Chapter 46
Dev
I had never seen him like this before.
It was like Ash had become an animal with only one impulse. Protect Seph. And destroy.
He ripped into the ferals like they were paper.
I had no idea where they came from. It’s like a horde had been dropped out here, purely to attack Darkmoor.
Someone sent them.
And I had a fair idea who.
Behind me, I could hear light soldiers calling for a helicopter to remove our esteemed leader from the institute. Gunfire surged from all around, bloody puddles, once ferals taking over the bare land before the building.
I used it to my advantage.
I flicked a finger, pulling the blood into an unbreakable chain, yanking four ferals from one guard who now resembled a bloody pulp. I threw my hand up to boil the blood in another, forcing the body to explode around us.
But they just kept coming.
Most of the students had run inside and were hiding behind closed doors. One, though, was crazy enough to join the fight.
A blast of fire took over a feral aiming for my carotid. I flicked my gaze to Jess, who just glared with determination, before blasting another one.
Jesus.
I thought the wards were weaker out here — but they were still in place. I could feel them dragging at my power like wet sand. And without them? Jess could burn this whole place to the ground.
“K!” I shouted, pointing at the glowing sigils along the walls. I felt them straining to numb me.
K nodded once and sent a blast of lightning directly at the closest one. The guards around us froze, mouths open.
The wards never had a chance of holding K. We all knew it.
The only reason he was here was because he wanted to be.
It exploded in a sonic boom, and instantly I felt the difference — my power uncoiled, sharper, faster.
Unfortunately, so did the ferals.
They moved with renewed vigour. Three leapt onto a guard beside me. Another snapped its head my way.
I used his blood to throw him back but caught a clawed backhand to the face.
It had once been a man — fifties, maybe. In his former life though, he could’ve been a bodybuilder. Muscles layered over muscles, making him grotesquely massive.
I reached for his blood, trying to seize something inside him, but before I could, he lunged and wrapped a huge hand around my throat—choking me.
He lifted me clean off the ground. My boots left the dirt. I clawed at his wrist, vision narrowing to a tunnel. Spots burst behind my eyes.
Then—
in a single sweeping movement—
He was ripped off me.
Not pushed. Not thrown. Removed from existence. His body launched skyward so violently I lost track of it against the grey clouds.
I dropped to my knees, coughing.
And when I lifted my head, he was just there.
Standing before me.
Expression carved from stone.
Sy.
“Thanks.” I rasped.
Sy nodded once, slow and deliberate. “Where is Seph?”
My chest burned as I sucked in a breath. I didn’t need to answer.
Across the battlefield, Ash was carving a path of carnage straight toward the med wing — ferals ripping apart around him as if they were made of wet tissue. His expression was a single, brutal instinct: get to her.
K was already watching him, jaw tight, lightning crackling faintly over his hands.
I pointed. “Follow the air mage.”
Sy didn’t question it.
He just moved — the ground trembling under his weight.
But the ferals still kept coming.
Beside me, a guard screamed once before three ferals tore him apart. Another kept firing—pop, pop, pop—until they were on him.
Fuck.
I charged another using my power to blast it back, exploding it into visceral chunks. But my powers were failing. I was exhausted.
There was no way out.
We had to retreat.
Sy was in full dragon form again, ripping through the horde. K sent out a bolt of lightning, taking out several at once. Jess had flames shooting out in all directions.
Finally, with one blast she made a wall.
I paused for half a second to just see what was happening.
This wasn’t a battle. It was a massacre.
“Ash! Where are you going?” K yelled.
Ash didn’t answer.
In one movement, he had ripped the door from its hinges and thrown it at his pursuers. He was already inside.
Above me I heard a chopper approach. The thud thud thud of the rotors swept up the wind above us.
I turned in time to see Gideon Quinn emerge from the school onto the quad. Behind him, several Light soldiers followed, arms at the ready, already firing on the ferals.
It was like a switch had been flipped. The ferals surged, turning towards the sound.
Several started trying to climb the walls.
“They’re after Gideon!” I yelled to K. K shot around, his eyes dark with fury,
“We can’t let him get away! And we can’t let them kill him! Not yet! Go!”
“You go! I’ll hold them off!” I yelled, pulling my blades from behind my back. I leapt with renewed fury, watching K’s back as he charged for Gideon.
Sy flew overhead, lowering only to cut through the rabid army with his long black talons. I could see his focus was on following Ash.
But if he left, we were exposed.
“Fuck!”
Jess ran to my side and stood strong, her hands blazing.
I cast her a glance. Her face was twisted with determination.
“Let’s send these motherfuckers back to hell shall we?” she said.
I couldn’t help it. I grinned. “I always liked you.”
“Fuck off Dev,” she snorted.
Then - raised her arms. I raised mine.
The ferals looked our way.
“Let’s fucking go.”