Urban Mystic Academy: Graduation (A Supernatural Academy Series Book 6)

by Jennifer Rose McMahon

  "I got you," he said.

  I lifted one eye to him. "Did you know?"

  He shook his head. "I didn't realize it until now. But yes, I've always known somehow. It had just been buried somewhere beyond my reach."

  His answer resonated deep within me.

  Maybe I'd always known somehow too. Perhaps it was buried somewhere within me as well.

  I lifted my head and nodded. Standing taller, I felt my strength and courage returning. It had been pulled out from under me for a moment, but now, as I accepted the truth, it returned even mightier.

  I glanced around the circle at each UMA. Their heavy gazes proved they understood the gravity of the situation. Shane's existence, my existence, everything we knew and loved, depended on our success in ending the Dark Witch's death curse.

  This was our last chance, and we'd all need to pull together.

  "I'm ready," I said. "Let's do this!"

  Chapter 12

  Ms. Reed's hazy white eyes darted in every direction as her hands held the swirling mist open. Her steady hum sent vibration all around us.

  "I need to reach him," I said, searching the opening for my father. "I'll help him find an escape. Once I'm in there, Tommy can reach through and pull us out—just like he did last time."

  "No," Shane spat. "We have no idea if that will work." He shot his gaze to Ms. Kelly. "Right?"

  "He's right, Brynn," she agreed, holding her hand out. "We need to plan cautiously...."

  Her words morphed into a stream of jibber-jabber as my muscles twitched with impatient annoyance.

  I needed to reach my father.

  And he was right there in front of me.

  I couldn't wait any longer for plans and tactics.

  This was the moment I'd been waiting for. The moment of truth.

  So, I jumped.

  I dove straight through the center of the swirling mist as Ms. Reed let out a scream of shock.

  "Noooo," Shane hollered.

  But his voice trailed behind me as if it were a million miles away.

  I tumbled through thick fog as my senses muted within a strange vacuum. Instant regret took hold as a feeling of being lost in a vast void sent terror through me.

  What had I done?

  My impulsivity took the better of me again. I'd gone rogue, but this time, with dire consequences.

  I moved through the haze in search of anything familiar and found nothing. Walking forward, deeper into the abyss, a sense of urgency overwhelmed me, and I ran.

  "Dad," I shouted. "Father!" I ran harder. "Thomas!"

  Every nerve in my body twitched, sending adrenalin in every direction. My quaking terror proved I was more alive than ever, and I ran with greater determination.

  "Thomas!" I screamed.

  My mind searched the void for any sign of life.

  "I am Thomas." A voice broke through the mist, stopping me in my tracks.

  Gasping, I struggled to catch my breath and speak. The shock of hearing his voice overwhelmed me to muteness.

  "Who seeks me?" His voice resonated through every part of my being.

  I coughed and pulled myself together, stepping farther into the fog.

  As I stared into the thick mist, the shadow of a man appeared within the haze.

  "Thomas?" I whispered.

  "Yes, 'tis I." He stepped closer, examining the space in front of him.

  "Father."

  He stopped short with a gasp. Then with slow movement, he came closer. As his calculated steps brought him into view, my eyes widened as I took in his familiar features.

  I recognized every line, every detail.

  "Father!" I screamed.

  "Brynn?" His voice choked within him. "Brynn, is it you?"

  He moved right up to me and reached for my face. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he trembled.

  "It is you," he said. "My god. I've prayed for you every day." He held my face, gazing into my eyes.

  Then he embraced me with everything he had. I released all of my armor within his hold and allowed my father to protect me. Sobs shuddered through my body as his raw emotions moved through me.

  His questions flooded my mind as he wondered how I reached him, if I was safe, was I dead or alive, was I trapped here as well? His panic of the unknown overwhelmed him as he held me in the safety of his arms.

  Before I could respond to any of his desperate questions, a torrent of images washed through my mind. He was replaying the events that brought him here, and as I absorbed his story, I sent my own to him.

  I watched my father, as a young man, doing the bidding of the Dark Witch. As her minion, he traveled, searching for lost souls for her consumption. His anger and resentment grew as he matured, and his inner moral compass developed secretly out of her reach. His spirit was strong, and he vowed to save the souls he'd trapped for her, and then save himself.

  Taking on the role of the witch hunter, he resolved to stop her any way he could. But she was powerful, and it wasn't long before she noticed his betrayal. She writhed in pain from his deception, generating a more powerful evil to seethe throughout every part of his life—including his secret bride.

  The Dark Witch swore a curse upon his first-born child, sending terror through him. Watching his wife die in childbirth was just the beginning of the witch's wrath. His anguish overwhelmed him, and he took the child and ran.

  It was then that he lept through the portal with me, hoping to hide me away in a new time, a new life.

  But she followed.

  And her death curse came with her.

  In a final attempt at protecting me, my father sacrificed himself to her, handing over his soul.

  In the blur of him being torn from me, I buckled in pain, remembering the moment like it had just happened.

  He cried out in sorrow. But then he cried out for help.

  And it was Shane's name that left his lips.

  Staring in horror at the final parts of his story, I watched as his soul ripped away, destined to be trapped in limbo. But as he shot through the realms, he continued to fight and reached out to Shane.

  At that exact moment, I saw images of younger Shane in the labyrinth. Dark clouds spun around him as he raised his arms up into their darkness. He shouted words of assistance and support of the evil that whirled around him, and as it focused into a tight arrow of energy, he lifted a glass vial toward it.

  The spiraling energy entered the vial, and in an instant, he corked it. Dropping to his knees, he packed the vial into a box and buried it in the center of the labyrinth. As he sealed it tight, the dark clouds dissipated along with the wailing screams of a banshee.

  Shane had captured the death curse, keeping it from reaching me.

  He did it at that time, for my father.

  With a sudden exhale, I released my held breath with a whoosh.

  I looked up into my father's face.

  "Thank you," I whispered.

  My father smiled, soaking in every part of my face, but then grave worry filled his eyes.

  "How did you get here?" he asked. "Did she find you?"

  His concern knotted my stomach, and I nodded.

  "Yes, she found me. But we stopped her. Shane and me, and the rest of my coven. Ms. Kelly, Dom...."

  He stopped me with a gasp.

  "Shane helped you?”

  "Yes. Shane is with me. He's protected me and kept me safe."

  I froze on my words. Shane had been my protector. It was exactly what my father would have wanted.

  "That's good," he nodded. "Fine chap. He never let me down."

  His words of approval resonated deep within me.

  "I'm going to get you out of here, Father," I stated. "Shane and the others will help pull us out."

  His eyes grew heavy.

  "But I am nothing now, Brynn. I'm sorry. But it's too late for me." He lowered his eyes from mine. "The Dark Witch has taken everything from me."

  "No, it's not true," I said. "We can fix this. We have young Tommy w
aiting for you on the other side. We can reconnect you with your soul."

  His eyes widened in pure shock.

  "I, I didn't think it could be possible," he stuttered.

  At that very moment, darkness weighed down on us. The mist grew heavy as the stench of death billowed all around.

  "And you thought right." A sinister voice seethed. “It’s impossible to break the curse.”

  My skin prickled from the familiar sound of vengeance. Its scratching tone shot frozen fear through my heart, especially after believing I would never hear it again.

  But the Dark Witch was present, all around us.

  I stepped back from my father, listening intently.

  "We'd sent her back to her time," I whispered to him. "I thought we'd ended her reign."

  He listened as worry lined his forehead.

  "She must not have made it all the way through the portal," he murmured. “She’s trapped now, just like us.”

  My breath caught in my throat.

  We'd banished her to the one place where she could continue to do us harm.

  "We need to escape and leave her behind.” I searched for any sign of her as my muscles twitched.

  If we could get through Ms. Reed's opening and close it behind us, the Dark Witch would be trapped in this hell forever.

  "We just need to find the passage to the other side," I said. "Follow me."

  I turned in the direction I had come, hoping that if we walked far enough, we would find the whirling circle. My instincts told me to start calling out for my friends, but the thought of the Dark Witch following us kept me silent.

  With my heart pounding in my ears, I took my father's hand and pulled him along with me.

  "This way," I directed. "Search for a swirling dark cloud."

  We stumbled through the fog in search of our escape, and as we ran, we became disoriented and lost within the deep abyss.

  "There's no way out," he panted. "I've been searching for centuries without any sign of... anything."

  His profound exhaustion weighed him down to the point he believed there was no hope.

  But I'd never felt more energized in my life. I was going to break him out of this place and save him, the way he had saved me.

  "Wait, there," I cried, pointing toward dark movement. "That way!"

  We sprinted toward the whirling shadow, and as we got closer, it took on the ominous form of a flapping shroud.

  "Running like mice in a maze," she seethed, tapping her bony fingers together beneath her cloak. "Oh, the irony. Banishing me from your pathetic existence, only to become trapped within the same living hell."

  Her hood cast shadows over her face, but the deep holes of her sunken eyes remained visible within the burned remains. The sight of her gruesome form sent terror through me as her seething vengeance grew with every breath.

  Her insidious chiding prickled my skin and awakened deep anger within me. Pent-up rage festered through my veins and then, without warning, erupted like a detonating bomb.

  Dropping my father's hand, I exploded in a fury of retribution and, like a frenzied animal, pounced at her.

  I didn't care if she could decimate me with one stroke. I didn't care if she obliterated me to dust. I just wanted to crush her, and smack her down for every life she ruined, for every soul she destroyed.

  "Brynn, no!" My father's panicked voice shot at me from behind.

  But nothing could stop me.

  Every fiber in my being was meant to destroy her.

  The daughter of the witch hunter.

  I, too, carried the mark.

  Looking down at the brand on my arm, I watched as it pulsated to life. Its burn traveled up my skin and throughout my entire body.

  "You are nothing," I shouted at her. "Nothing but a frightened tyrant. And you will suffer the same fate of those you've harmed."

  My eyes burned like fire as I stared into her soul. The deeper I gazed, the more I realized there was only fear left within her.

  Maybe that was all that was ever there.

  But now, she knew I'd grown stronger.

  She knew our coven would beat her.

  And so I struck.

  I rammed my entire weight into her, knocking her back with my force. Energy surged through me as I became unstoppable in my assault. Pushing her back, again and again, I kept her off balance and stumbling.

  "You will have all of eternity to repent on your sins," I spat. "Lost on a wave of loneliness and regret."

  As every ounce of energy in my body lit up, a purple glow formed within my palms. The force crackled and sparked from my hands, and I lifted them to her face.

  In the violet hue, her gnarled expression twisted in terror as if she were looking into the eyes of her destroyer.

  And she was.

  I reeled back, allowing all of my force to concentrate in my hands, and with an exploding shot, I blasted my fire power into her.

  In a blinding flash of lightning, she reeled back in defense, swinging her cloak around her, and then burst into a thousand pieces. The burning bits transformed into a swarm of black crows that circled us, cawing loudly in our ears as they dissipated and flew away.

  I turned to my father and watched as he stood in shock. His hands trailed into his hair, and he held his head in stunned surprise.

  "What in God's name was that?" he muttered, staring at the residual sparks on my hands.

  I gazed all around to be sure the crows had flown away for good. Looking beyond the blast’s flickering light, I narrowed my eyes on a whirling circle of mist that appeared just beyond it.

  "I'll explain later," I shouted. "There's the opening. We have to go!"

  We bolted toward the whirling mist and stared as it grew wider. My father trailed behind me as I strained to see into it. As I searched through the haze for any sign of my friends, I gasped as the sound of their voices broke through.

  Whispers at first, garbled together in a mix of sound and words. Then, the voices became more clear as two of them separated out from the rest.

  "Can you see them?" Ms. Kelly asked from the chasm.

  "Yes. They are in my sight," Ms. Reed answered.

  My air whooshed out of me from the wonderful sound of their voices.

  "We are here," I shrieked.

  Looking back, I reached for my father's hand.

  "Get ready," I said to him.

  But he shrank back as if afraid.

  "What is it?" I blasted.

  His head shook as he gazed at the spinning mist.

  "I just don't belong there," he said. "That's your world now. But it's not mine."

  My jaw fell open.

  I hadn't considered that detail. I hadn't thought about where my father belonged. I just wanted him to be free.

  I'd been so focused on breaking him out of limbo, it hadn't even mattered where he landed, in my mind.

  But it mattered to him.

  "I just have to get you out of here first," I said. "Then we'll figure out how to get you home."

  His worried eyes mimicked my inner turmoil. He knew I had no idea how to get him home. But leaving him here in the lost abyss was not an option.

  "Father. I am getting you out of here."

  I thought of Dom's voice reaching out to us, trying to make contact, and I had to believe there was hope. But the hollow nag in my gut told me it was a long shot.

  I imagined my father trapped in a world that wasn't his. Suddenly I understood that saving his soul was only the first step.

  "Please," I begged him. "You have to trust us."

  I placed my faith in the UMAs. Together, we would do what was right for my father.

  "Please." I reached for his hand again.

  "Do you see them," Ms. Reed's voice called through oblivion.

  "Yes," a voice muttered with strained effort.

  "Reach for them!" her voice blasted from the whirling mist.

  Just as my father's hand took mine, I raced toward the spinning circle. Then my eyes widened
as I caught sight of Tommy's face. Searching into the abyss, he reached his hand through the portal, with desperation splashed across his face.

  It was the moment he would make contact with his true self—a chance for his soul to return to his body.

  I gasped for air as I realized the magnitude of the moment, and suddenly, nothing else in the world mattered but saving my father.

  Tommy was the only one with the ability to reach through. And now was our chance.

  As Tommy's hand stretched in, I pulled my father's hand up to it, and just as they touched, I let go.

  In a blast of bright light, their hands connected, and my father's eyes widened from the sensations that shot through him. His air fell out of him at first, but then he drew in a long, deep breath of life.

  As I watched his life force return to him, I anticipated him launching through the spiraling mist, but instead, he pulled Tommy out of it.

  With a jolt, I jumped toward them.

  "No!" I screamed. "He'll become trapped in here with us!"

  But as the panicked words left my mouth, a burst of energy surged between Tommy and my father. Awestruck, I stared as Tommy's form blended into Thomas, and they became one again.

  My father turned to me, gasping, and held my eyes with his.

  "Thank you, my daughter," he said. "You have saved me, as I knew you would. Go now to the life intended for you.“

  I reached for him as tears fell from my eyes. Just as I was about to touch him, he lifted weightlessly, and in a flash, streaked across the abyss like a shooting star. With a far off shower of sparks, he disappeared.

  I stared at the residual glow from where he'd passed through. A sense of calm washed through me, settling my age-old angst to a quiet I'd never felt before.

  He was safe.

  He was home.

  I huffed in disbelief.

  I did it.

  I helped my father reconnect with his soul and escape limbo.

  Joy welled up within me to near bursting, but a moment later, I was crushed by a tide of overwhelming fear.

  I was the trapped one now.

  Alone in the lost abyss of limbo.

  Chapter 13

  As a sense of doom crushed down on me, I pictured Shane's face. My only hope was for him to reconnect with his soul, just as my father had. But now, I was helpless in assisting, trapped alone in the abyss of limbo.