Supernatural Academy: Year One (Supernatural Academy #1)(95)

“Where’s the stone?” Axl cut in. I’d forgotten about the soul stone. “If we can bring Asher back to full strength, he’ll be able to break free.”

Rone sounded pissed. “He’s only like this because he allowed them to access his energy.”

They pushed forward, all of them protected by the same sort of magical shield as mine while they searched for the stone. “Call me if you find it,” I shouted to them, the roar of water loud. “I’ll search further back here.”

I didn’t want to let Asher out of my sight, but there was something calling me back in the waterfall, a sensation tugging at the energy inside of me, urging me toward it.

Is that the stone?

The water as it crashed around me was almost deafening. I had to use more of my limited magic, funnelling it into the shield. The water fell in a thick, heavy sheet, and as I pushed my way through, visibility was limited.

When I was completely immersed, and there was no sound but crashing water, I finally reached the other side, where the call was the strongest.

It was a wall, as long and tall as the waterfall, and carved into the smooth marble were elaborate symbols and images. I recognized them from Asher’s notes. It was definitely Atlantean writing. Was this the wall around the city?

Whatever wanted me, it was inside this wall.

I pressed my hand to it, and that feeling of being called increased.

Something heavy slammed into me from behind, breaking through my shield and cracking my head against the wall. I got the shield back up straight away, because the water could crush me here, but I couldn’t see who had hit me.

“You’re my last chance,” Shera whispered, coming at my left side and forcing me back into the wall. “You must be the key. While your idiot friends are distracted with Asher, I will bleed you to release your power.”

“No,” I cried, right before she broke my fragile shield again and stabbed me.

I hadn’t seen the blade, or her hand, as it moved super-fast. She plunged it right into my gut and I screamed; the pain almost had me blacking out. My shield fell completely as she twisted the blade, whispering something dark. Words slithered across her tongue. Words I did not understand, but they cracked my body wide open.

The heat in my center exploded, close to what had happened the day with Asher, but with five times the force. The only way to describe it was like those images of atomic bombs exploding and the shockwave force that followed. Shera held her ground for twenty seconds, maybe longer, before she was whipped away from me, her screams echoing in my ears with the roar of the thunder.

I collapsed, both hands wrapped around the blade in my belly as energy continued to expel from my body. It was too much for me to handle; she had released it too fast, and the vessel could not handle the onslaught. I dragged myself forward, not knowing where I was heading but knowing I needed something, the water still beating across me, though not crushing me like I’d expected. If anything, it felt like the only thing keeping me alive.

“Help me,” I whispered, half dragging myself on the side without a blade in it.

The water started to rush around me in unusual swivels and swirls until it formed a barrier under me and pushed me along the rocks. When I was probably about halfway through the waterfall, a shadow fell over me, and I flinched.

“Maddi!” I hadn’t heard his voice in so long. For a second I thought I was dying and this was my last nirvana moment before darkness. Asher’s arms wrapped around me; he lifted me with ease. “Hang on, baby, I’ve got you.”

“My power,” I mumbled. “It will kill you.”

He shook his head. “Your power saved me. It broke my chains and restored my energy. And now I need to get you into the water; it will help.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. All I could do was continue to ride out my energy release, hoping like hell I wasn’t about to be exploded into a million pieces. Asher ran, ignoring the waterfall that still surrounded us. He might have had a shield, I had no idea, but whatever he was doing, he was not slow or weak any longer.

He pulled me closer, and the moment we burst from the falls he threw us into the rough ocean that surrounded the bridge. Water closed over our heads, tossing us around for a moment until Asher sank deeper. When we were completely engulfed, some of the echoing screams in my head faded. The pain was less intense, and my power release slowed. The water seemed to absorb my energy, lessening the fissuring of energy in my center.

Asher’s face came into view; he was watching me intently, like he was afraid to look away.

I felt the same way.

It was fucking insane, considering I was stabbed and bleeding power and fluids everywhere, but I moved to be closer to him. I pressed my lips to his. It was a need that went beyond normal hormones. I was driven by something I couldn’t explain. A primal force.

Fire erupted between us, not literally, but it felt like it could be. The energy exploded, crashing out in a visible wave, and then the world started to rumble around us. This time for real.

I pulled back from Asher, my eyes wide as I looked around. What the…?

This was either an underground earthquake or we’d done exactly what Shera wanted.

Atlantis was rising.

My power had finally stopped its insane eruption and was now swirling strongly inside of me, and as I registered this, I noticed something else: I was breathing underwater. No bubble over my mouth. No shield around my head. I was just breathing as if I was above the water, and it didn’t even seem weird to me.