I could see a thousand possibilities extending from this moment as we walked into the school. Very few of those options for my future ended well. I suspected that Derek was silent because he could see a subset of the same thing.
Some things were as expected. There were red streamers hanging over the doorways and signs for the dance. Red hearts were plastered on windows and walls. There was smoke in the air and it wasn’t all cigarette smoke. A bunch of the teachers were on patrol, watching over us and trying desperately to look young and cool. (They failed. Every one of them.) Lots of people were dressed in red or red and white, and there were many couples holding hands. Music was playing, sending out a strong bass beat.
That the same song was being played over and over again didn’t seem to bother anybody.
That it was Jared singing “Snow Goddess” sure bothered me.
There were ShadowEaters everywhere. The other kids didn’t seem to see them, although they shivered periodically and glanced over their shoulders as they talked and laughed in their groups. They eased back to let Derek and me pass, growling and biting as we moved through the throng of them. I was sure one licked me, and I tried not to shudder.
They let us pass because they thought we were stepping into their trap. They thought they were going to have their big slaughter, taking all of us out at once, and get their power burst to make it to that pure spirit form.
What they were going to get was a surprise.
There was a lot of spell light, too, winding around our ankles, the tendrils so thick that they hid the floor. We waded through a maze of spells, like explorers in a hostile jungle. I felt the spell snakes slide over my boots, never really binding me but making sure I understood that they could.
I cradled the weight of Skuld’s shears beneath my jacket with my free hand, glad to have them.
There was a trickle of sweat running down my back.
I saw some apprentice Mages in the hallway, although there were a lot fewer of them than other times we’d squared off. I knew which ones they were because they were flickering between the forms of the species they’d conquered. There’s something about a merman becoming a basilisk, then becoming a butterfly, that catches the eye. (Trust me.) They were agitated or excited, maybe worked up in anticipation of whatever waited ahead.
That couldn’t be a good sign of anything.
It was interesting that the apprentice Mages were in attendance, given that the ShadowEaters were there, too. The ShadowEaters had been hunting surviving Mages and junior apprentice Mages, after all. Did this bunch think they were the top of the class? The ones who could join the ShadowEaters? They might just be stupid, but the fact that they could move between forms indicated that they were at least as adept as Adrian.
They might have the same false confidence as Adrian, too.
I could hope.
We stepped into the cafeteria, and I was startled by how many unfamiliar people were there. Not that we hadn’t been introduced—I’d never seen most of them in my life. The dance floor was thronged with hot guys and gorgeous girls, none of whom looked familiar.
Were we at the wrong school? An alternate universe?
Then two of the guys turned to Derek and made a single nod of acknowledgment. When he nodded back once, they returned to their dancing, and I guessed.
“They’re yours,” I said, and he gave me a slight nod.
I was relieved and worried that the wolf shifters had come. Was this part of the ShadowEaters’ plan? To ensure that as many shifters as possible were present, to improve the shadow feast?
I didn’t want to look at the stage. My heart was so filled with hope that Jared was okay that I didn’t want to lose that possibility. I didn’t want to see him spellbound or injured or turned into some kind of zombie.
I just wanted to close my eyes and listen to him sing, in case it was the last time.
“Want to dance?” Anna asked suddenly. We all started to find her right behind us, smiling as if we all were actually buddies.
I saw the glimmer of spell light in her eyes. She smiled at Garrett.
“It’s a trick,” I warned him in old-speak.
“I know, but also an opportunity,” he said. Then he smiled at Anna, took her hand, and headed for the dance floor. I could see two of Suzanne’s other cronies, Fiona and Trish, and both of them had eyes of glowing gold like Anna’s. Trevor and the ShadowEaters had spellbound them.
Converted them to staff.
Like Suzanne, they were probably going to be sacrificed.
“Great idea,” Liam said, feigning enthusiasm as Garrett and Anna started to dance. “Let’s dance,” he said to Jessica, and they followed Garrett.
“I don’t like this,” Meagan said, worry in her tone. “They’re waiting for something.”
“It’s going to get worse,” Derek said, folding his arms across his chest as he stood between us. Sure enough, the spell light seemed to be swirling with greater intensity, becoming brighter by the second.
Liam and Jessica took to the dance floor, and I was surprised at how smooth a dancer Liam was. He guided Jessica through the crowd with ease, following her slight nods to pause in the vicinity of one attractive girl after another. Dancing made it easy for her to spread the word.
I looked at Derek and he looked at me. There was a weight of expectation between us, a moment of what might have been; then he turned to Meagan. She looked between us but I nodded, relieved that she would have a wolf standing guard over her. They did the same thing, sliding through the throng of dancers. Derek exchanged a word with this wolf and that one, and I turned to look at the stage.
When I saw Jared, I caught my breath.
He was snared in a golden bubble of spell light and looked to be lost in his own world. He played the same song over and over again, crooning the words, making love to his guitar. As I watched him, I realized that he was trapped in a sequence of moments, doomed to repeat them over and over and over again.
Was he aware of his fate?
Did he know I was here?
Was he still in there?
I had so many questions, but two were the most important. Could I save him? And if I did, would he ever be the same?
He was surrounded by ShadowEaters, as if they were his backup band. Their eyes shone a brilliant gold as their ranks parted suddenly. They pushed forward a guy who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
Kohana.
I gasped. He wasn’t dead, either.
No, they’d saved him so they could eliminate all four wildcards at once. They really wanted the energy boost to be as big as possible—and they were that confident that they’d win. That simultaneous execution was what was going to give them the power surge they needed.
I had to stop them!
Just as when I first met Kohana, there was a noose of spell light around his neck. His hands were bound before him. The music stopped. The dancing stopped as everyone looked around, uncertain.
I had a really bad feeling.
Then everything happened very fast.
THE SPELL LIGHT SWIRLED IN a golden frenzy, taking on a pulsing energy that was faster than the beat of Jared’s music. I heard a different song become ascendant. The ShadowEaters converged on the cafeteria, pressing in from the perimeter with obvious hunger.
That was when I saw that the scene had frozen.
At least, all of the normal kids were frozen, trapped in a single moment of time.
Which meant that all the shifters and spellsingers were revealed, because none of us were frozen.
The ShadowEaters laughed and grabbed. They surrounded Liam and Jessica, closing around them like an ardent swarm. They isolated Garrett, and Anna helped to push him away from the group. He fought her, but the ShadowEaters had him outnumbered.
Meagan understood immediately what was happening and started to sing. Derek shifted shape when the ShadowEaters surrounded him and Meagan, with only Meagan’s determined spellsinging giving those two a buff
er. I could see that she was losing the battle, though, even though she was determined to keep singing.
Derek leapt and snapped, his hostility helping to keep the ShadowEaters back. They retreated, maybe acting instinctively, because his bite had no effect. His jaws closed on empty air and spell light, but he kept snarling all the same.
Meagan kept trying to ease them toward Garrett, and I knew she wanted to get him inside the influence of her spell light.
Then I heard Trevor laugh. How could that be?
There was a ShadowEater on the stage, one that burned a particularly vivid shade of gold. He was singing a spellsong, one that pulsed and caressed his silhouetted form. As the song grew louder, I saw his dark skin take on detail again, his features appear out of the shadow and brilliance.
The ShadowEater became Trevor, right before my eyes.
His eyes still shone the vivid gold that characterized ShadowEaters, but he’d moved back to the physical sphere.
How long would the spell last?
Why had he done it?
Trevor held the NightBlade high over his head, its dark knife gleaming with evil intent, and I knew exactly why he’d done it. This was it!
A ripple of excitement passed through the cafeteria. The ShadowEaters pushed Kohana closer to Trevor and the stage, moving faster although he struggled against the spell. Anna and the ShadowEaters kept Garrett at the perimeter of the room, isolated from all of us. A group of ShadowEaters pushed Liam and Jessica toward the stage.
Meanwhile, the mood in the cafeteria was turning frantic. The ShadowEaters vibrated more rapidly in anticipation. They pressed closer, gnawing on the captives they surrounded. The apprentice Mages spun more quickly through their forms, adding their voices to Trevor’s song.
When I looked back toward the stage, I saw something that made me sick. Nick and Isabelle were there, surrounded by a net of spell light. Isabelle’s eyes were golden and glazed, and she was completely entranced—as was Yvonne, who held their spell tethers. Nick was struggling, without success, against his spell, which had him tightly bound. I was both relieved to finally see them and terrified that they were spellbound. Meagan’s protective spell had been destroyed.
Jared played and played, lost in a world of his own.
This couldn’t get worse.
I saw the ShadowEater Trevor hold up the NightBlade. I saw him begin the invocation and target Nick and Isabelle.
They weren’t going to be sacrificed again.
Even if they were bait for me, and even if I was going to die, I was still going to win.
Because I could see that Trevor’s spells were once again feeding on Jared’s music.
All I had to do was silence him.
Before anyone was sacrificed.
THE GOLDEN MAGE SPELL LIGHT became blinding in its intensity as someone’s hand locked on the back of my neck. I turned to find Trish behind me, her eyes shining gold. She pushed me hard toward the stage, tripping me when I resisted her.
The spell snakes locked around my ankles, binding them together with lightning speed. I fell to the ground. I hauled out my shears and hacked at the spell snakes. I heard the others shout out and knew they were in trouble, too. The spell snakes grew faster and faster, replicating and replacing themselves, locking around my legs, binding me to the hip so fast that I knew I didn’t have much time.
Trish laughed as I hacked at them in desperation.
I stabbed down a bunch of snakes, slashing with a violence I didn’t know I had in me. (And I’m a dragon. Think about it.) The spell snakes obscured my vision, and the shears caught on something more substantial.
Trish.
The spell light poured from the cut, revealing her to be a ShadowEater. I didn’t have time to think about when that had happened or why, because she snarled and leapt at me. Spell light spilled from her mouth, targeting me.
I ripped the shears through Trish in self-defense. She collapsed like a rag doll, spilling spell light all over the place. It rose into the air, a renewable resource, and made the ShadowEaters pulse with new vigor.
Her skin turned dark and empty, like a deflated black balloon.
Ick.
I shifted shape with a roar, calling to the others to do the same. Liam shifted, becoming a glittering malachite and silver dragon. I thrilled at the sight of him. I was awed when Jessica changed into a jaguar and they fought back-to-back.
Garrett shifted into his garnet and gold dragon form with a roar and breathed dragonfire on every ShadowEater foolish enough to get between him and Meagan.
Meagan sang her heart out, and soon had both Derek and Garrett within her bubble of spell light. The trio moved with purpose, surrounded by her song, making steady progress toward the stage.
Trevor lifted the NightBlade high over Kohana. “One more species possessed for all time!” he cried.
“One more triumph!” cried the apprentice Mages. The ShadowEaters kept us from the stage through sheer numbers, their dark menace keeping us from saving Kohana.
I didn’t have time to mess around.
“No way!” I shouted, and spontaneously manifested right behind Trevor.
In human form.
I had surprise on my side. I seized the NightBlade and retreated. He came after me with a snarl, but I slashed once at him with Skuld’s shears. The sharp blade cut his side and spell light spilled through the gash. He shouted in rage.
I expected him to collapse, but he began to sing with fury.
I didn’t have time to free Kohana, not yet. I tried Skuld’s shears on the bubble that held Jared captive, but they bounced off the golden sphere without making a scratch.
How could I free him?
When I looked back, I saw that Trevor’s spells were attacking and binding every note that Jared made. Trevor milked each one dry, using Jared’s power to heal his own wound, twisting Jared’s spells to his own purpose. I watched in horror.
Then he came after me.
I retreated around the bubble that imprisoned Jared. It looked like spun glass and I had to believe I could break it, even while dodging Trevor. The NightBlade was humming in my hand, filling my thoughts with darkness. I didn’t trust it one bit, but instinct told me that it could be used against this spell.
What would be the price?
I didn’t know, but I had to try. I stabbed it into the bubble of spell light, which exploded on contact into a flurry of golden stars.
Jared fell lifeless to the ground, his song silenced.
Maybe forever.
He was completely still.
I stared in horror at what I’d done; then I heard Trevor snarl behind me.
I SPUN TO FIGHT, HOPING I could fix everything else once we survived. The NightBlade wriggled in my grip, trying to get away. Who knew what it wanted to do next? I sure wasn’t going to use it again.
I leapt over Jared and slashed at Kohana’s bonds with Skuld’s shears. He was free in a heartbeat, tossing aside the noose. He shifted shape and flew high, obviously glad to be free.
That was when the Wakiya elder began to sing the note from the Thunderbirds. I realized that no one could see or hear him because he was dead.
No one but me.
And the NightBlade. I saw it quiver when he started to sing.
In fact, it vibrated in my hand, acting like a tuning fork.
Trevor snatched at it, but I stabbed at him with Skuld’s shears again. He didn’t back down, and I was soon slashing at spell snakes as fast as he could make them.
“Now!” I cried, and Jessica began to sing the keening note that the Bastians used to summon the ancestors. The other cat shifters at the dance joined in, and soon the air was filled with the eerie cry that gave me goose bumps. I saw the golden ghostly cats appear and begin to mill through the crowd on the dance floor, their eyes glowing hot red.
The NightBlade vibrated harder.
Derek tipped back his head and howled, the signal for his fellows to join in. There was a dizzying flash of brilliant b
lue as a quarter of the guys on the dance floor changed shape, becoming wolves. There were big wolves and small wolves, silver ones and white ones and charcoal ones, wolves with blue eyes and wolves with eyes of pale green. Every single one of them tipped back his head and howled that same note.
“No!” Trevor shouted. They targeted me then, apprentice Mages and ShadowEaters and minions pouncing. I shifted shape to dragon form, hiding the NightBlade along with my clothes. I could feel it shaking beneath my scales, twitching as it responded to the notes being sung.
“Old-speak, old-speak, old-speak,” Garrett began, repeating the same words over and over again in that deep note. I saw Meagan shake her head and tap her messenger, and he changed his words to her suggestions. He let loose a long low stream of “Oooooooo.”
I stumbled over the stage, cutting Isabelle and Nick free. Isabelle was out of it, but Nick shifted shape. He became a fearsome dragon of vivid orange and yellow, his scales gleaming so brightly that looking at him was like looking into the sun. He roared and breathed dragonfire, apparently in relief, then took up the note that Garrett was singing. Liam and I joined in, and the NightBlade resonated so hard that it shook itself loose of its hiding place.
It fell onto the stage.
I leapt after it.
Trevor pounced on it and held it high, triumphant that he’d caught it. He pivoted to face me, his intent clear. I breathed some fire, just to let him know I wouldn’t go down easily. We squared off, and I kept singing that bass note.
Before he could do anything with the NightBlade, it shook hard. He could barely hold on to it, and I meant to snatch it from his grasp.
But it shattered, shattered into a thousand thin shards.
They scattered across the stage, a thousand thin slices of darkest night. I thought it was my imagination that they looked like shapes as they fell to the stage.
The ShadowEaters gave a horrible cry; then they faded to nothing so abruptly that they might never have been. The spell light winked out. The cafeteria, instead of being bathed in the sickening hue of spell light, was pretty much normal again.
“No!” Trevor shouted and fell to his knees, trying desperately to gather up all the broken bits.