But they just kept coming.
Most of the students had run inside and were hiding behind closed doors. One, though, was crazy enough to join the fight.
A blast of fire took over a feral aiming for my carotid. I flicked my gaze to Jess, who just glared with determination, before blasting another one.
Jesus.
I thought the wards were weaker out here — but they were still in place. I could feel them dragging at my power like wet sand. And without them? Jess could burn this whole place to the ground.
“K!” I shouted, pointing at the glowing sigils along the walls. I felt them straining to numb me.
K nodded once and sent a blast of lightning directly at the closest one. The guards around us froze, mouths open.
The wards never had a chance of holding K. We all knew it.
The only reason he was here was because he wanted to be.
It exploded in asonicboom, and instantly I felt the difference — my power uncoiled, sharper, faster.
Unfortunately, so did the ferals.
They moved with renewed vigour. Three leapt onto a guard beside me. Another snapped its head my way.
I used his blood to throw him back but caught a clawed backhand to the face.
It had once been a man — fifties, maybe. In his former life though, he could’ve been a bodybuilder. Muscles layered over muscles, making him grotesquely massive.
I reached for his blood, trying to seize something inside him, but before I could, he lunged and wrapped a huge hand around my throat—choking me.
He lifted me clean off the ground. My boots left the dirt. I clawed at his wrist, vision narrowing to a tunnel. Spots burst behind my eyes.
Then—
in a single sweeping movement—
He was ripped off me.
Not pushed. Not thrown. Removed from existence.His body launched skyward so violently I lost track of it against the grey clouds.
I dropped to my knees, coughing.
And when I lifted my head, he was just there.
Standing before me.
Expression carved from stone.
Sy.
“Thanks.” I rasped.
Sy nodded once, slow and deliberate. “Where is Seph?”
My chest burned as I sucked in a breath. I didn’t need to answer.
Across the battlefield, Ash was carving a path of carnage straight toward the med wing — ferals ripping apart around him as if they were made of wet tissue. His expression was a single, brutal instinct:get to her.
K was already watching him, jaw tight, lightning crackling faintly over his hands.
