36. Violet

36

VIOLET

Being connected to four different types of magick is like trying to listen to four different songs at once. Fire wants to dance, ice wants to crystallise, shadows want to play, and my brand of magick wants everything.

That's it, little flower. Burn it all to the ground.

It feels like someone just threw arctic water on me, and I drop my hands. The connection to the guys peters out, and I feel them stumble as I draw the magick into myself. "We can't do this. We can't play into his hands. You're wrong. He is the one behind this. He wants this."

"Nathaniel?" Thorne asks.

"Who else?" I try not to snap because the ancient power surrounding us is pissed. Seriously pissed. I can hear it roaring in my head, but I won't. I can't. Not yet.

"Miss Violet," Blackthorne says, taking me by my elbow and leading me back inside. "What is going on here?"

"It's Morgan le Fay's power. It's all around us. Imbued into every aspect of the forest. It wants her power to be free and as it once was."

"Meaning?"

"Untamed," Caine replies for me.

"I see," Blackthorne says, looking thoughtful. "You are aware that we cannot allow that to happen."

"How do we stop it?"

"Wait, Violet," Flint says. "Are you sure about this?

"I have to be. Nathaniel wants this, which means it's not good."

He gives me a look that says he has to agree.

"So I ask again, Professor. How do we stop this?" I gesture back outside. "Modern-day magick isn't going to make a dent in it."

"Not the good kind, anyway," he mutters so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

I exchange a look with Caine, who shakes his head and stares at Blackthorne. "You can't be serious? Opening up to the dark arts is?—"

"I'm aware," Blackthorne snaps. "But we clearly don't have any choice."

I feel a chill run over my soul at the professor's words. The dark arts? Is that really our only option? I chew my lip and will the forest around me to calm its tits. But it pays me no mind, as I knew it wouldn't.

Only embracing the feral magick will do that, and right now, that is Plan Z. I will not give Nathaniel what he wants, even if it cuts my nose off to spite my face. But more than that. It's the right thing to do. As much as I want to give in and be this uber sorceress with more power in my left pinkie than this entire academy has combined, I can't.

"There has to be another way," Thorne interjects, his voice tight with concern. "Using dark magick could have unforeseen consequences."

Blackthorne's eyes narrow. "And allowing an ancient, untamed power to run rampant won't? We're out of options, Mr Thorne."

I bite my lip, torn between the need to act and the fear of what embracing dark magick might mean. The guys look equally conflicted, their faces full of determination and apprehension, which shows me that while they live in shades of grey, they have a sense of duty to themselves, to their magick, their families, to me, to the students and to MistHallow.

They are heroes.

"What exactly would this entail, Professor?" Caine asks, his analytical mind already at work.

Blackthorne sighs heavily. "It would require tapping into the darker aspects of your individual powers. For you, Mr Caine, it might mean using your ice to freeze more than just objects—think bigger, think time itself. Mr Thorne, your shadow manipulation could be pushed to control more than mere darkness but become it. Mr Flint, you know as well as I do that Dragon magick has always walked a fine line between light and dark."

Flint grimaces but doesn't dispute it.

I feel their eyes on me, waiting. "And me?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper .

"Your vampire nature, Miss Violet, is inherently tied to darkness. You'll need to embrace it fully, use the primal hunger within you to counteract Morgan's wild magick. Blood Magick at its most base level."

The thought makes me shudder.

Blackthorne's eyes darken as he surveys our group. "Sometimes, Miss Violet, to fight fire, you need fire. Or, in this case, to fight ancient, untamed magick, we may need to tap into something equally potent."

I bite my lip, conflicted. The power surrounding us pulses, almost eagerly, as if sensing our dilemma. "But if we use dark magick, aren't we just playing into Nathaniel's hands even more?"

"Not necessarily," Caine says, his voice cool and measured. "If we can harness it carefully, control it?—"

"Control it?" Flint scoffs. "We are talking about something that controls others."

As they argue, I feel a whisper of something at the edge of my consciousness. A faint, lilting voice that seems to come from all around me.

Balance, little flower. The key is balance.

I blink, unsure if I actually heard it or if it's just my imagination running wild. But as I look around at my companions, at Blackthorne, I know I did.

"Morgan?" I whisper.

Yes, my child.

"Holy shitballs."

"What?" Thorne asks, cutting off his argument to turn to me .

I shake my head and think fast. "Nothing. Just Caine, can you actually freeze time?"

He shrugs. "I've never tried."

"Do it. Try now. Freeze the forest."

"Huh?"

"Not with ice, just make it stop."

Caine hesitates, his brow furrowing in concentration. He rushes back outside, where chaos still ensues, but he shuts it all out, closes his eyes, and extends his hands towards the forest, fingers splayed on the one hand, and his cane held up high in the other. The air around us grows frigid, and I can see his breath misting in front of him.

For a moment, nothing happens. Then, slowly, I notice the leaves on the nearest trees have stopped rustling. The eerie whispers of Morgan's magick fade to silence, while all of us inside the walls are animate.

"Incredible," Blackthorne murmurs, his eyes wide with wonder.

"How long can you hold it?" I whisper.

"No fucking clue. A day?"

"If we lend you our strength, can you make it a week?"

"Only one way to find out," he grins.

I nod at the other guys, and we each place a hand on Caine. Even Blackthorne joins us. I have no idea what his power is, but I've heard he is ancient and some kind of vampire mage.

Other students who overheard us, join in. Gaida takes my free hand and squeezes it. The professors stop their futile attempts and turn to the one creature who can save our arses without causing the end of the world. In the end, there are about a hundred of us surrounding Caine, power flowing freely from one to another. Even Xaxis is here, giving it his all.

The air crackles with energy as we pour our strength into Caine. His eyes are closed in concentration, his jaw clenched tight. I can feel the strain radiating off him in waves, but he holds steady.

He has never looked sexier to me and probably never will. He is a god—an icy, time-freezing god.

"One week," he grits out. "With a push."

The forest around us remains eerily still, frozen in time. It's unnatural. I can sense Morgan's magick pushing against the barrier, trying to break free. But for now, it holds.

"This buys us time," Thorne says, his voice low as we all hesitantly step back. "But what's our next move?"

I bite my lip, thinking hard. Balance, Morgan had said. But how?

"We need to find a way to contain Morgan's magick without suppressing it entirely," I say slowly.

Flint gives me a concerned stare. "Contain how?"

I gulp, and he shakes his head.

"No."

"I have to," I whisper. "You have to find a way to redirect all of this power into me."

"It will kill you," he grits out.

I shrug. "Then so be it. "

"We will find another way," Thorne grits out as Gaida stares at me, shaking her head as well.

"Violet," she says. "I don't really understand what is going on here, but there is always another way."

I give her a shaky smile. "Well, I guess we have less than a week to figure out what that is, or I'm it."