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Chapter Twenty-Two

RAIN

" K ill him!" Hawke roared, pushing past my shadow to hack at the man.

"Rain, cover us!" Keir demanded, joining him.

Their attacks kept the Huntsman occupied, giving me the chance to check on Aspen. "Are you ok?"

"No!" she said. "But only you can hurt him. Go, Rain. He knows I'm here!"

"I'm out of magic."

She set her jaw and rolled to her knees. "And I have plenty."

Thrusting both of her fists towards the ground, she encased the entire area in whiteness.

The smell of roses was almost cloying, but I felt that thing inside me again.

The darkness was growing, but in a good way, and then the bubble of Winter magic around us began to pull in, closing down right on me.

When it hit, I shoved, pushing all my own magic towards the Huntsman. Another hunter caught my eye, headed our way, so I sent a wolf at him. The beast emerged from my chest, running with all it had, darkened teeth matching its dark body.

Shadows. My power was shadows, and my magic was a gift.

It didn't matter if I knew how to use it.

This shit was wild, so I had to become fucking feral!

Slinging my arms out, not caring about my swords, I released everything I could think of.

Hawks flew, inspired by the guy fighting with me.

Monsters burst from the darkness under trees, lashing out at hunters with claws, tails, or anything else they had.

There, in the middle of the school grounds, I felt almost invincible, slinging magic in every direction I could, but none of it was working.

Shadows were so thick now the crisp sunlight felt dim and faded.

Everything I could use, I was using, burning through magic as fast as Aspen could give it to me.

Some of those shadows grabbed at hunters, passing right through them.

Others attacked the hunters' shadows, and that seemed to work - but not enough.

It tripped them, slowed them, or turned them around.

My own silhouette yanked at the Huntsman's, trying to pull him off balance while Keir and Hawke fought with all they had.

None of it stopped them.

Then I heard, "Help!"

I turned, slinging darkness that way, only to see a guy bobbing off a large hunter's shoulder. The student was beating on the creature, but the hunter didn't even notice. He marched in the same direction the Huntsman had been carrying Aspen.

"He's got one!" I called out.

"And he'll get Aspen if we don't stop this one!" Hawke growled.

Which was when Torian showed up. A spear of ice slammed right between Hawke and Keir, impaling the Huntsman. The monster staggered back, his glazed eyes turning to find the bigger threat.

"Hit Rain!" Aspen screamed.

"She is mine!" the Huntsman snarled, pushing aside Keir so he could grab for Aspen again.

Without thinking, I hacked, slashing at the Huntsman's arm with both of my blades. The eltam skipped off, but the steel cut deep. Something beneath cracked, and I sure hoped it was a bone.

"She is mine !" I barked into his face. "And I will not stop."

"Magic is not endless, little girl."

It was Torian who answered. "Hers is . Aspen, hit her."

My girlfriend cast at me, shoving one hand out, and pink petals rushed through the swirls of intense white. From further back, Torian was whipping out his own spells, yet his eyes were locked on Aspen, and he was moving closer.

"It's yours," he said to her. "Always yours. "

When their hands met, white and green swirled around each other, turning into something else before rushing back into Aspen, but I didn't have time to watch. I was the fucking Morrigan! I had to do something to stop this.

"Leave!" I snarled, my eyes shooting black daggers at him.

They hit hard enough he was rocked back, but it still wasn't enough. My shadows weren't hurting these things! Still, they seemed to do more than either Summer or Winter magic. Mine at least touched them.

But the thing that worked best was my steel sword.

I swung, not caring about anything but my rage. This asshole shouldn't be here. He didn't have the right to come at Aspen, or Hawke, or Keir, or even Torian. But when Wilder rushed in to help Hawke, I added his name to the rant in my head.

"They are mine!" I breathed. "All of them. The fae are mine, and I will not let you have them!"

The words were barely out of my mouth when explosions colored the sky above us. "Sentinels!" Torian yelled. Clearly, his fireworks were some kind of signal.

"They're leaving!" Aspen gasped.

But the Huntsman didn't agree. "I will not go without you!" His eyes were locked right on my girlfriend.

"Fuck you," I hissed. "Fuck all of you. Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck evil!"

And with each rush of profanity, I swung with all I had. The Huntsman's blade clashed against mine, but the tone was changing, sounding more and more brittle. On impulse, I wrapped the damned thing in shadows and slashed again.

"Die!" I screamed, my voice pitched much too high.

Like a wave, the rest of the school joined us.

From the edge of my vision, I could see bodies moving.

Green sparks flew. Grey retreated. I was pretty sure we were winning, so I added even more shadows.

I forced them all out, creating a great tidal wave with all the magic I'd been offered, and then I shoved it right at the Huntsman, hoping to hit him hard enough to push him clear out of Iowa.

He blocked one more swing, kicked Keir in the gut, knocking him onto his back, then shoved Hawke away as if we'd been no more than mere flies pestering him. But me? The man paused, lowering his blade, and looked right at me.

"You keep one. I keep one. I also know where she is." Then he turned, running in the same direction as all the rest just as my wave of shadows crashed down, swallowing them all.

"One what?" I asked.

"Fuck!" Keir breathed, stumbling back to his feet. "They had Fin!"

Oh shit. That was the guy over the hunter's shoulder. Keir's fucking roommate was who they'd caught, and I'd heard the horror stories about what they'd do to him. Horrified, I looked back at Aspen, torn between checking on her and trying to stop what I knew was to come.

"Asp?" I begged, seeing her crumpled on the frozen grass.

"Go," she said, sounding like she could barely get the words out. "Go, and if you need more, it's yours."

"It doesn't help!" I whimpered.

"But you do!" she insisted. "So go. Be the hero, Rain!"

"I got her," Torian assured me, collapsing to his knees so he could crawl the last pace towards his sister.

"And you're not a fucking fighter!" I hissed.

So Keir moved to her side. "I have her too. Hawke?"

Hawke grabbed my arm. "Let's go, Rain. Wilder, we might need magic."

"And I can use a sword too," Wilder said, giving my back a nudge. "Time to save the day, Morrigan."

So I went, but we were losing ground. Some of the hunters were still mounted on their storm-grey horses.

The sound of them rolled through the air like distant thunder, but it matched the feet of the beasts.

The men were drained and frail-looking, but fighting them proved it was merely a disguise.

They moved faster than my friends and I could dream of.

Thankfully, Hawke and Wilder knew where we were going.

The gate. I knew it was the gate, but I'd never seen the thing before.

We also weren't the only ones. Dozens of us ran, swords flashing in the magically cleared sky.

The colors were like fireflies, sparking for a second only to vanish just as quickly.

And yet we were all coming together. It was as if the sentinels were converging, and leading them all was Bracken on my left and the most terrifying warrior I'd ever seen on my right: Ms. Rhodes.

"No!"

The sound of the man's scream made my blood run cold and my feet run faster.

I pushed with all I had, sure I'd never taste the sweet fulfillment of air again, because my lungs were burning too badly.

I couldn't stop, though. I couldn't fail.

I was supposed to be something important, and now Keir's roommate's life was in danger because Aspen had been all that mattered to me.

She was safe now though, so I could help him. I would, all I had to do was figure out what hurt these fuckers! Pumping hard, I could see my breath fogging before me, and the sky darkened. Crows, but not all of them were real. Some were just shadows, an embodiment of my own power.

With a thought, I sent them downwards. The Hunt had to be stopped. The students had to be saved. I was Bracken's daughter and the fae's champion. I was supposed to be the knight in some shiny goddamn armor!

But as we crested the rolling hill that blocked the view of the gate from the school, I saw the mass of grey. Too many of them. At least twenty, maybe more, and they were packed close.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Ms. Rhodes ordered.

I ignored her, rushing forward. "No!"

The Huntsman turned and dropped whatever he was holding. I saw it bounce, yet my mind refused to accept it. Nothing should move like that. It couldn't be true. I had to stop this, change this, or something.

So I shoved with all I had.

The sun faded. The clouds thickened. The wind picked up and snow drifted upwards. "Morrigan!" Jack cried out.

The Huntsman just laughed. It started slow and deep, gaining volume with each chuckle that fell from his lips until it was a full-on cackle.

"Guilty!" he called out right as my shadows swirled, caught up in the growing breeze.

The hunters began to move, running with the wind. The ones with horses swung onto them. Others met theirs mid-stride. Only the Huntsman lingered, staring right at me.

"Ride with me?" he said, almost begging this time.

"Go fuck yourself," I spit back.

"Rain!" Bracken pleaded.

"It would be a wild ride," the Huntsman said, turning for a horse that rushed in from the side.