Page 88 of A Sky of Storms
“Shit!” I shouted as they backed up and flew towards us again. Each hit against the barrier seared their flesh and left blood dripping down the side, but they kept going, like sharks in the heat of a feeding frenzy.
“The barrier will hold!” the Overseer called out over the commotion with a creepy smile on her face.
“We should take the injured back to the House of Ascension just in case,” the nurse said. I took my eyes off the massacre to focus on her conversation with Nolan. “If those things break through, they’ll be defenceless.”
“Agreed,” Nolan said, rising to his feet. “We’ll get them into a helicopter now.”
Another boom echoed as the bats attacked, and the barrier rippled violently.
“On second thought, perhaps we should return all victors to the academy, just to be safe. Do we need to risk having no one to crown?” asked the nurse, following him to where the Overseer stood with a bright pink umbrella over her head.
The three exchanged words, then the next thing I knew Celeste was announcing for us all to follow the Mind Master, Jeremiah, towards a ring of waiting helicopters. I frowned. There was no way I was boarding now. Fallon, Kendra, Kayden and Ace weren’t here yet.
Despite the giant bats trying to beat themselves bloody against the forcefield, a Potential walked past me, swinging a familiar metal hand around and whistling. The guy looked like a ferret, and not the cute and cuddly kind. He was giving me some seriously bad vibes.
“Hey,” I called out, snatching the hand from him. With one swift move I slapped him across the face with it like a good old-fashioned glove slap. “This doesn’t belong to you.”
He stared at me like a stunned mullet, then a sneer dragged across his face. “Fuck you, give it back.”
“Nope,” I replied, stuffing the hand in my pocket. “What kind of friend would I be if I did that, hmmm?”
“I don—”
“That was a rhetorical question, you slimy sea snail,” I said as his face burned red. He stormed forward, pressing his chest up against mine. I rolled my eyes, prodding him back with one finger. “Bit close, dude.”
“Give it back you little fucker.”
“Little? You’re looking up at me.”
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” he barked. The guy could really do with some mellowing out. He was gonna pop a vein in his eye if he didn’t chill soon. “Now fucking give it back before I break every bone in your body then do the same to your friend over there.”
I narrowed my eyes, grabbing a fistful of his jumpsuit and lifting him up. He squeaked as his boots flailed in the air. “No one threatens my bestie.”
Before the ferret could say another word, I threw a punch, clocking him in the mouth. The dude fell to the ground, holding his jaw and crying as he spat teeth into the mud.
“Walk it off,” Nolan said with an impatient shake of his hand. He strode over with a stretcher under his arm. “Loch, help me with this.”
The hand thief scrambled to his feet, darting away, and I crouched beside Noah.
“I want to stay,” I told Nolan.
“No can do,” he replied. We lifted Noah out of the mud and onto the stretcher, my bestie groaning with the movement. “Overseer’s orders.”
“But I’m waiting for someone,” I insisted, watching as he strapped Noah down.
“If they are worthy and finish, you’ll see them back at the House of Ascension,” he said. “If not, I doubt there’s much left of them to see anyway. Now hurry up. Pick up the other side and get your ass moving.”
With a dramatic sigh, I took one last look at the bloody bats and the crater beyond then picked up the other side of the stretcher. Noah was out cold as we marched through the mud to where another forcefield awaited, but Nolan walked through without hesitation, dragging me with him. Suddenly, the helicopters came into view.
“Why isn’t it raining here?” I asked, looking up at the clear dusky sky.
“Not in the trial anymore, are we?” Nolan shot back as we strode across the tarmac.
“Who has the power to control the weather like that?” I knew some had the power to manipulate water and air, but not to that extreme.
He scoffed. “No one. It’s called science and engineering.”
Crew members ran towards us, taking Noah from me and loading him into a helicopter while other Potentials followed suit. There were just under half of us left from the original hundred, give or take. I turned from them to stare one last time in the direction we’d just come. Still no sign of the others.
