He ran his hands through his hair then tugged. “I can’t…” He cursed then spun and took off in the other direction, disappearing around the corner.
I slid down the wall and sank to the cold sidewalk. My breaths were ragged and my lungs screamed in protest. What the hell just happened?
Chapter Thirty-Three
BETTINA
If I thought Jackson’s whiplash had been bad before, it had nothing on his behavior after that kiss.
That kiss. I groaned. That kiss had been everything I thought kissing him would be like. And it was eating me up inside, torturing me constantly. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. And this morning in combat training, I couldn’t even concentrate long enough to not have my ass kicked by Matt.
It was Monday morning, not even a full two days later, and I was about to eat my feelings. I slid my lunch tray over to the register so Wendy could see my four slices of pizza, two cookies, a soda, and a bag of chips.
“Rough Monday, love?” Wendy asked as she rang it all up.
I swiped my stupid ID and sighed. “You have no idea, Wendy.”
Before she could ask any more questions, I turned and headed straight for our table. Ever since midterms, my table had grown a bit larger. Lennox and Dean were there, but now so were Erin, Gen, Trey, Warner, Harlan…and Jackson. As I approached the table, my gaze went right for him. It wasn’t my fault. All I could think about was how soft his lips felt on mine.
I plopped my tray on the table then slid onto the bench. His pale aquamarine eyes flipped up to me for a brief second, and then he glared and spun away, like looking at me might cause him to spontaneously combust. It hurt, like a sharp pain cutting its way down my insides. I didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense. Clearly he wanted to kiss me; it wasn’t like I’d kissed him first. That was all him.
Lennox looked down at the slices of pizza stacked on my tray, then her yellow-green gaze flicked over to Jackson and back. She arched one eyebrow, but I just shook my head. She knew what had happened. I’d told her. I had to. She mumbled a string of curses under her breath and continued to glare at him.
I was just about to bail altogether and eat in my room when the main cafeteria doors flew open. Constance marched inside with her husband, Headmaster Daniel, hot on her heels. The entire cafeteria went silent. No one moved. I wasn’t even sure if anyone was breathing.
Our Coven Leader looked terrible. Her always tamed blonde hair was half falling out of her ponytail. There were new wrinkle lines around her mouth and nose, but it was the haunted look in her eyes that really shook me to the core. She sighed and for the first time I saw the fatigue she tried to hide.
“Hello, everyone. I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch,” Constance said with a soft, tired voice. She didn’t have to speak loud or yell since no one made a sound. “But I thought you might like an update. I just got back, and I’ve got some good news to share with you. It turns out our High Priestess was faking it. She’d gone undercover to try and take the demons down from the inside.”
“I knew it!” Lennox mumbled under her breath.
At least something was making sense.
“Also good news, Henley, our Moon Card, is no longer possessed by a demon. The High Priestess got it out of her for good.” Constance closed her eyes and shuddered, like the memory haunted her. Daniel put his hand on her shoulder, and she took a deep breath. “When I left The Coven, they were in Salem, Massachusetts preparing for Samhain. We’re doing everything we can. The twins are incredibly powerful, and they are on our side so—"
An ear-piercing scream ripped through the room. Everyone froze. There was a beat of silence and then more screaming. Everyone glanced around at each other. There was a loud whistling sound, and then something exploded. The ground trembled like it was an earthquake, sending everyone to their knees. Most students ducked and covered their ears, but I wasn’t about to sit still and wait to find out what the hell that was. My table leapt to our feet and sprinted for the doors…right behind Constance and Headmaster Daniel.
We dashed down the hall then pushed through the front doors of the building and raced outside. Students were running in every direction, screaming and panicking. I skidded to a stop. It was absolute chaos. A large shadow passed over me. I looked up and my heart stopped. It wasn’t a dragon like last time—it was the biggest, furriest black spider I’d ever seen. It had to be ten feet long.
Demons. My blood ran cold.
The spider dropped down, but then it slammed into an invisible barrier and bounced off out of sight. Blue mist swirled around the spot it had hit. I spun around in circles looking for Constance and Headmaster Daniel but they were nowhere in sight. Even Jackson was gone.
“The protection barrier!” Lennox screamed and pointed to her right. She took off in a sprint but yelled over her shoulder. “To Eden’s edge, come on!”
The border wall. I remembered learning about it in class. It was a spell that created a dome-like barrier between Eden and the rest of the world. We were told demons couldn’t get in, but looking at them now I had no confidence in the magic. Dark objects fell from out of nowhere, dropping just outside the border. Some had wings, some had massive talons, some stood tall like humans, but they all had big, glowing red eyes. They charged for us. The sky lit up with the blue mist over and over as the demons tried to get in.
Suddenly I spotted a huge group of people covered in black gear and masks over their heads like they were bank robbers. The same silver and gold sword etching from our building was embroidered on their sleeves. The Knights! They brandished their weapons and sprinted through the border wall. My pulse skyrocketed as I watched in horror. Constance dashed in front of me with two long swords in her hands. She yelled out orders to the Knights. Then I saw a familiar head of golden bronze hair in front of me.
I pushed aside how I felt for him and ran up to him. “They can’t get in, right?”
“No.” He didn’t look at me, just stared at the battle. “But they’re not supposed to be able to be out in daylight. The game has changed.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
JACKSON
They wouldn’t let us fight.
It was sometime after midnight and before dawn on Friday, and the demons hadn’t let up. More than forty-eight hours of incessant attacks. They’d get maybe twenty minute breaks here and there, but that was it. The Knights’ strength was dwindling. Several had already fallen. Yet still Constance and Daniel wouldn’t let us fight. They had an entire army of Swords at their disposal, and they told us to stay back. Classes had been suspended. Students were told to hunker down inside. Everyone’s nerves were fried. The least they could do was let us help. It was what we were trained to do.
I ran to Eden’s edge, to where they had a tent set up for an infirmary. As I moved through it, my stomach sank with how many of the beds were full. Mona White, the Cups Leader, was in total battle mode as she instructed her healers around. She used to be a Lead Healer in Los Angeles, and rumor had it she’d seen many a battle herself. But it wasn’t her I was looking for.
Finally, a few feet and a dozen or so injured people later, I found Constance and Daniel up at the front. They had a map of Eden spread over a table. Several Knights stood around it, all of them arguing over which tactic to take next.
“Constance,” I shouted over the madness.
She stiffened, her blue eyes widening. “Jackson, you’re not supposed to be here—"
“You need to let us help!”
But she was already shaking her head. “No. No, that is a last resort only.”
I scoffed. “This is that time!” I gestured around us, to all the injured and battered Knights.
Just then, two young healers came walking by carrying a person on a stretcher…covered in a white sheet. My stomach turned. Another fallen soldier. Another life lost.
I cursed and pointed at the poor fallen soul. “You want more of that? These Knights are exhausted. They’ve been at it for two bloody days straight. You�
�re going to have more bodies on your hands if you don’t bring in more backup!”
“I already called for more Knights, but they won’t be here for a few more hours,” Constance said with a sigh.
“Damn it, Constance. You’ve got backup right here.” I pointed toward the school. “We’re trained, we’re armed, and we’re sure as hell ready.”
“They’re children, Jackson!”
“And they’ll die all the same if these demons get through!”
“Constance!” Daniel yelled over the madness. He held her phone out. “Kessler is on the phone.”
She raised her hand in the air and snapped her fingers. A clear dome wrapped around us and blocked out the noise of the battle. She grabbed her phone and put it on speaker. “Kessler? You okay?”
Kessler, aka the Strength Card, cleared his throat. “We’re alive. Timothy, Willow, Paulina, and Larissa all reappeared in Salem tonight. The demon attacks are getting worse by the minute.”
“What about Tennessee and the others?” Constance said in a low voice. But when Kessler didn’t answer, her face paled. “Kessler? Where’s your son? Is he back yet?”
Kessler sighed and I heard the pain he must’ve felt. “No. Tennessee and the others are missing—”
“Which others?” she asked in a clipped tone. Her pulse was beating in the vein on her throat.
“Everyone we need right now,” Kessler groaned. “Tegan, Emersyn, Cooper, Royce, Henley, and Deacon. Apparently they were sucked into the Seelie Tunnels, and only four of them came out. We…don’t know… None of them can be reached.”
“I’m sure he’s okay, Kessler,” Constance said softly. “Tennessee is strong. He survived that wound from the Old Lands, right? He can handle it.”
“I know. I know. But the twins not being here is scaring the hell out of me.” Kessler cursed. “I’ll feel better once they’re back where we need them. How are you guys doing?”
Constance closed her eyes and shook her head. “Hanging on. For now. But if this barrier falls…”
“Bentley says it won’t.” There was some kind of loud explosion on his end of the phone. Kessler cursed. “I gotta go. Be careful!”
Then the line went dead.
Daniel frowned. “The Hierophant doesn’t usually say things like that, do they?”
Constance shook her head. “Bentley likes to do things his own way, much like his sister.”
I only knew a few of these names, but I knew they were talking about The Coven. Whatever was going on over there, it didn’t sound like the quest was successful yet.
I opened my mouth to ask what was going on when the sound bubble around us trembled. Constance jerked upright and snapped her fingers. The spell vanished. Screaming and explosions hit my ears at once. I flinched at the sudden attack on my senses.
Something big had happened, and it didn’t look good. The Knights were panicked and retreating to Eden. One of them sprinted toward us with wide eyes. I recognized him as a Sword who’d graduated a couple years ago. His face was pale, and thick red blood dripped down his forehead.
“Constance!” he cried. “William is down. William is down!”
I gasped. William was a Knight Commander.
“What?” Constance’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “Where?”
The Knight turned and waved us forward. We ran behind him over to the far edge of the infirmary tent where a group of healers were scrambling around. Constance pushed through and then gasped. I leaned around her to see, and my heart sank. William was on the ground in a pool of his own blood…with half of his torso missing…like it’d been bitten off.
My stomach rolled. Constance dropped to her knees and took the dying Commander’s hand. There was no magic that could fix that wound. I turned away, to give him some respect—and my eyes widened. There had to be three dozen Knights just standing there looking dazed and unsure of what to do. Their Commander was down, but no one else had taken lead.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Constance was crouched. Daniel knelt beside her. They were preoccupied. They wouldn’t notice if I slipped away, and by the time they did, it would be too late. William’s sword was on the ground in front of me, spattered with blood. I hadn’t brought mine, afraid it would set Constance off. But there was a weapon right there for my taking.
I ran over and picked it up. The hilt was unfamiliar, but the energy around it was thick and ready for battle.
I turned and found the other Knights watching me. I raised the Commander’s sword in the air and yelled, “For William!”
Then I charged into battle, a squadron of Knights with me.
Chapter Thirty-Five
JACKSON
The sun had long since risen before we found our first break. We’d killed most of the demons, and the ones left had retreated. We knew they weren’t gone. We knew they were coming back with a vengeance, but we’d take any reprieve we could get.
All the Knights turned to me with questions in their eyes.
“Eat. Rehydrate. They’ll be back.” I turned and headed toward campus. There hadn’t been a chance earlier, but I wanted my sword. My talisman that was made specifically for me. If I had the briefest of moments to run back and get it, I was going to.
Constance stepped out in front of me, blocking my path. Her eyes were wild and bright, her cheeks flushed. “What were you thinking?”
I skidded to a stop. “Constance…I’m not sorry. William went down and—”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. She stepped up closer and lowered her voice. “You are not like the other Swords or Knights, Jackson Lancaster. We need you alive for Michael, you understand?”
A cold chill slid down my spine. Of course Constance knew about Michael. Hell, I’d told her about it myself when I arrived in Eden. It’d been a common conversation between myself and the three Coven members in Eden. They’d been super helpful. But something about the tone in her voice made me think she knew more than I did. I looked her in the eye and nodded. There was more to say on the matter, but now wasn’t the time.
She stepped back. “I won’t pretend we don’t need your help. I’m done trying that. But you’re not to risk yourself, and don’t act like you don’t know what I’m saying.”
I almost smiled. She was letting me fight. Not that I hadn’t already been for hours, but the approval and recognition felt damn good. “Understood.”
“Going to fetch your talisman?” she asked. When I nodded, she glanced over my shoulder then handed me an apple. “Catch your breath, eat something on your way.”
Without another word, she turned and marched back toward the infirmary tent. I didn’t hesitate. I sprinted across the front lawn of Edenburg toward the Swords training facility. My lungs screamed in protest. Every muscle in my body burned. I tasted the bitter flavor of blood on my lips. No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the scent of maple syrup from the demon’s blood. Yet somehow, I was light on my feet.
I’d trained for a decade for this exact moment.
It didn’t take me long to get to the training room. Classes were still suspended, and students were mostly hiding out in their dorms awaiting the apocalypse. I pulled the door open and sprinted up the walkway between the benches—then froze.
Every single Sword student stood in front of me. Their eyes were sharp and their gazes heated. They were pissed. I cleared my throat, but before I could speak, Genevieve stepped out in front of the massive group.
Her glare was deadly. “You think we wouldn’t find out you fought?”
“Not cool, man.” Warner shook his head behind her. “You fight, we fight.”
I held my hands up. “Guys, no. You can’t—"
“Bullshit!” Bettina yelled. She stomped forward, closing some of the distance between the group and me. Her blue eyes practically glowed with her anger. Her fists were balled at her sides. All the new, chiseled muscles in her arms flexed. “Each and every one of us will join the Knights upon graduating Edenburg. This is what we w
ere born to do. This right here is the fight of our generation. We have every right to be out there fighting for our homeland just as much as you do.”
“Bettina, I—"
“We are an army, so be our general or be our speed bump. Either way, we’re going in.”
I opened my mouth then closed it.
She was one hundred percent right. This fight against the demons was for our generation. The twins destined to save us were our age, for Goddess’s sake. It didn’t matter if we were teenagers, or younger. If that barrier came down, we were all doomed.
It was October 26… Samhain was five days away.
We might not live long if the twins failed. Everyone deserved a chance to go out fighting.
I nodded. “Let’s talk war tactics. We’re going in with a plan.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
BETTINA
Jackson led us across campus, over the front lawn, and right for the border. That break he’d talked about had obviously ended. There was screaming and yelling, explosions, and magic flying through the air just beyond the border. Demons fell to the ground. Witches were being dragged toward a massive white tent by other witches. My pulse skipped a few beats.
This was war, and I was about to join it. And it’d been my idea.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Headmaster Daniel leapt out in front of Jackson with his arms raised. “No. Nope. I don’t think so. CONSTANCE!”
I couldn’t blame him. One-fourth of his student population stood in front of him ready for battle.
Before Jackson could speak a word, Constance came running out. Her eyes widened at the sight of us, and she slowed to a stop. She looked over us then turned to Jackson. “You went for one sword, not the entire Swords Suit.”
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