Page 56 of Wild Ivy
“The wards are barely holding,” Vex cuts in, his voice tight with worry. “Whatever Life’s doing, it’s tearing them apart.”
Ramsey and Josh exchange quick looks. “We’ll coordinate from here,” Ramsey says, already typing on his phone. “We can get teams in position around MistHallow’s perimeter as soon as we get the go-ahead. Alert Professor Blackthorn that backup is on the way.”
Vex nods and grabs my arm and Tate does the honours and transports us to MistHallow Academy. A place, I’ve secretly been dying to see since Vex first mentioned it, but had hoped it would be under better circumstances.
The last thing I see is Ramsey’s worried face before we vanish, racing through the void toward MistHallow and whatever nightmare Life has planned for her former vessel.
29
TATE
I’ve never likedthe way Vex looks at Ivy. Even now, as we materialise in MistHallow’s courtyard in the middle of a crisis, his hand lingers too long on her arm. But there’s something different now. A strange sort of understanding between us since learning about our blood connection. Half-brothers, in the most twisted sense of the word. It doesn’t make me like him more, but it does make me understand him better. He doesn’t fancy Ivy in that way, at least I don’t think he does. It’s more that he is just a giant douche canoe. That is confirmed when he shoots me that smug look I want to smack off his face with my ancestral power. I grin when I think it isourancestral power. Oh, how poetic that would be…
“Tate!”
Ivy’s urgent tone snaps me out of my wayward thoughts. We follow Vex across the misty campus.
The air in MistHallow feels different from before. The gentle hum of protective magick is discordant, like an orchestra playing out of tune. My markings burn in response, sensing the wrongness.
“This way,” Vex says, leading us into the main building. “We’ve moved her to a warded room, but it doesn’t seem to be helping.”
“How long has she been like this?” Ivy asks as we hurry down a corridor.
“She started declining rapidly about an hour ago,” Vex answers. “Then the disturbances started. We thought at first it was just her body finally giving out, but...” He shakes his head.
“It’s Life making her move,” I mutter. The energy is stronger here, and it’s twisted, desperate.
Bram’s shadows float around us as we approach the door, and Torin’s chaos magick sparks in response to the energy saturating the air. We’re all on edge, sensing the danger.
The sight that greets us when we enter Lila’s room makes Ivy gasp. The shifter’s body is barely holding together, her form flickering between human and something else entirely. The void between realities shows through her skin in places, like tears in a cosmic fabric.
Blackthorn is there and he gives Ivy a swift nod but otherwise ignores her for the moment as he and Vex exchange a quiet word.
Hovering around her, barely visible but unmistakably there, is Life.
Haggard, ancient, fragile looking, but still emitting power on a wavelength that concerns me.
“She’s trying to force her way back in,” I say, watching the way Life’s essence circles Lila like a vulture. “Using their old connection to anchor herself.”
“You can see her?” Ivy asks with a frown. “Where is she?”
“There.” I gesture vaguely, frowning back at her. “You can’t see her?”
She shakes her head.
“Nor me,” Bram murmurs,
“Nope,” Torin says.
“Vex?” I ask,
He shakes his head.
“Why can I then?” I mutter.
“Does it matter?” Ivy snaps, her agitation getting the better of her. She is trying to get to Lila, but she is unable to break past whatever barrier Life has up. “If you can see her, you can fight her.”
“She’s weak,” I say, studying Life’s form more carefully. “Trying to repossess Lila is taking everything she has.”
