Void(79)

I watched in horror as Gritt sailed across the room, hard pressurized water pelting his chest as he slammed into the wall.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Quade replied smugly as he got to his feet, a wall of other elementals lined at his back as they supported their paragon. I was certain they didn’t understand why two of the most powerful supes were fighting over a nasty Void, but I just wanted to figure out how to get them to stop.

Another shifter turned into a jaguar and lunged for Quade, but a fire elemental intercepted him, blasting the shifter with so much power I was worried he’d burn him alive.

“Stop!” I screamed, though no one heard me.

Another shifter slammed into Quade from the left side, distracting him enough to stop the powerful water from assaulting Gritt. The split-second of relief was all that the Shifter Paragon needed. Within an instant, Gritt turned into a massive lion and lunged for Quade, tackling him to the ground. Large, rounded muscles covered his frame, and I screamed when he pinned Quade’s head between his two sets of teeth. Other fights broke out all throughout the room, elementals and shifters going at it like a back-alley brawl. There were no professors, no staff. And the vampires and necromancers were just sitting around watching, not even bothering to intervene. Only Render was trying to break things up, but that just meant he had to start defending himself from both sides.

Not knowing what else to do, I reached behind my neck to the clasp of my necklace and removed my amulet, letting it drop to the floor. My Void billowed around me in warning, and I raised my hands up to direct it. “I said stop!” I screamed as loud as I could.

Gradually, people stopped fighting and turned to stare at me with wide, fearful eyes. I knew I must’ve looked terrifying, with smoke coating my skin and pouring from my pores. It wrapped around the shifter nearest to me, making him fall to his knees. I didn’t drink a lot though. Beads of sweat dripped down my cheeks as I stared at the dining hall, trying to maintain control.

It was a hunger I had never felt before. Here, in this contained space, it was like a banquet for my Void. I wanted to lash out and absorb every last drop of every supernatural here. It would be so easy. All I had to do was let go. It was taking everything I had to hold back, and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep the hunger at bay.

“She’s going to drain us all!” Blaire screamed to my right. In my peripheral, I caught her clutching her mouth, her long nails digging into her cheeks as she let out a screech of fear. I took a step closer to Quade and Gritt.

“I don’t want to do this,” I said, noting that my voice had already started to take on that dark ethereal quality of the Void. It was just a matter of time before I lost myself. “I can’t take you hurting each other,” I admitted, feeling the pain of that deep in my gut. “Tell me you’ll stop...don’t make me do this,” I pleaded. I didn’t want to see them hurt one another. I couldn’t. That strange pulling sensation had turned into a protectiveness so fierce that I couldn’t hold back. My entire body was trembling with restraint.

Gritt transformed back into his human form immediately, his naked body backing away from my Elemental Paragon with his hands raised in front of him. “Put your amulet back on, Devicka. We won’t fight,” Gritt promised in a soft, soothing voice. My Void immediately reached out to stroke his cheek, my smoke dancing along his skin.

“Are you both okay?” I asked, my tone was barely hanging on a thread, and so was my sanity.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Quade promised. “You can put your amulet back on now, Devi.”

I stared at them for a second longer, taking in their appearance before dropping to my knees and searching for where I’d dropped the necklace on the floor. When I couldn’t find it, I began to panic, but then a hand was outstretched in front of me, and when I snapped my head up, I saw Hyde holding it out to me. “Here,” he said gently, not even flinching when my smoke curled around his face and started drinking from his lips. I took my amulet with shaky hands, and the moment I clutched the amber stone in my fist, my smoke disappeared.

The entire dining hall let out a collective exhale before that relief slowly started to change to anger and outrage. The whispers and glares and threats immediately started up, spreading around like the small fires that were now burning around the cafeteria from the elemental magic. This lot sure were brave once my Void was back in its cage.

Gritt and Quade started making their way over to me, but before they could reach me, a booming voice stopped them. “Devicka Cainson! My office, NOW!”

I turned with a grimace to stare at Headmaster Torne and a line of other teachers, all of them giving me various looks of fury and shock from the front of the dining hall. I closed my eyes before flashing a look at Quade and Gritt, who looked oddly guilty. And then, realization sunk in my gut. Was this...had this been their plan all along?

My mouth dropped open and my fists clenched at my sides. I was so fucking stupid. I’d overheard them that night. They’d planned to push me so that the headmaster would have cause to kick me out. And I’d just given them that on a smoky fucking platter. How could I be so stupid? How could I have fallen for it when I’d known this all along? This had all been an elaborate plan to get me to turn on the students, to be a monster in front of everyone. Well, they got what they wanted. After this, I’d be expelled and possibly even imprisoned.