For the first time all evening, his supercilious smile faded. What the fuck was going on? The school had wards to keep everyone but invited guests out, plus a security team in place, patrolling. If something had broken through, Montgomery’s head would roll.
From the way our esteemed headmaster’s complexion faded to sickly green, he knew it too.
My chest burned as if someone had thrown acid down my throat, and I almost collapsed.
“Get out there, Alaric!” Dad hissed. “Find out what the fuck’s going on!” I noticed he didn’t offer to lead the stampede, rally the mages, or do anything at all proactive.
Instead he moved to the rear of the marquee, where it was safer, and pulled his phone out.
I ran for the exit, but the merman shot past me, his blue braids slapping me in the face.Fucking asshole.Electricity crackled in my palm, blasting sideways and electrocuting a fox shifter. He danced like a marionette on elastic strings as smoke rose from the top of his head before falling to the floor in a daze.
Someone screamed, but I ignored them.
Students streamed out of the tent, mostly the larger shifters amped up on adrenaline and booze. A few witches followed them. I saw Kinara, her dress creased and a faint smear of mud on her shapely calf.
She scowled in my direction before turning to face the trees. We both ground to a halt.
“Fuck,” she choked out, her eyes wide.
Three massive hellhounds emerged from a thick pocket of shadow, flames licking their muscular bodies. The middle one roared at us before pawing the ground aggressively.
As much as I despised Kinara and her grasping family, she was powerful. If we worked together, we could send these fuckers back to the demon realm.
I scanned the area, searching for Raven, but saw nothing. The shadows roiled and expanded. Magic sparked from within, and I heard a faint yell followed by a shriek.
It sounded like Zane, but I couldn’t be sure. No matter. He could take care of himself. The hellhounds watched us as if we were their next snack. They were my priority. If they attacked the fleeing students, it would be carnage.
“We need to take them down,” I told Kinara. “Use your fire magic. Attack from the left and I’ll go right.”
She blanched, her hands trembling, but to her credit, she didn’t back away. Maybe the witch wasn’t such a cunt after all. Before I could regret asking her to help me, she kicked off her heels and ran toward the hellhounds, unleashing a vicious firestorm at the beasts.
I swung to the right and fired a lightning bolt at the nearest hound. It squealed as smoke rose from its back. The beast roared in anger before launching at me. I dove under its belly and zapped it again.
Flesh sizzled and burned. The creature desperately tried to swipe at me with vicious claws, but I scrambled out of the way.
On my left, Kinara cast more fire at the hellhound attacking her, followed by a stream of dark and oily magic. Its flesh melted and turned to ash before it collapsed in a pile of smoking bones.
Kinara smirked triumphantly. Dammit. She’d used black magic. If anyone saw her, she’d be arrested. Stupid bitch!
Still, I had to hand it to her. She’d fucking killed a demon. The second hellhound leaped into the air as mine recovered enough to change tactics. It backed off and circled around me, now wary of my lightning bolts.
Kinara cackled in delight as she threw fire and death magic at the hellhound trying desperately to sneak past her. It shuddered and flailed while mine snarled in anger when I scored a direct hit with lightning.
I needed a fucking blade or something. Lightning was only pissing it off. Some death magic would be fucking useful. Only when I turned to glance at Kinara, I soon changed my mind.
Her right arm had turned black and crispy, along with her fingers. The more she called on dark magic, the more it took from her.
“Kinara!” I yelled. “Your arm!” She looked down and gasped in horror. The dying hellhound took advantage of the distraction and lashed out with a paw. Deadly claws ripped across Kinara’s abdomen. The witch screamed in shock and agony.
The other hellhound leaped forward. A fetid, sulfurous stench washed over me as its enormous maw opened, ready to bite my head off. I cast a lightning bolt and watched as the charge landed inside the thing’s mouth.
For a long, interminable second, nothing happened. Then the creature’s eyes widened, and it shuddered. I threw myself sideways as it sparked and buzzed before smoke rose and the scent of roasting meat filled the air. The hellhound dropped like a stone and lay still.
Shaking from adrenaline, I wiped the sweat from my brow and turned to check on Kinara. If we got her to the healer, she’d be okay.
Only she wasn’t okay.
While I’d been fighting for my life, she’d lost hers. I ran across the grass and dropped to my knees. She lay on her back, blood and guts everywhere. The now-dead hellhound had bitten a chunk out of her before it died, and a combination of catastrophic blood loss and overuse of magic had ended her.
