Page 107 of Radiant Shadows

“Stop,” I ordered with my siren voice.

Instantly, Tobias stopped walking, standing in place just feet away from the main doors.

“Put me down.” Even in my siren voice, I enunciated each word clearly, injecting the force of my will into every syllable.

Like the robot I always accused him of being, Tobias set me down on my feet, a pained glint in the vacant stare of the eyes I hated to love so much.

Before I knew what was happening, a hand struck me across the face, the force of it knocking me to the ground. Ashlyn ran to my side, clinging to me protectively while I tried to recover from the blow.

“How dare you use your siren powers on my son.” The general towered over me, the shadow he cast darker than the murky waters outside the glass. The fury in his eyes was truly terrifying, and right now it was aimed at me. “Is that how you did it? Is that how you tricked him into falling in love with you? Was he ever even imprinted to you, or did you just compel him to believe so?”

Behind him, Tobias blinked hard several times and shook off the spell, horror and anger twisting his face as he saw what was happening.

He stormed toward his dad. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

“Attention Dome students and faculty,” a velvety, dark voice spoke over the intercom. Though I had only heard it once before, I knew without a single doubt who it belonged to.

Hadrian.

Everyone under the Dome froze, giving their full attention to the words they heard. The entire space fell eerily silent.

“It is not our intention to kill you all tonight,” Hadrian announced. “We are here for one reason and one reason only. You have something that belongs to me, and I want it back. Ifyou hand over Arya Walker, the attack will cease, and we’ll leave you in peace. For now. Refuse this request, and we’ll slaughter each and every one of you. Is that something you want on your conscience, Arya?”

The intercom cut off, and slowly, the sea of faces under the Dome turned to me. Several students who’d been inside the main building flooded out the doors, filling the silent Dome with their whispers.

I could see the heads of Cora, Letti, and Adina floating in the crowd, staring at me with fear in their eyes. Cora kept her mouth shut, and Letti’s brows were creased in indecision.

It was Adina who finally pushed through the crowd and spoke out against me. “What are we waiting for? Give her to them.”

“Yeah, she’s the one they want,” a phoenix girl agreed.

“She’s been nothing but trouble since she got here.”

“She destroyed the greenhouse.”

“She attacked Letti.”

“No, she didn’t,” Letti shouted in my defense.

I had thought I was immune to the denigration of my fellow classmates by now, but seeing how quickly they were willing to sell me out stung like a sword to the belly.

“What is wrong with you people?” Tobias put himself between me and the mob of frightened students. “You would sacrifice an innocent girl for your own safety?”

“She’s not innocent,” someone called out.

“She’s been in league with them from the start!” another shouted.

“You’re all idiots!” Ashlyn roared, planting herself beside Tobias. “Arya is the sweetest person at this godforsaken school, and you’ve never given her a chance.”

“A chance to what, turn on us?” Adina retorted.

The general stepped forward. “Arya stays, and that’s final. The simple fact is that her life is worth more than any of yours. She’s the best chance we have against the vampires.”

“Then let her go out there and fight them,” someone yelled.

I wanted to. I looked up to the lake beyond the Dome where the mer were battling the vampires. Some shot guns with special bullets that left trails of green all through the faces and arms of the vampires they hit. Some were the recipients of bullets fired by the vampires. Other shifters were locked in a morbid dance for survival, many of them losing and getting their throats bitten. All around the Dome, the water was stained with blood, flashing red every time the beams lit.

I wanted to go out there and fight. The prophecy said I was destined to end this war. I could go into the water and use all the skills I’d learned, all the techniques Caesar, Celeste, and Ms. Heather had taught me.

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