She hadn’t seen any students yet.
And now Henry and, who Cara assumed to be Kiera, were here.
A minute later, the demon arrived.
Cara had heard her name many times: Patricia.
The boy shifted back instantly.
“Where’s Max?”
Patricia shook her head.
“They took her.”
“No.”
“Yeah,” Patricia said, and she started to cry. These weren’t soft, gentle tears. These weren’t “I’m nervous” tears. No, these tears were something else entirely. These were angry tears. Mad tears.
“What happened?”
“They heard us in the tunnels,” Patricia said. “We split up, and they came for us. Henry, they took her. Now they have her and Erin.”
“They’re going to kill Erin,” Henry said. “That’s going to be their next move.”
Patricia shook her head and rubbed her arms against her shoulders, as though she was somehow cold. Despite the fact that it was September, it was still hot outside, and Cara knew that the girl wasn’t really cold. No, she wasn’t chilly because of the weather.
She was scared for Max, and Cara was, too. She knew that Alicia was the headmistress now. She wasn’t sure how the woman had managed to do it, but she knew better than to put anything past Alicia Gregory.
The woman was not the kind of person who took kindly to being told “no.” She wasn’t the type of person who ever took “no” for an answer.
And she wasn’t the type of person who took prisoners.
Not for the long-term.
Not like this.
Cara would have given anything in that moment to be able to shift and run to the students. She wanted to go to them and say, “Hey! I’m Maxine’s mother! I’m going to help you! Don’t worry, okay? I’m here now, and everything’s going to be fine.”
She couldn’t do that, though.
She couldn’t do anything because she’d been stupid, and she was still paying the price for that stupidity.
Damn.
She kicked the dirt with her paw and wished that things had gone differently on that fateful day. Wishing was a stupid thing to do, she knew. It never helped anyone, but she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that if she’d made a different choice, or a series of different choices, that her husband might still be alive and that she might have a daughter who was safely tucked away somewhere: not being held by vampires.
“We need a plan,” Patricia said. “I don’t think they’re going to kill Erin right away.”
“Why not? They’ve got two people now. Two hostages means twice the trouble.”
“They want the book, Henry. And if they think Maddison will come just for Max, they’re right, but they might want to give a little extra incentive.”
“And that’s where Erin comes in.”
“Yeah.”
The hamster squeaked and the two students looked over at it. Cara wondered what was wrong. Why wasn’t the hamster shifting back into her fairy form?
“I’m really sorry,” Patricia said. “I can’t do anything about the spell. You know that. The only potion we have will erase your memory, and Kiera, we really need your memory. The spell will wear off naturally, okay? Here.” She reached down and picked up the hamster. Then she deposited it into her pocket.
Well, wasn’t that interesting?
The students had discovered that there was a potion for reversing the spell of someone caught in a shifter body? Cara didn’t want to hope that she could find this potion and take it. She didn’t want to hope that this meant there would be a chance she could return to her normal self. She didn’t want to suddenly feel a pain in her chest as, for the first time in years, she thought she might be destined for a different future than the one she had.
She didn’t want to hope.
But she did.
Chapter 9
The vampires surrounded me, and I stood perfectly still as they did. One of them grabbed me with his hands and jerked me backwards. He pulled me out of the passageway and into the hallway. Then the rest of the creatures, the monsters, gathered around, too.
“Well,” Alicia said, coming forward. “If it’s not a little lost witch.”
“I’m more than a witch,” I said.
“Oh? Is that right? Please,” she motioned around. “Tell me. What are you, Max?”
“I’m your worst nightmare,” I spat out, but even as the words, which sounded pretty good in my head, left my mouth, I wished I could call them back. The vampires erupted into laughter and I could feel myself blushing.
Okay, probably not the best insult to use on people who were, quite frankly, a lot older and a lot wiser than me. Alicia just shook her head as she looked at me. The look on her face wasn’t disgust, the way I had expected it to be. No, it was something much worse; pity.
She pitied me.
She thought I was pathetic.
Well, I wasn’t.
I just had to find a way to prove that.
“You’re not a nightmare,” Alicia’s husband said, stepping forward. Alexander was very different than I’d thought he would be. He was younger, for one thing, and handsome. He didn’t have the big, bad vampire vibe going on.
He was…good looking.
In another lifetime, he might have looked like the kind of person you could invite over for dinner. He almost looked kind. I knew better than to fall for his tricks, but I could see how other people would. There was an air of charisma surrounding him. Alexander was the kind of person you wanted to impress, but you couldn’t quite tell why.
“No?” I said. “You haven’t seen me do any spells yet. You might be surprised.”
“Oh, little witch, the only thing that’s going to surprise me is how quickly your grandmother brings me the book that I want.”
“Book?” I raised an eyebrow. “What book are you talking about? Because the school library has plenty of books.” I looked over at Alicia and shook my head. “Seriously, girl, I can’t believe you haven’t shown him the library.”
“Shut. Up!” Alicia snapped her fingers toward me and mumbled something I couldn’t quite catch. Instantly, I realized I was under the same spell my aunt was. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I could move my lips. I could form words with my mouth. There was simply no sound. It was a horrifying feeling: one I couldn’t quite handle. I closed my eyes for a minute and reminded myself to breathe. I could do this, I knew. I could get through this.
I just had to be patient.
I just had to be strong.
“This is it?” A nearby vampire woman asked. I looked toward her. She was tall and lanky with long, bleached-blonde hair. She wore a Hybrid Academy standard-issued uniform, complete with a robe. No wonder she’d slipped into the crowd at orientation so easily. She was practically one of us, at least from a distance. “This is the creature you were after?”
The woman took a step closer and started to size me up. I completely and totally resented it. I knew that I wasn’t much to look at. I had a few too many freckles and my hair was just a little too frizzy for my taste, but that didn’t mean she should be cruel to me. Seriously. After everything that Alicia had done at the school, I felt like the vampires kind of owed me a break. They’d been busy tearing up walls and trapping students, after all. What was next?
“Give us the spell,” another vampire said. This one was a guy. He looked like he was about my age, but I knew he was probably a lot older.
“She doesn’t have it, you half-wit,” Alexander said. “But her grandmother does,” he looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. “And when Grandma comes to save you, little wolf, she’s going to give us everything we want.”
I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought of him, but nothing came out. I screamed and I yelled, but my voice was totally non-existent, and Alexander and the other vampires just laughed.
“Put her with the aunt,” Alexander said. He motioned to the vampires and a couple of them started
poking me, pushing me to move. I hadn’t been tied up yet. Not like Erin had been. I could still move pretty easily, which was saying something. I walked down the hallway and around the bend. Three different vampires followed me: two ladies and one man. Then I stood in front of Alicia’s office for the second time that day.
I did not want to go in.
If I went in, that was it.
Alicia had won.
If I went into that office, it meant that fighting like hell hadn’t been enough. It meant that everything I’d worked for had been a wash. It meant that no matter how hard I’d tried, I’d still let everyone around me down. It meant that I was a failure, and I had failed, and that everything I’d tried to accomplish had been just for nothing.
I planted my feet into the floor the way a cat might do before its owner tried to take it to the vet. The vampires looked at one another, as though they couldn’t believe how childish I was being, but I didn’t care. If they wanted me in that room, they could force me into it. I wasn’t about to go willingly. I wasn’t about to go at all.
“Come on,” one of the girls said. She poked me in the back, but I didn’t move.
“What’s the holdup?” A male vamp asked. I didn’t move. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t shake my head. I didn’t do anything. I just kept my feet firmly planted in place, and I let them try to push me.
“She’s stuck or something,” one of the girls said.
“She’s just being stubborn,” the other said. That girl pushed me once more, quietly urging me forward.
I shook my head.
Nope.
Not happening.
“She won’t move,” the first girl said again. Together, they tried to push me forward, but I took every ounce of wolf strength within me to hold myself right where I was. If they got me in the office, that was it. Everything would be over for me, and that was not something I was interested in.
“Oh, for dragon’s sake,” the male vamp said. He growled, lifted me up, and slung me over his shoulder. Then, despite the fact that I banged my fists on his back and tried to kick him anywhere I could possibly reach, he carried me into the office and sat me down in a chair next to my aunt. He tied me up with actual ropes – not invisible ones – and without a word, he turned and left. The two vampire girls stared at me for a minute before laughing haughtily. Then they, too, left.
I looked at my aunt. She was still stuck with her ropes, too, and I reached for her hand. Neither one of us could talk, but we could hold hands. We could be with each other during this time, right?
We could help each other.
And then Erin’s eyes widened as we both realized the same thing.
We might not be able to free ourselves of our ropes, but we could pull on the other person’s ropes. Erin’s bindings were invisible and those were going to take some work to get out of, but mine? Well, mine were just normal ropes. Erin started tugging on them. I wanted to tell her that the vampires were going to try to contact my grandma.
I wanted to share with Erin everything that I’d learned, but for now, we just focused on the ropes. We just focused on pulling on them and loosening them as much as possible. Soon, the ropes that bound me in place were loose and I could wiggle out. I still couldn’t speak. Hopefully, the spell would wear off eventually. It seemed like Erin’s was starting to, at least a little bit. She couldn’t form actual words, but she was starting to make sounds. I nodded at her encouragingly. That was good. It was progress.
I got up, off of my chair, and I kicked the ropes aside. Now, Erin’s ropes.
Before, when my friends and I had been in here, we’d been certain that these were magical, unbreakable ropes. I knew, though, that all magic had its limits, and I was ready to find out what this magic would do against a knife. I picked one up from Alicia’s desk and brought it over to Erin. Her eyes widened, and I realized she was wondering why her old friend could be so stupid as to leave a knife out where anyone could just grab it.
No time for that.
I reached, feeling the ropes. Once I was certain I had one in my grasp, I used the knife against it. There was resistance, though, and I couldn’t get them loose. The knife didn’t seem to do anything, actually. I tried again, and then once more, but nothing.
Erin looked defeated.
I sure felt it.
When I’d woken up this morning, I definitely didn’t see my day going the way that it had. I’d do just about anything to get my hands on my own wand. I’d do just about anything to have my grandma’s spell collection and be able to find something to get Erin out of these chains that held her in place.
She was scared, and she was tired, and I had a feeling that Erin was ready to get out of this place and never look back.
But suddenly, it hit me, and I wondered how I’d been so naïve and dumb not to see it before.
“Erin,” I mouthed her name and patted her knee, so she’d look up at me. She did, and I mouthed the word “shift.”
She could shift.
Why hadn’t she tried it already?
The ropes were in place for her human body, but her wolf body was a different form and it would enable her to get out of the ropes. Either the ropes would loosen when she shifted, or they’d break entirely. Erin’s eyes went wide and she smiled brightly.
Then she did it.
She shifted.
She changed.
Erin managed to adjust her entire body and inch by inch, her soft skin morphed into a monstrous creature that was both beautiful and terrifying. I’d only seen my aunt in her wolf form a few times. I was a wolf, too, but seeing her as one still kind of scared me. I nodded at her once her shift was complete. Sure enough, that move had enabled her to get out of the bounds that held her in place. I walked to the door and opened it. Then my aunt walked out and quietly, carefully, I followed her into the hallway.
Chapter 10
The campus was larger than Maddison remembered. Then again, it had been nearly a year since she’d set foot on the Hybrid Academy grounds. The school itself was broad and large with plenty of open spaces for mischief. Any other day, she’d want to explore. Her inner-witch positively ached to explore a place like this: a place where magic ruled.
Today wasn’t about getting to sate her curiosity, though.
Today was about saving her granddaughter.
It wasn’t that Max always managed to get herself into trouble. On the contrary, in fact: Max was as easygoing as they came. She always worked hard and paid attention and listened. That didn’t matter today, though. This thing was much bigger than Max or Maddison had ever thought it could be, and today was the day that it ended.
Maddison approached the school from the surrounding forest. She was accompanied by the coven. Tia, the pretty girl with the gentle words, looked fierce as she marched beside Maddison. Rita, ever the brave soul, marched on Maddison’s other side. Donald was with them, and so were Hannah and Wendy. They might not be large in number, but these were the most powerful magic users on this side of the Dragon Mountains.
If anyone had a chance of stopping the vampires, it was this group.
They stopped in the forest and stared at the school.
“No activity,” Wendy commented.
“Not visually,” Maddison agreed. Wendy was an expert at using magical tech, though, so Maddison waited patiently as the woman enchanted two tiny orbs and tossed them into the air. Each orb was only an inch in diameter and would circle the school before returning with information about what was happening. At the very least, it would let them know what kind of numbers they could expect.
Maddison expected that they would find fewer vampires than she thought. Vampires might be one of the deadliest races to exist, but they were also a volatile bunch. They were constantly killing one another and turning on each other. If the past was any indicator as to what they could expect, Maddison guessed they would find a few dozen vampires, give or take.
A few dozen wasn’t that many to face when you had a team as great
as hers.
No, Alicia and Alexander were the wildcards in this equation, and she suspected that if they didn’t already have Erin and Maxine in their possession, then they soon would. Maddison had no way to notify her loved ones that these two beings were terrible or evil or betrayers. Even if Maddison had access to normal human technology, it wouldn’t work this close to the mountains.
The group waited in silence as the orbs circled the school. They returned, and Wendy held one up to her ear. She paused, listening, and then repeated the movement with the other orb. She had programmed these little miniature robot-type orbs to explain what they saw to her. She didn’t need to hook them up to a computer. She didn’t need to do anything, really. She just had to listen.
Well, and be magical, which she was.
“What do you have?” Rita asked impatiently.
“They peered in the windows,” Wendy shrugged. “I guess they didn’t think to cover them up.”
“Of course not,” Donald said. “Why would they need to? No reasonable person would think to come to Hybrid Academy today. Not on orientation day.” He shook his head as though he couldn’t believe that anyone would want to come to a school like this. Maddison just looked at Wendy expectantly.
“What else?”
“Vamps,” she said. “It’s like we thought. They couldn’t get an accurate count. They’re holding the parents and students in the auditorium, but I don’t think the kids are enchanted or anything like that.”
“Of course not,” Hannah said, speaking up. “It would take a lot of magical power to do a large enchantment like that. How many students and parents are there, anyway? Over two hundred? Three hundred?”
“A lot,” Wendy said. “And if they were to be enchanted, then the magic would be too strong for the wards at the academy. They’d probably burst, which would reveal the location of the academy to any magic user within a hundred miles.”
“The school would be swarmed,” Maddison said.
And it wouldn’t be with people who wanted to help.
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