Page 65 of Midnight Reign
“Okay, let’s swing by the dining hall, assuming there is anything left of it and then, we’ll head back to the library to the statue of Morgana and head underground.”
“No rest for the wicked,” I murmur,
“Hmm?” He gives me a frown.
“Just a saying my mum used to say. I guess she knew what she was talking about.”
“About that,” Ignatius says. “How the hell did Blackthorn, a vampire mage, spawn a celestial being?”
“Oh, for the love of all things unholy,” I grouse. “Please don’t.”
He snickers. “Sorry, it’s just mind-boggling.”
“This whole fucking thing is.”
“What’s bugging me,” Zephyr states, “is that my father bowed to Crimson. Why? Can you ask her?”
Not answering that, so don’t even try,
I shake my head. “She’s not answering. My guess? She’s a fucking powerful cuntface, more so than we thought.”
Now she’s getting it.
I gulp back the pang of fear. I’m tired of being afraid. It’s time to grasp this shitstorm of a destiny that was forced on me and do something about it instead of whinging in a corner of inaction. Shaking out my hair and pushing my shoulder back, I lift my chin. “Let’s move.”
28
CORVUS
As we makeour way back towards MistHallow, I feel a sense of unease. Everything Malachar revealed sits heavily on all of us, but especially on Addy. I watch her out of the corner of my eye, noting the determined set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes. She’s scared, I can tell, but she’s also angry. That will get her so far, but then she has to accept that this is how it is.
The forest around us is too quiet. I extend my vampire senses, searching for any sign of the shadow creatures or other threats. So far, nothing, but that doesn’t mean we’re safe.
“Everyone stay alert,” I murmur, loud enough for the others to hear. “We don’t know what we might run into.”
Zephyr nods, his shadows curling around us protectively. Ignatius’s hands are wreathed in flames, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Zaiah’s white eyes glow faintly, scanning our surroundings.
As we approach the campus of MistHallow, the devastation becomes apparent. Parts of the school are in ruins, smoke still rising from some of the buildings.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, taking in the destruction.
“It’s worse than I thought,” Zephyr says, his voice tight.
We pick our way carefully through the rubble, heading towards what’s left of the dining hall. The silence is oppressive, broken only by the crunch of debris under our feet and the occasional crackle of dying fires.
“I expected more,” Ignatius says.
“More what, exactly?” Addy asks.
“Destruction.”
“MistHallow is a magickal place. It’ll be fixed completely by tomorrow. It’s doing its best,” Zaiah chides, almost lovingly of the Academy.
As we round a corner, we come face to face with a group of shadow creatures. They’re different from the ones we’ve encountered before - larger, more solid, with glowing red eyes that fix on us with predatory intent.
“Fuck,” I spit out, dropping into a fighting stance.
Before any of us can stop her, Adelaide raises her hand. The shadows seem to hesitate, their forms wavering. Then, to my utter astonishment, they bow.
