by Linsey Hall
I staggered to my feet, my muscles shaking.
Beside me, Caro raised her hands, shooting the cloaked figure with a blast of water the size of a semi-truck. Thousands of gallons shot toward the figure, slamming into him and throwing him back.
Caro stumbled to her knees, her face white. She gasped. “I’m tapped out.”
Rowan charged, her blade raised. She was closest, and she reached our enemy as soon as he stood. Rowan swung her blade, aiming for the head, but the cloaked figure threw out a hand. Magic hurtled toward her and slammed into her chest.
Rowan spun in a circle, flying away and crashing to the ground. I raced for the figure, but Lachlan beat me to him. He was so fast in his lion form. He jumped into the air and landed on the figure, throwing him back onto the ground.
They wrestled, each equivalently strong. Magic swelled around the figure. A sonic boom exploded out from him, throwing Lachlan off of him. The lion flew through the air, then landed with such a crash that the ground shook.
The figure lunged toward Rowan, who was slowly rising from the ground.
I charged, grabbing the figure’s cloak, trying to slow his momentum toward my sister.
Dark magic shivered up my arm, making my stomach turn and my muscles quiver. I gritted my teeth and yanked, calling on my magic—any magic—to help me. The light that was deep inside me flared to life, and I begged it to rise to the surface, imagining using it to save Rowan. To save us all.
The magic burst forth, a sharp white light that blinded even me.
A terrible shriek sounded, coming from the figure whose cloak I gripped. I pulled harder. As my vision cleared, the cloak ripped away, as if I’d loosened it from the wearer.
Three ghostly figures exploded forth, shooting for the sky.
I tumbled backward, the cloak gripped in my hand.
The three ghosts—or phantoms or wraiths or something—shot away so fast that I barely got a look at them. There were three, maybe female, and then they were gone.
Panting, I dropped the cloak, then stumbled to my feet.
Rowan finally managed to rise, her face pale and her limbs shaking. Caro wasn’t much better off, but at least she was standing. But Lachlan…
He lay sprawled on the ground in his human form. He’d been hit with a direct shot from the cloaked figure.
Panic thundered through me.
I sprinted for him and fell to my knees at his side.
His face was white, his form still.
I’d never seen anyone take such a hit from so close. I touched his chest, tears pricking at my eyes. “Lachlan!”
He didn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe as I shook him, trying to wake him up. “Lachlan?”
His eyes opened, stark in his pale face. They zeroed in on me. Confusion gave way to recognition and something I couldn’t identify.
He touched my cheek. His voice was rough as he said, “I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“Wait?”
“For you. Pretending there’s nothing here is stupid.”
“You nearly died, and that was your big realization.”
“It seemed good enough to me. I—”
“Guys!” Rowan’s panicked voice cut through the night. “Incoming!”
I didn’t want to look away from Lachlan—not when he was saying things like this—but Rowan’s tone made it clear that shit was about to hit the fan.
I surged to my feet as a roar sounded in the distance. I turned, catching sight of an army of demons thundering toward us. They were armed to the teeth, their gazes bright on us.
I looked at Lachlan, who was climbing to his feet, still shaky from the blow.
“I’ve got it.” His voice was strained, but he held up his hand, creating a portal to get us the hell out of here.
It took a moment—his magic was nearly tapped out—but finally, it flared to life. One by one, we leapt in, just as the demons got within shooting range.
We arrived back at the Protectorate, panting and high on adrenaline. I’d grabbed the discarded cloak before jumping into the portal, though it was doubtful that it would provide any answers now that the three figures weren’t wearing it.
We appeared at the edge of the courtyard. As usual, the air was cool and damp in the Highlands. The moon shined high in the sky, illuminating the castle with a pale white glow. We yanked off our horrible cloaks, and I breathed a sigh of relief to feel the dark magic no longer touching my skin.
“Can’t wait to destroy these things,” Rowan muttered.
“Ditto.” Caro nodded.
“What the hell was that thing that flew out of the cloak?” Rowan asked.
“I have no idea.” I looked toward the dark sky, as if I might see it here, at the castle. “But I doubt that’s the last we’ll see of it.”
As if they’d heard us arrive, Ali and Haris pushed open the main doors and ran out.
“Are you okay?” Ali shouted.
“Everyone safe?” Haris added.
“We’re fine!” Caro yelled.
“Is Bree back?” I ran toward them, my friends at my side.
“She’s back! And the ghosts are doing better.” Ali grinned widely. “It looks like you did it.”
I glanced at Lachlan, who looked stronger now. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but Arach and the ghosts had to come first. He nodded, as if he understood.
I sprinted into the entry hall, pulling to a stop when I spotted the Pugs of Destruction, racing down the stairs like their tails were on fire. They were no longer faded and weak, but just as vibrant as they’d ever been.
Mayhem flew right toward us, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Right before she reached us, she farted fire, then spun in a circle, clearly confused.
I laughed. “Oh, thank fates.”
Bree ran down the stairs after them, a huge smile on her face. “Are you all right? Is anyone injured?”
“We’re fine,” I said. “Just beat-up.”
Every muscle ached, and I was sure my friends felt like crap, too. But we were all walking, which meant we were doing dandy.
The Cats of Catastrophe appeared in the hall, each coated with the black snake dust. They spotted the pugs and meowed, then chased them back up the stairs, the six of them going on a rampage through the upstairs corridor that would definitely piss off Potts. I grinned.
“Where is Arach?” Lachlan asked.
“In her office.” Bree gestured for us to follow her down the hall. “Let’s go find her. Jude is with her.”
I sucked in a deep breath. Jude. We’d succeeded, so I was sure Jude would be happy with me.
Well, I was pretty sure.
Whatever the case, I wanted her to be really happy. Same for the rest of the directors. Happy enough to cut me some slack on blowing Lavender off her feet and to maybe advance me another level at the Academy.
As a group, we hurried down the hall. Lachlan stayed near my side as Bree led us into Arach’s colorful office, the tall walls covered with bright paintings.
Arach stood next to the fire, glowing brilliantly. Florian stood next to her, looking just as good. He was no longer pale and wispy, thank fates, and his tall, curling wig sat proudly on his head.
Jude, Hedy, and the rest of the department heads stood at their sides. Everyone turned to face us. Florian shot us a massive smile.
“Are you all right?” Jude demanded.
“We’re fine,” Lachlan said.
Jude’s face relaxed. “Good. And well done.”
I strode over to Arach, inspecting her. She looked normal. “Are you better?”
“Much.” She nodded, a serene smile on her face. “But tell us what you learned.”
“All right.”
We all took a seat around the table in the middle of the room.
Lachlan looked at me, holding my gaze for a moment. “I think this is Ana’s story to tell. She called the shots.”
“And made good calls,” Caro said.
I
smiled at her.
Bree nodded enthusiastically, though she didn’t bother to speak on my behalf. We all knew that she was so biased in my favor that I could have spent the whole adventure burping and falling, and she’d have said I did pretty good.
“Can’t say that I’m surprised you did well!” Florian said. “An exemplary trainee!”
I smiled at him, glad to have one person—ghost—in my corner.
“What happened?” Jude asked. “What did you learn?”
I explained our trip through Grimrealm, and about finding Arach’s heart hooked up to the strange contraption in the middle of the snake pit.
Arach frowned, touching her chest. Her heart might not be in there anymore—it was deep below the castle again, I had to imagine—but still, I couldn’t blame her for being weirded out.
I leaned forward. “Once I touched the heart, it activated some kind of spell that alerted the cloaked figure. He—they—appeared immediately. We all ran for the figure, but as soon as we reached it, some kind of spell ignited and swept us away.”
“To be clear, the cloaked figure took you away?” Jude asked.
“I think so.” I shook my head. “It didn’t want us to be in that room anymore. Once Arach’s heart was gone, it took us right out of there.”
“But why? Surely, it might have had backup where you were?” Hedy asked.
“It took us to a field, where we fought. Eventually, we drove the cloaked figure away. Then reinforcements showed.”
“So the figure took you there to get rid of you?” Jude said. “It had backup in that field.”
“I think so, though it took them time to make their way to us. I don’t think the cloaked figure expected to run into us when it appeared at the Extractor’s lair.”
“It would never expect us to make it into Grimrealm at all,” Lachlan said.
I thought back to Arach’s heart. “I don’t think the cloaked figure took us away just to kill us. I think it didn’t want us getting whatever was in the basin under the heart.”
“What do you mean?” Hedy asked.
I explained the single glowing droplet that had fallen from the heart, keeping my gaze on Arach.
She nodded. “I am not surprised. I feel slightly weaker than I was before. Not much, but something is missing.”
“The Extractor,” Lachlan said. “He took something from your heart. Magic.”
“I think so.” Arach nodded. “I don’t know if they got all that they needed, but it sounds like the cloaked figure didn’t want you to get whatever they had taken.”
“And now it’s long gone,” Bree said. “No way they didn’t move it right away.”
“I have to agree on that point,” Jude said. “But we can send in backup to check.”
“We can go,” I said.
She pointed at me. “You need to rest. Ali and Haris can go, along with reinforcements. If you tell them how to get there, they’ll have no problem. My instinct is that it’s pointless recon, anyway, but we have to try.”
She was right. I was way too beat, and it was probably pointless.
“So the cloaked figure was the mastermind,” Jude said. “But you have no idea who it was?”
“Three wraiths,” I said. “Or ghosts. I couldn’t make out much.”
“I think they were women,” Bree added.
“Their magic was powerful.” Caro shivered. “If Ana hadn’t yanked their cloak off, we’d have been done for.”
“It must have bound them to the physical plane,” Hedy said. “I’ve heard of such things.”
“So they’re ghosts?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Hard to say. But how did you get the cloak off? That should be impossible.”
“My magic. Lachlan has been helping me, and I used my new light power against them. It helped me tear the cloak off them.”
“Perhaps you’re connected to them, somehow,” Jude said.
I didn’t like the sound of that. But I couldn’t deny it. Lachlan had wrestled with them in lion form, and even he hadn’t managed to get it off them.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Jude said. “In the meantime, well done, Ana. You broke the rules, but you delivered.”
“Thank you.”
“I think that calls for some celebration.” She grinned. “You’ve advanced another level at the Academy.”
15
After we finished the meeting and everyone began to disperse, Lachlan grabbed my hand and pulled me into an abandoned nook in the hallway, tucking us behind a statue, deep in the shadows.
I’d been stealing looks at him through the meeting, but this was the first time we’d had even a second to ourselves.
In this tiny space, I was standing so close to him that I could feel his heat. I shivered, anticipation and fear racing through me.
“Did you mean it?” I demanded.
His dark gaze met mine. “I did.”
“Why? What made you change your mind?”
His eyes were serious. “Two things. My heart stopped briefly when the cloaked figure hit me with the sonic boom.” He reached for my hand. My heart thudded as his strong grip closed over my palm. “I realized that I was being an idiot. I won’t live forever, and pretending that there’s nothing here is stupid. Waiting to see if this goes away is stupid.”
“It’s not going away.” I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, even when I knew I shouldn’t be.
“I know. I had my reasons, but they were shite.”
“What reasons? And what was the second thing that changed your mind?” The words spilled out of me.
“When I was in the Room of Truth, I realized that I wanted you more than anything. It was simple, really.”
Memories flashed through me. “Same. I didn’t want you to ask me what I was thinking, or I’d be forced into telling the truth.”
“I’m sorry I was an idiot,” he said. “But I don’t want to be one anymore.”
This was great. But I wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easy. I hadn’t been the one to delay this unnecessarily.
I looked him up and down. “Well, maybe you were too big of an idiot and waited too long.”
The corner of his lips hiked up in a sexy smile. “Not going to let me off the hook easy, are you?”
“You’re going to have to earn your way into my good graces.” I crossed my arms. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
“Is it, then?”
“Aye.” I mimicked his brogue. “What’s your plan?”
“I was thinking we’d start with a kiss.”
“Really? Because I was thinking you should wash my car.” I pursed my lips, making a thinking face. “But if the kiss was a good one…”
He gripped my waist and pulled me toward him, making my heart leap. His smile faded into an intense expression as he dipped his head toward mine. His lips captured mine in an expert kiss, and all rational thought fled.
I melted into him, swept away by the sensation. He groaned, wrapping his strong arms around me. They were iron arms behind my back, and every inch of his body was hot and hard. I wanted to touch all of him, and I kissed him as if my life depended on it.
“Ana!”
Bree’s voice tore me from the kiss. I jerked my head away.
“Lachlan!” Jude’s voice echoed down the hall.
Fates.
I looked at Lachlan, eyes wide.
“Jude wants to speak with me.”
“And Bree.” I’d promised her I’d go to the Whisky and Warlock. Crap.
“We’ll finish this later,” Lachlan said.
“I’m counting on it.” I moved to dart away.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me back. With a grin, he said, “And I will wash your car.”
As usual, we ended up at the Whisky and Warlock for our celebration. I was tired, but not too tired to get some food and a drink with my friends. Lachlan had stayed behind to speak with Jude, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wished he’d come with us,
but it was still fun.
Anyway, it really was a celebration. I’d mastered some of my magic and saved Arach’s heart. She, Florian, and the pugs were all safe. So was the Protectorate. The institution needed Arach’s magic just like she did. They were going to fill in the tunnel and put guards on the heart.
Muffin led the way into the pub, sauntering right up to the seat where Miss Kitty sat by the fire. The little black cat stared at him, unimpressed.
Clearly, Muffin was going to have to work for her affection.
Princess Snowflake III and Bojangles went straight for a back door that led to the kitchen, which didn’t surprise me. The rest of us headed toward Sophie at the bar.
Today, her shirt read Kiss My Haggis. She grinned at us while wiping down the bar. “Good to see your lovely faces. What’ll it be?”
Bree, Rowan, and Caro placed their orders, then Sophie shot me a grin as she pulled a bottle of cheap pink champagne out of the fridge. “I don’t need to ask what you want.”
“Nope!” I grinned and took the glass. “Thanks. It really goes fabulously with fish and chips.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, but I’ll put in an order.”
“Me too!” There was a chorus from my friends.
Sophie grinned. “No problem. Your usual seats are waiting for you.”
We found our table by the fire. As I lowered myself to the seat, every muscle in my body ached. As soon as my butt hit the wooden chair, I nearly melted into it. The fire warmed my back, and music played over the speakers.
This was amazing.
“Why does champagne always taste better after you kick some demon butt?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but it does.” Bree laughed and sipped her pink cocktail.
The pub was pretty full for a weekday night. At least, our section was. We were too far from the entrance to this room to see if the rest of the pub was heaving, but there were a lot of Protectorate members in here.
I spotted Lavender on the other side of the room, sitting with Angus and a few other classmates. She noticed me looking, and glanced away. Her hair was different. A wig, probably, since my magic had somehow singed hers off.
I frowned.
Bree caught my eye. “What’s up?”
I nodded my head toward the other side of the room and whispered, “Lavender.”