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He didn’t question me any further. He didn’t know what I had planned or if it would work, but he trusted me enough not to make me explain it in detail. Which was good, because there wasn’t time.
“Bolster the shield!” Lach bellowed, his voice rising over the shouts and grunts inside the dome.
“Come on. Do it! Hurry!” Trace sent out the little balls of magic I’d seen him use before in combat—only this time, he used them as a sort of beacon, drawing our allies’ attention back to us as the floating spheres zipped around the dome.
The shield began to strengthen, and I pushed as much magic as I could muster into it. My gaze slid sideways, catching on Merrick’s amber eyes.
“On my signal,” I said, “we need to push outward. With everything we have.”
His eyes sparked with understanding, and he and the other men began calling out directions, spreading the word among our fellow students.
Fuck, I hope this works.
I had wondered once if the collective power of many wild magic users would be enough to defeat a god. We were about to find out.
“On my signal!” I screamed. “Three… Two… One. Now!”
As one, all of the students who had joined together to create the shield shoved their magic outward. The dome burst apart with a boom so loud I felt it more than I heard it. Just like my magic and Wesley’s had met and exploded, the magic of over a hundred students combusted.
It was like being at the epicenter of a bomb.
As the magic dome burst, the force of it hurled the gods backward, sending sand flying and making the ground shake.
“Split up!” I screamed, grabbing Merrick’s hand and pulling him after me as I sprinted away, heading in the direction of the foothills in the distance.
I didn’t have to tell the other students twice. They all saw their opening just I like had, and groups of them splintered away from the small crater the dome had once covered, racing across the sand in all directions. A twinge of worry went through me as I thought of each of those groups potentially having to fight off a god on their own. But if it was only one god, they would have a chance. I had to believe that.
The sand churned under my feet as the men and I ran, making it hard to keep my balance. As I tried to take another step, a rope of magic wrapped around my ankle, sending me sprawling.
“Oh, no, you don’t, you little fucker,” I heard Lach mutter before he and the other guys unleashed several blasts of magic behind us.
Wesley. I was sure that was who had tried to attack me.
He was a fawning, sniveling idiot and a coward, but he had it out for me. If he was going to come after any group, of course it would be me and my guys.
Well, good.
We could hold him off, keep him distracted while the other teams got away.
I scrambled to my feet again, whipping my hand out behind me and using magic to make sand spray into the air. Wesley’s shrieked curse met my ears, and I smiled grimly.
“Come on, Snow!” Trace grabbed my arm, pulling me along and helping me stay on my feet as my men and I ran again.
Part of me wanted to stop right where we were, to plant my feet and fight Wesley head on until either he died or I did.
But we needed to be smart. We needed to live so we could help the other students win this damn challenge. And as satisfying as killing Wesley would be, our ultimate enemies were the gods.
Lach sent another burst of magic behind us, making more sand spray into the air. It was slowing Wesley down and hampering his sight, making it harder for him to pursue us.
Hmm. Hampering his sight…
Letting Trace’s grip on my arm keep me steady, I turned my focus inward, reaching for the magic inside me. I let it spill out through my fingertips, but instead of sending the glowing tendrils behind me in an attack, I began to wrap them around the men and myself.
“Uh, Aria, what are you doing?” Merrick glanced down as he sprinted.
“Trying something.” I was panting from exertion—not just from the running, but from the amount of magic I’d used in a short time. “Let me know if it works.”
Summoning as much concentration as I could muster, I imagined the magic around us turning to a shimmering glow, just like the heat waves coming up off the sand all around us. Making us look like mirages, and hopefully making us blend in with our surroundings enough that Wesley wouldn’t be able to track us.
