Chapter 28

"The wards are down!" someone screamed beyond the window of my old office at Zodiac Academy where I'd been poring over a deck of tarot cards.

I sprang to my feet as more cries of terror pitched through the air, running to the window and taking in the panicked rebels below. Some were pointing skyward and fear coiled around my heart as I turned my gaze there, finding a hoard of Dragons raining down hellfire from above. The wards had sizzled away to nothing, the final glimmers of that fierce wall of power sparking out of existence right before my eyes. How was it possible? Their strength was forged in Phoenix Fire; I doubted any creature on this earth held a chance of shattering them. How had I not foreseen whatever force had done this? Whatever plot had been formed to this end must have been draped in shadow.

I cursed, the need to protect my family taking a sharp, unrelenting grip on me. I shed my shirt, throwing the window wide and leaping out of it, my wings bursting to life.

I swooped over the heads of the rebels, yelling out to them. "Make your stand! Prepare to fight or take shelter!"

The heat of a fireball came tearing this way and I wheeled away from it, looking skyward and finding a red Dragon racing down from the clouds like a wraith of death. I sent a net of vines flying at the beast and they wrapped around its wings while I cast huge boulders to hang from them, making the Dragon roar in fury as it came tumbling towards the earth.

It crashed beneath me with an almighty boom, but I left the rebels to end that particular fight, flying fast across campus to The Orb where I'd last seen my wife and son. We were bound to each other by a tracker spell, and I sensed her position across campus, knowing she was still there with a certainty that rattled my bones.

A screeching of metal sounded up ahead, and as I made it to the centre of campus, I found a giant grey Dragon with spines along its back on top of The Orb, tearing the roof open with his razor-sharp talons and spilling a lungful of fire inside.

A yell of terror left my lungs and I landed fast, running into The Orb, pushing against the flow of screaming Fae who were racing out.

I saw death, blood, and a grief like no other tore at my heart, leaving me raw. Pain speared through my head and I gritted my teeth against the agony, perceiving more, seeing all too much destruction.

I pushed away the visions, seeking out my loved ones among the fray. The air was thick with smoke, and fire bloomed from every direction, another spill of it pouring from the Dragon's jaws above.

I forged a shield of metal against my arm, raising it high to keep me as safe as possible while I sought out my wife, the heat of the flames washing over me in a suffocating wave.

The grey Dragon dragged himself through the hole he'd torn in the roof, landing with a heavy thud and breaking several tables in the process. The ooze of blood beneath them told of the Fae who'd taken shelter there, and my throat thickened as I moved on.

I didn't dare call my wife's name, even among the screams and fleeing bodies, I wouldn't risk the Dragon hearing me and turning his attention to my plight.

A guttural growl sounded from the depths of the Dragon's chest and fire glowed hot in his throat as he opened his jaws once more. Someone crashed into me, and I found a blond-haired boy, I'd once taught in my classroom, Elijah Indus, stumbling backwards towards the grey beast, drawing the Dragon's attention.

"For the True Queens!" Elijah sent a blast of ice shards at the Dragon with a bellow of rage leaving him.

I raised my hands to help him, but the Dragon's fire came spiralling from his jaws, surrounding Elijah in an instant.

I dove for cover as the fire tore my way, skidding under a table as I hit the ground, and the charred husk of a body slammed down beside me.

I blinked at it, taking in Elijah's death as my ears rang and my pulse thrashed.

I swore between my teeth, crawling onward and squinting through the smoke. My wife was still here, her tracking spell calling me to her, and I wasn't going to stop until I had her in my arms. I sensed my son wasn't here, and I'd go straight to him the moment I could.

The smoke stirred in front of me, and I was suddenly gifted the view of my wife running toward me through the smog, her air magic forcing out a barrier around her.

Her eyes widened as she spotted me and I leapt upright, grabbing her hand. "We need to get to Luca."

"Dante has him," she said.

Her face was flecked with ash, but no mark lay on her and relief spilled through me at that fact.

"Hold onto me. I'll fly us out." I gathered her close, but the Dragon's huge form loomed out of the smoke, two enormous feet slamming down in front of us.

My wife's air shield slid around me as the Dragon's lips peeled back, his beady jade eyes taking us in and a sick kind of satisfaction filling them. We couldn't run, but we could damn well fight.

Earth magic tore from me in a wave of fury that rocked the foundations of The Orb, the ground cracking open at the Dragon's feet while sharp blades of metal slammed into his body. He roared in anger, fire blooming from his lips as he scrambled away from the hole I was tearing into the floor. My wife took the brunt of the flames with her air shield, saving us both from the deadly heat of his fire.

A war cry came from close by and Carson Alvion burst through the smoke with Leon at his back. Carson punched the grey Dragon with his bare fucking fists, his skin coated in metallic spikes. The beast roared, rearing away from him, his giant clawed foot slamming into Carson and tearing great gouges across his chest.

Two more Dragons came plummeting into The Orb from above, one green and one silver, and Leon ran to meet the green one, a blaze of fire tearing from his hands and a Lion's roar bursting from his lips.

Carson had made it onto the grey Dragon's head and was punching him bloody, even with the gaping wounds torn into the ink of his chest.

My wife lifted her hands, ripping a great chunk of jagged metal off of the broken roof with her air magic, propelling it down with such force that it carved straight through the skull of the silver Dragon before moving forward to make sure the beast was dead.

Leon narrowly avoided the wild blasts of fire spilling from the green Dragon's open jaws, and he was forced to take cover behind an overturned table. Smoke whirled around him and I lost sight of him as the fire plumed through the wood.

I raced in his direction, bolstering that wood and turning it to iron, dropping down at his side.

"Lavinia's here, she cut through the wards with some crazy fucking magic. Nothing like I've ever seen," Leon cried then grabbed my arm. "Gabe, can you see a way we all survive this?"

I turned to my gifts, seeking out an answer from the stars, but all I saw were flashes of those I loved torn to pieces.

I blinked away the cloying horrors, focusing on the now and praying the stars offered me more than that soon.

The blaze of fire stopped blasting the iron table and I shoved up onto my knees, peering over the top of it and spying two bright, reptilian eyes staring back at me. I knew those eyes. They belonged to one of my captors, a woman who had worked to keep me in the power of Lionel and his foul queen. My upper lip peeled back and I beat my wings, flying up and speeding toward her, casting a barbed spear in my grip. The Dragon reared up on her hind legs, swiping huge claws at me, but I ducked, swooping beneath her guard and driving the spear into her jaw.

She roared wildly and I jammed it in deeper, cutting through flesh and bone, my muscles burning from the effort it took. But with a bellow of rage tearing from my lungs, I slammed it higher, driving it up into her skull and finishing her for good.

I flew back, avoiding her falling body as she crashed to the floor and The Orb trembled from the might of the impact.

Leon whooped, leaping over the table and running toward me. Carson had the grey beast on its belly, countless metal knives sticking out of its flesh at every angle like a pin cushion.

He yanked a sword from its throat and jumped down, landing with a heavy thud before my wife, a mix of his blood and the Dragon's dripping steadily down his flesh. She moved forward, placing a hand on his torn chest, the gashes healing over from her touch and I nodded to him in acknowledgement of what he'd done.

A boom of thunder sounded above us and the heavens split open just as lightning daggered through the sky. Rain spilled down on us in a torrent and Dante swept through the clouds, illuminated for just a moment before disappearing into the dark, no doubt in the grip of battle. The fire was put out by the rain, and everything fell eerily quiet around us, though screams still carried across campus.

"If he is in the sky, who has he left my son with?" my wife snarled, and I leaned into The Sight for that answer, a frown drawing my brow low.

"Stars no," I rasped.

"Who is he with Gabriel?" she demanded, a fiery blaze in her eyes.

"This is too terrible a fate," I breathed, fear ripping through me as I saw so many deaths coming for my son that it cleaved my heart apart. No, not him. Why is my son with him?

"Gabe," Leon growled, slinging an arm around my shoulders and damn near choking me. "Who the hell is he with?"

I stepped closer to my wife, wiping a line of ash from her cheek, knowing she was about to lose her shit and I was damn well ready to lose it with her. "We need to go now. Seth motherfucking Capella has him."