Chapter 76: _One Step Forward, Ten Paces Back
Celeste’s POV
*****
"Celeste," Silas ran to my side before I could recover from Azrael’s grand entrance. "Goddess, did that thing hurt you? Are you okay?"
He pressed a hand on my right shoulder gently—the spot the beast hit earlier.
"Argh!" I gasped, grabbing his wrist and looking into his eyes. "I’ll... I’ll be fine." Barely convinced of that myself, I trailed my eyes back to Azrael.
To my surprise and disappointment, all I saw left was a receding shadow, moving fast and slamming into its next target. No words. No prolonged stares.
Just straight back to war like I was an assignment he hated carrying out but didn’t want to fail.
"What?" Silas glanced back, following my gaze. "Azrael? Did he—"
"The wards have been reactivated!" Dean Thorne’s domineering voice boomed like thunder, making me snap my neck in its direction.
He stood somewhere in the audience section, arms spread out, robes flowing and eyes glowing with a blinding light visible even from this distance.
Several seats below, Luna Queen Janelle and her daughter put themselves to work, guiding students who had reached the audience stands and helping them ascend to higher ground.
"If you’re still on the field," Thorne continued, eyes sliding to me, "get to the stands. Now. A mass effect killing spell is about to activate."
That look at me was a clear warning.
These beasts were here because of me. I didn’t need a crystal ball to figure that out by now.
And that... Made me a threat.
Grabbing Silas’s shoulder, I got on my feet through gritted teeth. "We need to get to those stands before the spell takes effect."
He nodded once, taking a couple of steps back. Before my eyes, his bones shifted, literally snapping loud enough to make me uneasy. Fur exploded across skin, clothes fading away as he fell on all fours.
In barely two seconds he shifted into his wolf form—a slender beast with light brown fur, standing taller than any normal wolf in the wild.
I instantly knew what he wanted me to do.
With a grunt, I leapt onto his back, clutching fur for dear life.
Several Vein beasts were already prowling around us, eyes alight with something I couldn’t name. And locked on me already.
Fortunately, Silas moved, sprinting across the crimson field and towards the audience stands. A massive force wall that let students in and Vein beasts out was already erected, but most of the beasts didn’t even show any interest in chasing students that far.
"I’m the fucking main course," I murmured, lowering my body and squinting as Silas’ speed sent air blowing strands of my hair across my face.
Behind us, roars and almost desperate growls reverberated like sonar, gaining on us. Silas was fast and so were the beasts.
Sucking in a breath, I was just about to prepare a spell when—
—The other brother showed up.
Luther literally bolted past us, head swerving to me mid-run. His blue eyes glinted like he was seeing me for the first time in years.
Time slowed, my jaw falling a bit.
There was... Something different about him.
Sadly, I didn’t have the chance to get a closer look as he brought his attention back to the beasts chasing after his brother and me.
The Alpha roared, shifting into his white wolf in a heartbeat.
That whole sequence from me getting on Silas’s back to us finally reaching the audience section probably took five seconds. But in a life-or-death situation, it felt like fucking hours.
"Celeste!" Willow’s unmistakable voice welcomed me the second I hopped out of Silas’s back. I spun just in time to see her running to me, arms spread out. "Gods, you’re okay." She breathed the moment I was in her grasp. "I was worried sick."
I wasted no time hugging her back, eyes fluttering shut for a breath. Neither of us said anything until we finally broke the hug, after which she heaved.
"It’s been hell out here," she started, briefly side-eyeing Silas who already transformed back into his human form. "People have been making all kinds of theories since your magic outburst in that mirror trial."
My brows knitted. "The... Wait, did the Vein beast attack started after that outburst?" I whispered, studying the area around us.
Students stuck close to each other, some sitting and trying to calm themselves while others stood, staring out in the field and waiting for their friends.
All cornered. Almost helpless... Because of me?
"No," she shook her head, pointing at the rumbling sky, "but that storm did. And the holographic screen went static. We couldn’t see anything that happened in the dimension after that. Then apparently, the wards went off—that’s when the beasts attacked."
Thoughts swirled through my mind so fast I didn’t have time to ponder on one before the next came swinging.
This—this was... I didn’t even know what the hell to call it.
At first, Dean Thorne and I thought me being within proximity of all my mates at once could trigger Vein beasts coming to me. Like I was some freaking beacon.
But this... This just confirmed my magic somehow acted as a trigger as well. Or was it emotional instability? Or overload from the bonds and all the emotions being shared through them?
Every step forward in a new mystery always felt like I was going ten paces back. It was fucking killing me!
"I think," Silas placed a hand on my waist, spinning me around until I met his eyes, "we should keep all these theories for later. Right now we need to ground ourselves before—"
"They’re all charging this way!" Someone screamed at the top of her lungs, sounding like she was going to faint.
My gaze flicked to the edge of the stands. The invisible force wall held strong—until an approaching army of beasts made it seem small.
"Crap." Willow cursed while my eyes searched for the others.
Caelum and Atlas soon appeared beside us at the exact moment the beasts began clawing, biting and barging into the force wall like we owed rent.
Many fled from the wall’s edge, crying and shoving past each other.
Thorne’s voice couldn’t have resounded at a better time. "Mass kill spell to take effect in ten seconds!"
"Where’s Luther?!" Silas noticed. "Brother?! Are you still out there?!"
"Azrael!" I called out the loudest after giving my brother a gentle pat, staring anxiously at the field. "Come on!"
Their bonds pounded in my ears. Soft. Tense. Making sweat stick to my clothes like a second skin.
"Five..." Thorne counted down, raising a hand into the air. "Four..."
At the count of five, the field glowed with a crimson light, streaks of that light rising several meters high. Runes and sigils spun across the field, making some of the beasts pause.
Just when I was about to lose all hope and tell the Dean to hold on—a bone-chilling howl pierced through the night, making heads turn.
A wolf-shaped flash of white light swooshed past the beasts and into the audience section. Luther rose from a row of seats the light hit seconds later.
Still no sign of Azrael.
"Two..." Thorne went on regardless.
No...
"Dean Thorne!" I cried out. "Wait—"
"One!" That final word split my heart in half.
I wailed, angling myself toward the wall, ready to run into the field.
However, Silas’s hand clamped around my wrist, pulling me into his arms and pressing my head on his chest. I struggled, hitting him repeatedly.
Then—
The blood-curdling screeches of the beasts as the spell activated made me sob louder into Silas’s hold.
The screams faded, a thick silence following.
Something tugged at the bond, making me raise my head.
Not pain.
Absence.
"Silas..." I whispered, fingers curling into his shirt. "A–Azrael’s bond—"
