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Chapter Thirty-Six

RAIN

T wo days later, all hell broke loose. Aspen and I had taken the stairs that morning. We paused at the second floor so she could head to her class, but just after she walked away, something boomed loudly. It was a sharp sound, more like a firecracker than a bomb, but all I could think of was Aspen.

Wrenching the stairwell door open again, I hurried onto that floor just to see Aspen running away from me - and toward the sound. In the distance, a man was screaming like he was angry. More people were yelling in fear, and the traffic around me was going the opposite way, clearly fleeing.

"Aspen!" I begged, hurrying after her, but the push of so many people made it hard.

"Queen!" Jack cawed as he took off, soaring over everyone's heads.

Then I felt it. The chill and tingle at the back of my head made it clear Aspen needed help. The strange part was I could still see her, and she was fine - but that didn't mean she'd stay that way. Twisting, pushing, and struggling with all I had, I was making progress, but it was slow.

Then I heard a scream of pain. The scent of roses filled the hall.

Next came light, with another one of those loud pops right after.

Every instinct in my body said to duck, hide, and retreat.

It was too close to gunshots, and while I'd never been in a school shooting, I'd suffered enough drills to have that reaction trained into me.

But this was Silver Oaks. Here, there were things far more terrifying than guns, and I was one of them.

"Move!" I bellowed as I reached for my shadows.

Darkness swirled around me. I tried to imagine the attacker, even as vague as they were right now, and convince my Wild magic to just stop it. I didn't care how. I simply wanted to catch the person doing this.

Then brightness filled the hall, nearly blinding me. Every dust mote sparkled like a snowflake in the aftermath. There was a concussion that reverberated through my chest, but it had no sound. A man - who sounded like a teacher - filled the eerie silence.

"I can't block this!"

"I can."

That was Aspen's voice, and she sounded as cold as her brother usually did. I had to get to her, had to help her somehow. Not knowing what was going on scared the hell out of me more than if I'd been the target, so I stopped being nice and started pushing.

"Morrigan!" someone cried out, and more people jumped out of my way as the doorway up ahead lit up in the brightest green I'd ever seen.

White came next, right across the hall. The moment the green one faded, it shifted to a darker shade that was nearly olive and flared again. I reached it just as Hawke barreled out.

"Rain!" he gasped when he saw me, grabbing my wrist to pull me forward.

"Fuck. You!" That was clearly Pascal's voice, and I assumed he'd jumped in to help again, right up until Hawke and I pushed through the last of the students trying to retreat.

Between us and Pascal, a girl was unleashing flurries of magic at him.

Pascal had a chair he was using like a weapon to block as much as he could.

A cheap chair, though. It was mere aluminum and plastic, the sort waiting in the back of every classroom, and part of it had already melted.

A teacher peeked around a doorway, sending out magic that looked like it was the only reason Pascal was still standing.

There were the three others positioned around the girl who was attacking Pascal, acting like they were her support.

One - a girl, I thought - was making blasts of color and light that hurt my eyes.

I kept clenching them shut and blocking the brightness with an arm, even as I pushed toward the silhouettes that had to be my friends.

The second was a guy magically pushing back Mr. Green - and anyone else who tried to stop them.

The last guy had put up barriers behind both them and Pascal.

Clear ones that rippled enough to mark where they were, but transparent enough to see through.

Almost like impassable water or something.

Aspen shot something white at the one between us and the assholes. The barrier sucked it in, glowed for a second, and seemed to thicken just as Torian shot a blast of his own power. Sadly, it had the same effect.

"Move!" I commanded, pulling my arm free from Hawke just to shove through Wilder and Keir.

Ok, so they were here too. That meant we all were, and I had this. The wall was eating - or containing - other magic? Well, I knew how to deal with that. When I got close enough, I just lifted my hand and pressed it against the wall.

The barrier popped like a bubble, sending down droplets of both white and green magic.

"Morrigan!" Jack warned as he swooped low over the attackers.

Someone shot a conjuration at him. Vines wrapped around Jack's body for a split second before disintegrating into dark dust. Aspen reacted by sending spears of ice at the fool who'd tried, but the girl in the middle slashed wildly with her arm, and a ripple of the floor raced toward Pascal.

"No!" Keir said, throwing a shield between his friend and the power.

But the magic simply rushed under it. Torian was slinging both arms at the group of four.

Sometimes, the power headed at them was visible.

Other times it just erupted under or around his target.

Wilder was busy blocking for Aspen, and Hawke was trying to interrupt the casting of anyone in that group he could.

I pulled shadows from the air and threw, hoping to save Pascal, but Aspen was faster. She barely flicked her fingers and a sphere of ice encased him. The wave rushed under his feet, rippling the cheap tiles of the floor, but Pascal rolled with it - literally.

My shadows hit the ripple, evaporating it and protecting the rest of the school, but the bitch in the middle shot something hot at Pascal, refusing to stop.

Flames licked off the ice, making some of it melt.

Another attack came after that, then more.

Aspen focused on keeping Pascal safe, which gave the attackers a little too much of an advantage.

"Morrigan!" Jack called again, making another dive toward the four assholes who were already cornered and couldn't win. Then he grabbed the hand of one. "Rain!"

Shit, hands. Reaching up into the air, I grabbed shadows from nothing and sent them that way.

Four people. Eight hands. I could do this, and I had to.

I wanted something fast, like a sparrow.

Something small that would get through their protections.

I just wanted to make this stop, and the only way to do that would be to prevent them from conjuring anything else!

The first one slammed into the fist of a guy slinging a conjuration at Aspen. Like tar, it coated his hand, then solidified. The next caught someone else, but one of the girls realized what I was doing.

"You should not pick sides!" she screamed, rushing at me as she reached into her pocket.

There wasn't much room. I wasn't armed, but by her second step, the girl had pulled out a knife. I braced, ready to deal with this the way my zez had taught me. I knew it would be bad, but I didn't exactly have anything ready to handle this. I had to rely on me instead of my magic.

"Keir!" I begged, hoping he'd have a shield that might work.

"No," Torian said, reaching his hand before him, and then merely clenching his fist. "That crosses the line."

The girl dropped, grabbing her throat.

"Rain, make more or he'll kill them," Hawke warned.

I started throwing shadows as quickly as I could, but the main girl realized Pascal was untouchable, and we'd just become the real threat.

Turning, she thrust both arms out at Aspen.

The moment the magic flew, I recognized it.

This was just green. It was raw Summer power, unleashed without any intention except harm.

It was the same thing Harper had thrown at me so long ago.

So I shifted into the path, intending to absorb it.

Torian gasped and slung something at the girl.

Wilder brought down both arms, invoking a bright white shield, and Keir put up his around all of us.

Only Hawke didn't react to that. Instead, he rushed the girl on the ground.

The one Torian had forgotten about, released the moment his attention wavered.

"Hawke, no!" Torian snapped just as Hawke grabbed the girl around the neck.

I hurried to send the last of my shadows, realizing that was the best thing I could do even as Hawke held the girl on the ground, panting hard.

"I'm just holding her, Tor."

But both of her hands were now encased in those shadow mittens that had worked for me before.

All four of these idiots were secured like that, yet the attackers were still trying to do something about it.

They pulled, slammed a hand against the wall, and tried to find a way out, ending up looking like nothing more than rats trapped in a cage.

"Someone get Pascal," I said as I called more shadows, letting them pour from me.

A pair of bears formed at my side, walking like guard dogs. Seeing Hawke respond to Torian like that made me think of it, and now these things were about to be the sentries that held these four in place.

"Jack? Can you get Ms. Rhodes?" I asked.

"She's on her way," Mr. Green said timidly as he peeked his head out again.

"Good," Torian said as he stormed over to the girl on the ground. "And you..." His sneer looked predatory.

"Civil," Hawke said softly, making it sound like a reminder.

"She tried to take what is mine!" Torian roared, turning his anger on Hawke. "He is under my protection! Mine!"

"Yes, Your Highness," Hawke said, holding Torian's eyes.

The rest of us were perfectly still.

"And he's not even Winter!" Torian yelled next. "Pascal carries Summer magic, not that I care! Anyone who tries to destroy the Winter Court, Winter users, and Winter magic in any way is my enemy. Mine! "

"Why?" Keir asked, shifting closer as if ready to deal with Torian next.

And Torian turned on him. "Because an attack on the remaining Winter fae is an attack on me," Torian said. "It is treason against the Summer Court. Do I make myself clear?!" And his eyes dropped to the girl on the ground.

"Highness..." she breathed.

"That's Your Highness," he corrected. "And whoever sent you to do this?

The person you vowed not to mention in any way?

They are trying to destroy my power. They want to invalidate my sister.

They are a fool! One who is too stupid to understand the damage they are doing to all of our magic, using half-baked propaganda and lies to make students do their bidding, or. .."

He paused to look around, making me realize his rage wasn't as uncontrolled as I'd feared. "Or," he said again, "they want to harm the Summer Court, and we shall not allow that. Our court will stand."

"Our court," Aspen said, making it clear that was not merely a royal "we" Torian was using, "embraces all magic. We respect all fae - including faelings. Our court," she screamed, "will fight for our people!"

My bears prowled around the detained students, preventing them from running.

Behind them, Pascal was pulling himself to his feet.

The guy looked worse for wear. There was a scrape on his cheek - or maybe it was a burn?

His left shoulder was bleeding, and there was a tear in his pants, just above his knee.

"Your Majesty," Pascal panted as he staggered toward Aspen.

"I owe you my life." He made it to her, just to drop down on his knees and reach for her hand.

"As repayment, I offer you my sword, since I have no magic to use.

But my power is yours as well, if you need it.

My loyalty too, Aspen. You..." He looked up at her with awe. "I think you saved my life."

She just clasped his hand and knelt before him. "But you saved me first, Pascal. This makes us even."

"And yet you've still earned my loyalty," he said, offering a timid smile. "And I don't grow plants."

Torian huffed. The sound came out like he was annoyed, but when I glanced over, there was something warm in his eyes. I wanted to call it pride, but it wasn't for him. No, this was a brother realizing his sister was stronger than he'd realized - and liking it a lot.