, staring at the edge of the Old Lands.
Then Deacon burst into laughter so hard he actually bent over and braced himself on his knees.
I frowned. “What’s so funny, mate?”
“‘I wanna try something,’ she said.” Deacon shook his head, still laughing. “So devious. Goddess, I love when you do shit like that.”
There was a beat of silence, and then everyone joined in his laughter.
Tennessee raised his right arm, and the air pulsed. His sword flew toward him…carrying Tegan with it. Her pale hands were around the hilt, but her knees were dragging along the ground. He caught the sword by the blade with wide eyes.
Tegan grinned up at him, still holding the hilt. “I found your sword, babe.”
He chuckled and shook his head, then hoisted her back onto her feet. “What the hell happened tonight, babe?”
“She wanted to try something,” Royce said, still laughing.
Everyone turned to Tegan and she shrugged. They were right—that was all she had said when we left Headquarters hours ago. She hadn’t told us what she wanted to try; she’d just told us to come with. We’d ensured the students were all in their dorms, then we took position around the courtyard as she’d instructed. When we’d asked what we were doing, she told us to trust her.
I’d been the only one who seemed hesitant to do so. Everyone else just went with it.
But I was new here.
And from now on, I’d blindly trust her as they did. Because that was epic.
Cooper shook his head. “Why the big secret? Why not just tell us the plan?”
“Why don’t you just start from the beginning of this plan?” Hunter said to his daughter and arched one blond eyebrow.
Tegan pursed her lips and shrugged. “Listen, I figured things out, okay? I had a hunch for what Joseph was up to, so I got an idea. Henley approved. Then we recruited Lennox for it.”
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