Nightworld Academy: Term One(Nightworld Academy #1)(18)

The man beside me makes a good shield, and I hold him in front between me and the fireball. The witch abruptly stops and yells at his colleagues to finish the job.

I toss the guy to one side, ready to charge at the witch, when a sudden deluge of water falls from the sky. I soak through in seconds and struggle to see through the wall of rain around us. The fireball guy swears as his spells fizzle around his fingers. I lose sight of the other men behind the wall of water, which means they can't see me and Maeve.

Another figure jumps down from a window above and lands crouched, steadying himself with one hand as he peers around. Coiled for attack, I make his face out in the rain.

Andrei.

The betraying bastard.

He stands and springs forward, a metre higher than the figures in front, and kicks out. His foot collides with a man’s chin and the figure is sent sprawling across the muddying grass.

Momentarily, guilt crosses my mind that I thought he was involved. He climbs the side of the building wall, effortlessly with no need for hand and footholds, before alighting on a ledge.

Andrei turns and jumps again, knocking someone to the ground as he lands. I catch sight of a third figure illuminated in the window behind.

Amelia stands, hands raised, palms upwards and she stares at a black cloud above the scene responsible for the rain. The air between her and the cloud shimmers, an energy suspended in the area links her to the elements.

Two of the figures slide on the mud as they attempt to run, and I dart across to catch them. I hit an invisible shield and slip to one side as I attempt to find a way through the barrier. None. I reach out to push my way through and sparks flicker through the air. A crackling outline shows a barrier higher than even Andrei could jump, and it stretches between the two building walls with no way around.

Two of the cloaked figures merge into the darkness as they silently move away.

The fireball man remains, and he looks at me in challenge. "You're out of your depth, little boy."

Andrei lands on the ground beside him and his face transforms as his mouth stretches wide, revealing serrated teeth. For a heart-stopping moment, I think Andrei is about to break the races' centuries old accords and attack a witch.

The witch who steps back into the wall of water, behind the barrier, and bows with a flourish.

What the fuck was that?

I’m stunned into shocked silence, but Andrei's features settle back to normal as he shakes out his sleeves, pulling faces at where his shoes stick in the mud.

"That's enough, Amelia," he shouts. "I bloody hope you've learned how to switch your magic off again."

"I'm learning!" she replies. The rain slows but doesn't cease, and Amelia swears beneath her breath. She shakes her hands and closes her eyes. Nothing.

"Is Jamie up there?" I call up.

"No. He ran to fetch Theodora."

The rain slows to a trickle and the cloud shrinks back to a clear night sky. I shake water from my hair. "Who the hell were they?"

"Who the hell are you?" asks a small voice from the ground.

I blink away the raindrops and turn to Maeve. She stares back at me, hair plastered to her face and hands covered in mud. The terror remains even though the attackers left.

My heart twists with regret.

After all my worries someone might scare or hurt her, her new friends are the people who've terrified her tonight.





Chapter Eleven





MAEVE



Am I having a vision?

I'm not experiencing the blurred surroundings and buzzing as usual, but I did see the impossible. Maybe I'm hallucinating through fear, or this is an elaborate prank filled with pyrotechnics and invisible wires that allow Andrei to fly through the air. Hidden contraptions that fool me into thinking Amelia conjured rain from nowhere.

Her small figure stands in the window and is framed by the light behind. My hand slides through fresh mud as I struggle to stand and demand an explanation from the people I thought were my friends.

Ash's face bleeds from a cut above his eyebrow, but otherwise he looks no different for a guy whose recent behaviour would give the Hulk a run for his money.

"What the hell happened? Who thought that was funny?" I demand.

I make to walk away but my feet slide from beneath me, ending any chance of stomping away in disgust. I'm caught by Andrei, who appears beside me and hitches me around the waist. Ash rushes over too and I swat at them.

"Let me go! Tell me what happened!" The two guys do as I ask and glance at each other, then at me, wary.

"Are you hurt?" asks Ash.

I blink at him, incredulous. "You frightened me half to death. Where were the others taking me? To some dumb initiation ceremony somewhere?"

"No. We don't know who they were either, but they're dangerous." Ash's gruff tone sets the hairs on the back of my neck.

"This wasn't a prank, Maeve," says Andrei.

I look between the two guys who are as soaked to the skin as I am. Andrei isn't laughing or smirking in triumph at succeeding in scaring me, and his worried look matches Ash's.

Amelia appears from the shadows and pushes past Ash. She carries a blanket which she immediately unfolds to wrap around my shoulders. "We need to get you inside. You'll get sick if you stay out here."

"Sicker than hallucinating about fireballs and superhuman displays?" I point at Andrei. "How did you jump that far and that high?"