Page 221 of Rebellious Royals

Then every tree out here erupted as crows took to their wings. The flapping sounded like waves breaking on sand, but even through it all, I could hear Jack make his pronouncement.

"Hunt! Hunt-Hunt-Hunt!"

And from the stands, Bracken yelled, "Sentinels!"

A few rows in front of me, Torian shoved to his feet. "Court!"

And from the back, a girl cried out, "Courtiers, get everyone inside! Help the court!"

"Today is not the day to ruin my dreams," I grumbled, peeling off my graduation gown, glad Liam had picked pants. "Aspen!"

"Someone hit her with magic!" Hawke ordered as he pushed his way towards us from back in the W-section.

Immediately, at least five students tossed various colors of magic at me. I saw three greens, but there was definitely a white and an iridescent one in there as well.

Up on the stage, Ms. Rhodes was pulling off her own attire and summoning her armor and weapons. On the stairs, parents were getting jammed up, slowed by the few narrow passages to get down to the grass.

And the clouds were getting closer much too fast.

"Go, go, go!" I yelled, pushing people past me, guiding them back so they could run for the school. "Get the adults. Get everyone inside! The Hunt is coming!"

Deep inside, I knew why. I didn't want to think about that, but there was only one thing that made sense. Ms. Valentina was here. She knew how to make those stupid little tokens that called them back. It had been months since we'd seen them, and I'd dared to hope that just once, I'd get to have something nice without someone trying to fuck it up - but it seemed today was not that day.

What had been an orderly ceremony only seconds ago had just turned into chaos. Wooden chairs were left empty. Some had been knocked over. People were running, some screaming, and too many faces were filled with fear. I saw all of it like snapshots I knew would be seared into my memories for far too long, but I was trying to move against the flow of bodies.

I needed to be up there, between the fae and the Hunt.

"Morrigan!" Jack called. "Hunt! Court, Knight, Courtier. Shadow!"

"You want me to help yours, Shadow? Well, I'm definitely going to need an assist!"

"And weapons," Keir said as he shoved in beside me with an armload of weapons. "Thank fuck Poppy knows how to gate." And he shoved a cloth covered bundle at me. "Take that, it itches."

The moment my hands closed on the fabric, I knew what it was. This blanket was usually crumpled in the corner of my zez's weapon room. The thing inside it was heavy, solid, and suspiciously sword-shaped.

"Where did she gate you?" I demanded.

"The gym," he said. "Pascal said we needed gear, and there's still some out there." And he started moving towards Torian and Aspen. "I grabbed something for all of us."

Tucking my sword under my arm, I pulled out my phone again and found Poppy's last message. If she could gate...

Rain:

Gate people into the atrium. Hunt is coming!

Her answer was a thumbs up. Not the emoji I usually liked seeing, but Shadow had made me oddly fond of it. I was going to take that as her version of the sentinel's "heard."

"Torian!" Keir snapped, tossing something towards the prince. "Prove you know how to use a real one. Aspen, this is for you." She got a pair of shorter swords. "Wilder." Then he turned. "Hawke?" And Keir lifted both hiseltamblade and a longer spear-looking thing. "You get to pick."

"Fuck, I'll take the war scythe," Hawke said, holding out his arm.

Wilder turned to me. "Your turn, Rain. I think we're going to need armor."

So I reached down and pulled shadows. I'd never really done this intentionally before. Usually, it was more of a panicked reaction, but it didn't take long before the shadows wafted from me, covered my friends, and then snapped into place.

"Sentinels!" Keir bellowed.

"Heard!" a group yelled, allowing me to see them heading toward us.