Chapter 28 #2
His chanting grew louder, more insistent. Light began to form in the space where the barrier had been, a warm silver glow pulsing in time with his words instead of the blue-white shimmer from before. Caleb’s spell took hold, pinning the breach open until the barrier stopped fighting to close.
“Alright, I think I got it,” he said after a few tense moments, panting hard as though he’d expended every drop of his energy. “You can let go now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I released my hold on the magic and stumbled backward. My wings folded against my back automatically, though I didn’t have the energy to make them disappear completely. Trace caught me before I could fall, his arms wrapping around my waist.
“Holy shit,” he breathed against my ear. “You actually did it.”
I leaned into him gratefully, watching as the silver light in the gap solidified for just a moment before melting seamlessly into the rest of the barrier and disappearing altogether, leaving nothing but invisible air once more.
“What did you do?” I asked Caleb, my voice strained.
He turned to look at me, a satisfied smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I overlaid a controlled lattice across the breach and threaded it into the original barrier’s ley-line feed,” he said before tweaking his eyebrows. “Then I keyed the whole thing to my signature.”
I frowned, trying to understand what the hell he was talking about. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning I basically just installed a backdoor into Hollow Hills’ security system.
Except this one only responds to my commands,” he explained, preening like the cocky Caster I knew him to be.
“I anchored it to the same ley lines the original barrier uses so it reads as part of the existing structure.”
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline as my eyes widened. “So you’re basically tricking the original barrier into thinking your section is just…part of it?”
“Exactly,” said Caleb. “As far as the magic is concerned, nothing’s broken. The barrier is still intact and doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing. Only now there’s a secret door I can open on command.”
“And the Council won’t notice the giant hole in their barrier?” asked Trace, looking skeptical.
“Not right away,” answered Caleb, choosing his words carefully. “Not unless they randomly decide to perform a full ward inspection. They’ll figure it out soon enough though, but it’ll buy us enough time to get people out.”
Enough time to get Tessa and Ares out.
I nodded, exhaustion pulling at my limbs and making everything feel heavy and jumbled. “How long do we have?”
“Hard to say. It could be days or it could be hours. Depends on how closely they’re monitoring the barrier network. In the meantime, we can drop it and raise it just as quickly without destabilizing the rest of the network or alerting the Council that anything’s changed.”
“Clever,” murmured Dominic, and there was genuine approval in his voice.
“We shouldn’t waste any more time,” I said, straightening despite my body’s objections.
My wings had disappeared back into hiding just as soon as my hands left the barrier, leaving only the torn fabric of my shirt as evidence that they’d been there at all.
“We need to get back and let Gabriel and the others know it worked.”
“You should give yourself a minute to recharge,” suggested Trace, his brows creasing as concern bled through both his voice and our bond.
I shook my head. “I don’t need to recharge. I’m fine.”
His dimples pressed in on a frown. “I felt how much power that took, Jemma. You almost burned out completely from it.”
“But I didn’t,” I fired back, before catching myself and quickly softening as I took in the worry etched across his features. He was only looking out for me, and I needed to not let my anxiety cloud that. “I’m okay, Trace. I’m just a little tired, but I’m okay. I promise.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push it either.
“Can the barrier hold without her here?” asked Dominic, his attention sliding from me to Caleb.
“Yeah, it’ll hold,” said Caleb confidently. “It’s self-sustaining now.”
Dominic nodded before turning back to me. “The choice is yours, angel. We move when you’re ready.”
The choice is yours.
No order. No pressure. Just the quiet acknowledgment that this was mine to decide, my war to wage, and the unspoken promise that wherever I went next, he would follow.
I glanced back at the gap in the barrier one last time.
At the opening I had carved through Hollow Hills’ last line of defense.
It wasn’t just a breach anymore. It was a way out.
A chance for Tessa to walk through with Ares in her arms and keep going until this place was nothing but a nightmare behind her.
Somewhere safe and far away from here where the Order couldn’t reach them. That was all that mattered. Getting them out. Making sure they survived this, even if I didn’t.
“I’m ready,” I said, squaring my shoulders as I turned back to Trace, knowing what I needed to do. “Take us home.”