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Chapter Sixty-One

RAIN

T he hunter before me stepped aside to reveal the Huntsman storming at me. On his face was a smirk, almost like he was glad to see me, but the heavy sword hanging from his hand made it clear he was ready to rumble.

Keir still took a shot at the hunter he could reach. Hawke shifted around, checking behind us. Me? I braced for impact, because this fucker would not get his hands on someone I cared about again.

"Bring it, bitch," I breathed, deciding I was going to embrace Jack's terminology.

The Huntsman's smile grew. "You took what is mine."

"Nope, she's mine," I told him. "You also didn't really like what I offered in return."

But in the pit of my belly, my guts were trying to double-tie themselves. I could feel my asshole clenching because I was so scared. I simply refused to show it. Right about now, I had no choice but to deal with the mess I'd gotten myself into - and hope like fuck I could get my friends out of it.

"Hawke? Keir?" I asked. "How far to the school?"

"Too far," the Huntsman said, lifting his blade.

"Do not touch her!" Keir snarled.

The Huntsman looked at him, then back to me. Two more steps, and he would be on us, but the other hunters had backed away. Unfortunately , they were all shifting, grabbing their weapons a little tighter, and moving to stand shoulder to shoulder. Preparing.

I counted six of them. No, not a lot, but I knew there were a few more out here somewhere. Probably behind me. Likely going to fuck me up when I least expected it. Still, the breather the Huntsman was giving us as he casually strolled towards me meant I'd almost caught my breath.

And then someone screamed. No, not the panicked kind.

This was a roar. Another voice joined it, and one more after that.

I dared to glance back in time to see Bracken charging at me.

Ms. Rhodes was beside him, wearing her full armor.

And chasing after them? Torian and Aspen, along with the rest of the sentinels.

"Oh, you're fucked now," Keir said.

The Huntsman swung without warning, his blade aiming for Keir's head.

I yelped. Shadows poured from me, released with no thought or plan. Hawke lunged, shoving himself in the narrow gap between me and Keir, all but shouldering Keir to the ground. And in the split second it took for all of that to happen, my shadows found their purpose.

Darkness split, coalesced, and slammed against all three of us. Immediately, it was solid, so when the Huntsman's blade crashed into Hawke's raised arms, it clanged loudly, like it had just hit concrete. Confusion took over the grey man's face, followed a moment after by rage.

"I do not want you!" he roared, backhanding Hawke so hard the guy flew six feet to the side.

But I was there to take his place. "Keir, get up!" I begged.

I could hear him moving, yet the Huntsman swung again.

I blocked, and shadows coated my other hand, spread, and became a shield.

Yeah, I could work with this. Pulling the circle of darkness before me, I crouched, just like my zez had taught me, then pushed, refusing to even blink as I hacked at anything the Huntsman moved.

Warmth hit me again, then cold, then something else. Not heat, but dry. Like wafts of air, they didn't do more than make me aware of the sensations, and yet I could feel my power levels rising back up just as my father pushed in by my side, his sword moving so much faster than mine ever could.

"Do." He swung. "Not." He blocked. "Touch my daughter !"

"Rain, pull back!" Ms. Rhodes ordered. "You need to send them away. We cannot kill the Hunt. We can only push them back into the storm!"

The Huntsman's head snapped over to the sound of her voice, shifted a bit, and then his eyes widened. Without a word, the man shoved my father out of his way and tried to walk right over me. I pushed. I hacked, but my blade skipped off what must be his armor.

"Aspen, go!" Torian yelled. "Wilder, wall off something!"

"Rain's over there!"

"Hawke!" I screamed, knowing he was even further away.

"Got him!" Keir said, scrambling that way to drag Hawke back towards us even while Hawke was still trying to get to his feet.

Bracken was right back beside me. I knew the others were near, but this had just turned into complete chaos. A moment ago, I'd been outnumbered. Now there were so many people moving I couldn't keep track of them all.

"Rain," Bracken said, "do the shadows!"

"I need more power!" I told him.

And the Huntsman looked back at me. "Ride with me, le Fae."

"Over my dead body!" Bracken hissed, shoving a hand at the man.

A rush of wind pushed the Huntsman back a step. It was just enough to let Hawke and Keir get around him, and then Bracken shoved at me, making me go with my friends. I hesitated, refusing to leave my zez like that, but Hawke snagged my arm, yanking me with him.

More fae were rushing in. I saw Tag move to stand beside Ms. Rhodes. Over there was my math teacher. Moving to help Bracken was the woman from the front office - the one I'd thought was a secretary.

Then Keir slung me around, using my arm to make me change directions. I staggered, then stumbled, letting the shield dissipate into swirls of darkness in my attempt to catch myself. Torian caught me, keeping me on my feet so I ended up face-to-face with Aspen.

"Light her up," Aspen said, and both of them poured magic into my body.

My mind spun. My insides expanded. I felt my ears pop, and the roar behind my ears sounded like the pounding of some marching band or something.

My back arched at the impact of so much raw magic, and I had a vision of myself floating into the sky like the prince in Beauty and the Beast, but my feet never left the ground. They simply felt like they should've.

But the darkness was there. I could see it. Every shadow looked like it had been placed over the world, waiting for me to grab it - so I did. It was daytime, and cloudy, which limited my options, but there were always shadows, so I pulled. I gathered. I reached for each and every thing I could .

Overhead, the crows cawed before swooping down like a volley of arrows.

Before me, our teachers fought like something straight out of a movie.

None of it stopped the Huntsman. Pushing and shoving like he was immune to mere physical harm, the desiccated man had his eyes locked on Aspen and was marching straight for her - for us!

"You cannot have her!" Torian screamed.

The Huntsman's eyes snapped to him. "This is not your fight. You are not on my list."

Torian's response was a rush of flames. The dried grasses ignited, flaring up, but it didn't even slow the Huntsman down. It also didn't continue to burn. The fires shifted to ice, cracked, and dissolved into soft, powdery snow that was melting right before my eyes.

I kept pulling. They needed something to ride. They had to be swept away. I needed all the force I could get, because this asshole wasn't just talking this time. He looked stronger! He appeared to be thicker, less wasted, like something had changed!

"Fool!" the Huntsman barked. "You know better than that. Your magic does not hurt me!"

"Keep your cursed hands off her!" Torian yelled at him.

The Huntsman just cackled. "Foolish boy. I only answer to the crown!" And he lifted his blade.

So I pushed. With my mind, both of my arms, and every ounce of strength, magic, and shadows I had, I shoved it all at the creature bearing down on us.

My body was braced before my girlfriend, beside her brother, and so far from where my father still fought with all he had, but this was my best weapon.

Once, when I was little, I'd seen a tornado.

It had been far away, but the next day, we'd had to drive past the area.

The splintered wood, fallen trees, and flipped cars had always haunted my mind.

The power of a storm was terrible, but not even that scared me as much as allowing the Huntsman to take one more step towards Aspen.

So I released a storm of my own.

The darkness rushed in. With my arms spread, I controlled it, glaring right at the Huntsman as I forced him back, away from the ones I loved, far from the things I treasured, and back to whatever hell he'd come from.

"Retreat!" Ms. Rhodes screamed. "Fall back! The Morrigan has it handled!"

Silver, gold, and iridescent shades of blues and greens all shifted at the edge of my vision, but I only had eyes for the Huntsman .

"Fuck the crown," I growled, adding even more force to the storm I was creating. "I fight for my friends!"

As the words left my mouth, a vortex opened up. Crows scattered, diving out of the way, but the hunters were pulled up, into the spinning tornado I was making. Before me, the Huntsman tried to resist, pushing himself down, but struggling against my power.

"You cannot stop me, le Fae. I was called," he said.

"Wrong fucking number," I grumbled as I thrust both hands up.

They flew. The men, the horses, and everything grey lifted like it had been sucked away from the earth. The darkness rolled, lightened, and began to drift, shifting from a single tornado to yet another cold front, moving away from us just as quickly as it had come.

And my knees gave out.

I hit the ground with my ears ringing. Cold mud sank into my palms. Not the slimy kind, thankfully, but healthy, normal spring dirt. I pushed my fingers into it, panting for breath, but I couldn't hear anything over the deafening tone that clawed at my mind.

"Rain, Rain, Rain..." Keir begged, sliding down before me, catching my face in both hands and pulling me against his chest. "C'mon, princess. Don't pass out."

"She needs magic!" Torian snapped. "We're out!"

So Keir wrapped his arms around my back, one cradling my head.

His cheek pressed against the top of my hair.

Slowly, something began to change. Like a sunrise, the world around me began to lighten.

The weight in my head relaxed. Colors returned, making me aware of how dull they had been a moment before.

"C'mon, Rain," Keir begged. "She needs more!" he yelled.

So Hawke dropped down beside us and took my hand. "Hold on, Rain," he whispered.

Then electricity shot through my body. My head snapped back, I sucked in a breath, and for a little too long I couldn't even close my eyes. Yet the moment he let go, I felt fine. Normal even.

"Hawke?" I turned to look at him.

"Don't even ask," he warned. "I won't be able to say."

I just nodded. "Ok, but I have the thing. Jack got it out of the tree. It's..." I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out what reminded me of a Christmas ornament, but crudely carved. "This."

Torian snatched it out of my hand. "It's not enchanted."

"Because," Bracken said as he hurried over to pull me from Keir's arms, " she's the Morrigan. She broke it the moment she touched it." Then he turned my face so I was looking at him. "Rain? Are you ok? What is on you?"

I just nodded. "I'm good. Tired, but good - and I think I'm wearing shadows. Oh, and so you know, steel's kinda heavy."

"So is fear," he agreed, hugging me hard. "I don't know how you did it, but you did. We're supposed to hit them from the side, kid. Not head on."

"They had Nevaeh."

"No..." he breathed.

"She's inside," Aspen hurried to tell him. "Rain saved her and the other courtiers. They came as a group, though. That's what Nevaeh was saying anyway. The Hunt came together, surrounded her and the guys, and came fast."

"Because I activated the Hunt sign," Wilder said, sounding like it weighed on him.

"You found it?" Ms. Rhodes asked, jogging over to join us. "The trigger? It's been located?"

Torian passed the carving to her. "Jack did."

"Court!" Jack said, landing on the other side of Bracken. "Rain?"

"I'm ok, Jack." And I reached for him, needing to touch him. "Did you get hurt in the storm?"

He shook his head, then hopped over to nibble at my fingers. "Rain-Jack?"

"Rain-Jack," I agreed. "But maybe you can ride on someone else on the way to my room?"

He fluttered up to perch on Aspen's shoulder. "Court!" he ordered, looking right at Keir.

"Yep, done this before," Keir said as he slipped an arm under my legs. The other went around my back, pulling me away from Bracken. "Arm around my neck, Rain." And then he lifted.

"I'll get nectar," Bracken said.

"And I want the entire court in her room," Ms. Rhodes said. "I need to clean things up out here, but when I'm done, I expect all of you to be there."

Torian pressed his arm against his waist, then bowed over it. "Yes, General."

Ms. Rhodes just sighed. "Do not make me send her father with the group of you." And she flicked her hand. "Torian, you open the doors for Keir. Now go."

Keir turned, carrying me against his chest, and Aspen moved to my side to grab my hand. "You know, there is a bit of an appeal to these big strong boys you like."

I leaned my weary head on Keir's shoulder. "Yeah? What's that?"

"We have someone to do the heavy lifting," Aspen said, lacing her fingers between mine. "And someone to remind me that you're going to be ok. Please be ok, Rain?"

"He didn't touch you," I said. "That means I'm fine." But I just couldn't keep my eyes open.