Chapter 4

FOUR

BASH

I’d never flown as fast in my entire life. All I could think about was that Collins was going to die because I locked her in the infirmary. I had no idea what compelled me to do that. It was like my worry and panic was turning me into a monster all of a sudden. I just needed her to get better as soon as possible and would do anything to make that happen. The infirmary doors were just up ahead, so close yet too far away even as I flew down the hall. Those white doors were thrown apart and the sounds of females screaming and cursing echoed down to me.

The red flashing light could only mean one thing.

Savina.

My stomach rolled. No, no, no. It was Mother. It had to be. We’d all assumed she’d fled to Third Realm with Venus. IDIOT. I glanced over my shoulder—then did a double take. There was no one behind me. I’d unintentionally left them all in the dust, not that I slowed down. I had to get to Collins.

I flew through the open doors of the infirmary and my heart stopped. My wings froze in place, and I dropped to the ground, barely catching myself on the doorframe before hitting the floor. The sight before me made me want to vomit. On the left side of the room, Jada was locked in a fight with Venus. Jada wore protective crystals so my sister couldn’t use her magic on her, but my sister was ancient and knew how to handle a dagger. Their fight was equally matched.

But on the right side of the room was my mother. While I knew she was after Collins, she was going to have to get through the powerful force of Savina in front of her. My heart skipped beats and my hands trembled. Everything inside of me wanted to rush to Collins, but in order to get to her I’d have to go around my mother and that was a risky move. And they were holding their own for the moment. Savina was blasting my mother with her Red Widow power that looked like a solid laser beam, or like a red lightning bolt that didn’t waver. Savina’s arms began to tremble. Collins hid behind Savina’s body, but she kept peeking around her to shoot sharp crystal shards at my mother.

Mother was bleeding down both sides of her body. I’d never seen her like this. One of her wings was mangled and torn up by her own thorns. And she was still soaking wet from the sirens trying to drag her to the ocean floor. The image of my mother weakened sent a rush of adrenaline through me. I lunged forward, my wings shooting me across the room. Mother had used her magic to create a shield made of thick green vines that was absorbing most of Savina’s power. It seemed to be taking all of her strength just to keep herself up and not die from the Mage Queen’s attack.

She hadn’t seen me yet.

I tackled her from the side, but when I touched her some of Savina’s magic shot through me. I screamed as Mother and I slid across the infirmary’s tile floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Savina sag into Collins’ arms. She’d been fighting Mother too long. Pain shot up and down my entire body, I felt sharp points slicing into my skin. I knew Mother was attacking me, but I had to keep her down, so I wrapped my arms around her body and pinned her hands to my chest. At least that way no one else would be hurt.

Mother screamed in my ear, but I didn’t let go.

“ Savina!” Nickel shouted. “DRINK!”

Relief washed through me. Backup had arrived. I craned my neck to look over just as Nickel dumped some kind of shimmery potion into Savina’s mouth. Collins shot crystals out of her palms at Savina’s feet. Mother roared and two massive thorns the size of my hands pierced into my skin just below my collarbones. I screamed as I felt them rip through my back. Green vines coiled around my throat. I sucked in a deep breath just as it squeezed, cutting off airflow. Pressure filled my head. I had to get free, I had to cut it off, but the thorns impaling me had cut through some muscle and my arms just weren’t cooperating. I planted my palms on the tile floor and pushed up, but the vine dragged me back down. Darkness crept into my vision.

A crystal as clear as glass cut through the vine.

I gasped for air, then choked on a string of coughs. Still, I managed to push myself up again—silver light flashed between me and my mother and my body lifted straight up into the air. Mother hissed and flung her wrist, sending another vine to wrap around my throat again. It had barely touched my skin when a silver dagger sliced through the vine. I started to drop but the silver magic threw me a few feet away. I caught a glimpse of Stellan standing in the doorway with silver magic billowing from his hands.

Mother shrieked and leapt to her feet.

Ellie poked her head out from behind Stellan and shot purple lightning into my mother’s chest. She flew backwards and slammed into a wall of empty vials that shattered to the ground. I scrambled back to my feet just as Ellie dropped a ball of water on Mother’s head, drowning her on dry land. But mother was quick, she threw up her shield made of vine and now razor-sharp thorns and broke the water bubble in an instant. Her pale-blue diamond-like eyes narrowed on Collins.

NO! I lunged forward, fully prepared to take the hit again, when Jada slammed into me mid-air. We both cursed and crashed to the floor. Red magic flashed and reflected off the white tile. I looked up and my eyes widened. Savina stood tall and terrible with rivers of red lightning pouring out of her. Behind her, Nickel was dumping potions onto her skin. Savina’s feet were being actively buried by crystals. Collins bit her bottom lip and poured them onto the Mage Queen. I saw bloodstone, carnelian, jasper, malachite, pyrite, ruby, and turquoise—all stones for strength.

Sandra soared across the room and dropped down in front of Savina, throwing her big gold and turquoise angel wings out wide to shield all three of them from Mother’s thorns. Stellan was doing his best to push all of them against the wall but there were too many. I jumped up and scrambled over to Ellie. Without hesitating, I handed her both vials of blood we’d just gotten. She nodded and charged for my mother while I turned to my sister, only to find her in a sword fight with Shylock. Jada was trying to get up, but her eyes kept crossing like she had a concussion or something.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was tackling Venus to the ground. We rolled like tumbleweeds across the infirmary. She hissed and then gripped my head with both of her hands. Despite the protective crystals I wore, I felt her magic washing through my body. I touched my ring, summoning one of my daggers to my hand, then slammed the blade into her side.

She screamed and dropped her hold of my face. I threw her off me, but as I did, I saw the golden shimmer of something in her pocket, so I dove forward and grabbed it then shoved it in my back pocket while Venus was trying to pull my dagger from her ribcage.

Stellan pounced on top of Venus, then looked over his shoulder at me. “ THEM! ”

I didn’t wait. I charged for my mother. The necklaces she wore to protect herself from my magic were right there, dangling in the air as she crouched. I reached for them, bellowing as Savina’s magic sent unparalleled pain through my body, but my hands snagged those necklaces and I yanked them off. I let gravity plummet me to the ground while I flicked my wrist and stole my mother’s sight and hearing. I wanted her to smell her own blood and feel the pain.

Ellie opened the vial with Jimbo’s blood and used her magic to coat my mother’s body with it.

But nothing happened. Just like with Ailwin’s blood.

She cursed and slid closer, then doused Mother with Riven’s blood.

Nothing.

It might as well have been water.

My heart sank. And I knew by the despair in the auras around me that I wasn’t the only one who’d been praying Riven’s blood was the answer.

“ Get her out of here! ” Shylock shouted and threw beds out of the way to clear a path. “Collins and Ellie, throw her back where she belongs!”

Collins leapt out from behind Savina and took Ellie’s outstretched hand. Purple and turquoise magic swirled together. I tried to watch but suddenly my knees hit the ground and my vision tunneled.

“ I’ve got you! ” Nickel pressed her palms to the wounds on my back and warmth spread through my body. My vision cleared. “Focus on blinding her so we can get her out, I’ll be your strength!”

I nodded and focused all of my magic on my mother. She screamed my name. She threatened to do horrible things to me. But I ignored them. Collins and Ellie held hands while holding their free hands out.

“ MOTHER! ” Venus shrieked and tried to throw Stellan off of her. “BASH, I WILL PEEL YOUR BONES FROM YOUR BODY!”

“Oi, good idea, mate!” Stellan thrust both hands right at her and her whole body began to tremble. “Wait, can I kill her?”

“KILL HER!” Shylock shouted.

I turned back to my soulmate. “GET HER OUT!”

Collins and Ellie’s turquoise and purple magic had my mother floating across the room in a bubble. Mother’s screams were drowned out by it, but I knew if she could curse with words, I would’ve been a dead man. My magic still had a tight hold on her, so I glanced back to Venus.

Silver magic slammed into my sister’s wings and then a cracking sound echoed around the room. She wailed. Her wings fluttered. The rose quartz stone in her chest began to radiate light. Her skin shimmered pink. Her long pink hair floated upwards. Pale, rosy-pink fog billowed from her stone. When it hit Stellan’s magic, it threw him clear across the room. Shylock cursed and threw a dagger at her. It flew through the pink fog and embedded into her shoulder.

The air pulsed for a split-second before that pale-pink fog exploded and knocked us all off our feet. Collins cursed from over by the door. I felt the rush of power surge through the air and then the pink fog formed together to make a million little rose quartz crystals. Savina and Ellie hit Venus at the exact same time, red and purple lightning in perfect unison. Collins threw her arms forward and pushed Venus inside the purple and turquoise bubble Mother was in.

“PORTAL!” Shylock shouted.

The two Stone Keepers leapt forward and grabbed ahold of their magic bubble like it was a dog with a leash. Together, they dragged Mother and Venus through the doorway, into the hall, and out of sight. Shylock and Sandra were hot on their heels. I collapsed to the cold tile floor and just let the chill soothe the pain Peggy and Nash had just healed.

Nickel stumbled toward the doorway, then leaned against it. Her normally rich brown skin was ashy and pale from using so much of her magic. Even her hazel eyes looked flat. She pushed her hair back, then looked to the warzone of the infirmary. “Life check. Bash?”

I grumbled and then cursed as I forced myself up onto my knees. “Alive.”

Nickel nodded, then looked to my right. “Stellan?”

“Rather dandy, mate,” the prince grumbled.

“Jada? Oh, God, Jada are you okay?” Nickel hurried over and then sank to her knees. She pressed her fingers to Jada’s forehead and smiled. “Say something?”

Her chest rose and fell. “Ouch.”

We chuckled.

Nickel’s hands glowed a soft golden hue where they rested on Jada’s forehead. “You’ve got a nasty concussion. Just hang tight for me and we’ll get you healed.”

“I’m okay. Just playing dead, that’s all.”

Nickel smirked, then looked up. “And Savina?”

Savina chuckled. “I’m trapped in a mountain of crystals, but I feel fine.”

“Here, let me dig you out.” Nickel pushed off the wall and stumbled over to the Mage Queen. “We should all shove these stones in our pockets.”

“That’s actually a great idea. Hand me some?” I smiled and held my hand out. When Nickel filled my palm, I wrapped my fingers around them and felt the tingle of their energy seeping into my skin already. By the time Nickel walked the few feet back to Savina, the crystals had given me enough strength to climb to my feet and stand. I didn’t push it further. “Stellan, grab yourself a handful.”

“Incoming, Jada.” He threw his hand out and pushed his silver magic out. Crystals shot up and over Nickel’s head then across to place a few on Jada’s forehead then over to his open palm. “Oh, tingly. Cool. Do we need to follow them?”

“No, they’ve got it under control,” Sandra said as she walked back in the room. She rolled her shoulders and shook her wings out. “They set up some kind of barrier to work as an alarm system so that they’ll be signaled if either of them come back through. Better than nothing, I suppose.”

We nodded. Her words were supposed to make me feel better, but until Collins was back in my sight, I wasn’t going to relax.

Sandra sighed and looked around at what was left of the infirmary. “Shylock went to get Peggy. I suspect we could use a little help right now.”

I groaned. “Peggy’s going to need a vacation after all this.”

Collins walked back into the room with Ellie on her heels. They both seemed to count moving bodies instantly. Ellie rushed to Stellan and helped him back to his feet. I stared at Collins, doing my own mental check of her injuries. I waited for my normal emotional response to seeing her to kick in, but it didn’t come. I loved her with all my heart, but in that moment all I wanted was to grab her and shake her and ask her why she was being so damned reckless suddenly. I also wanted to strap her to one of these beds so she couldn’t wander off.

Collins didn’t say anything. She just marched right up to me and then slapped me across the face. Hard. I flinched. She pointed her finger in my face. “Don’t you dare do that to me again.”