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  Open-mouthed, they all rushed to get closer to the majestic Thunderbird as she landed elegantly in a patch of open space. Once they were at a standstill, Alex and Demeter dismounted, the ex-teacher still holding the sleeping Venus to him.

  Though Alex was a stranger to these parts, the inhabitants of the mystery haven seemed more preoccupied with the majesty of Storm, who was playing up to their adoration, chirping and cooing, though she snapped at a couple of hands that drew too close.

  “Who are you?” asked one of them. The speaker was an older woman, her hair just beginning to gray, who eyed the newcomers with open suspicion. In truth, it was the reaction Alex had expected from most of the people who had gathered around.

  “We’re looking for Ceres. We’re friends of her brother, and we need her help,” Alex said, hoping Ceres wasn’t too far. He was antsy to get back to the fight and capture Virgil, not wanting to leave his friends alone for too long. They were more than capable, but he knew he needed to return as soon as possible, if only for the fact he still had one of the bags of essence in his possession. If previous encounters were anything to go by, they would need it.

  “Why should we take you to her?” the older woman replied, her tone less than friendly.

  “We need her help,” Alex repeated.

  He didn’t have to wait long, however, as the very woman he wanted to meet pushed her way through the throng, arriving to see what the commotion was. She looked horrified when her eyes fell on Alex, her shock only intensifying as she glanced from him to the quarry clutched in Demeter’s arms. Then there was Demeter himself. Alex only saw it for a moment, but he glimpsed a flutter of sadness passing over her face.

  Alex braced himself for a tirade that never came.

  “Come with me,” she muttered, though it was clear she was holding back her rage. Without another word, she whirled around and stalked back through the crowd. Alex and Demeter hurried after her, feeling the burn of a thousand eyes on them as they did so.

  “Wouldn’t want to be in his shoes,” Alex heard someone mutter.

  It didn’t exactly fill him with warm, fuzzy feelings as they followed Ceres toward a large tent that had been set up at the far edge of the shantytown. The heavy scarlet material flapped in the breeze, the yellow flag perched at the top rippling wildly. Inside, the tent was sparsely decorated, with patterned cushions and plush rugs scattered about the place. Alex didn’t have much time to take in his surroundings, because as soon as they were inside, Ceres turned to glare at them.

  “What are you doing here?” she snapped. “And what possessed you to bring her here?” she added, running an anxious hand through her brightly streaked hair.

  “We need you to keep Venus here for us,” said Alex.

  Ceres shook her head vehemently. “No, no way, not a chance. I warned you. How dare you bring her here! Do you understand what you’ve done?” she asked, glowering in Alex’s direction. “And you! You should have known better,” she growled, turning her attention fully to Demeter for the first time.

  “It’s good to see you,” said Demeter quietly, garnering a savage eye-roll from the bright-haired woman.

  “So not the time!” she remarked. “I can’t believe you’ve done this, after everything I’ve said—after everything Hadrian said. Did you choose not to listen, or are you just that dense? You brought the damned queen here! Of every single person in the entire world, she is the worst possible person you could have brought here. You realize Julius will come for her, right? And then everyone will die, or worse, beneath his wrath. He doesn’t forgive, ever, and you have just sealed everyone’s fate!” she yelled, through teeth gritted in pure fury.

  “Not if you help us—we’re running out of time.” Alex explained as quickly as he could. “My friends are in the middle of a battle with Virgil, and this might be our only chance to get some blood that we need to do a spell that could signal the end of all of this—no more needless death, no more essence collection, no more running. If I can get it done before Julius hears any whisper of this, we’ll all be free. You won’t have to hide anymore. Nobody will.”

  She softened a fraction, her expression thoughtful. “This is a stupid risk.”

  “I know you want to see an end to this, Ceres; it is all you’ve ever wanted, and it’s finally within our reach,” Demeter said, utterly impassioned. “Think of all the lives that could be saved, all the young people who will never have to suffer what those kids out there have suffered.”

  Alex was surprised to see this side of Demeter, but evidently it worked on Ceres, whose expression softened another fraction.

  “How did you even get here?” she asked, scrutinizing the pair. “There’s only one way in and out of Starcross Pond, and none of my security alarms went off.”

  “Starcross Pond?” Alex asked, running the name across his tongue. It had a nice ring to it.

  “Formerly Starcross Castle, but the castle is long gone,” Ceres replied. “But that doesn’t answer my question—how can you be here?”

  Demeter smiled. “That giant bird you saw out there is a Thunderbird. She flies between realms,” he said matter-of-factly.

  A wistful look flashed in Ceres’s eyes. “One of these?” she asked, pulling up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a colorful tattoo. It was in the shape of a Thunderbird, though more brightly colored than Storm. Where she had silver-and-blue feathers, the ones in the image were a ferocious red, tinged with black and orange.

  Demeter nodded. “The very same, only this one is real.”

  “You drew this, remember?” she said softly.

  “How could I forget?” he replied, and the two stared at each other with an intensity that made Alex uncomfortable.

  “Did anyone follow you?” Ceres asked, her tone anxious.

  The auburn-haired man shook his head. “Not unless someone is hiding a secret Thunderbird somewhere.”

  This seemed to calm Ceres a smidgen, though not as much as Alex would have liked.

  “We’re desperate, Ceres,” said Alex, trying to hold onto his frustration. “I need you to hold Venus here, so there’s no chance of her running off to the one man we both hate. Nobody will find her here, because nobody knows this place exists.”

  “I can’t just—” Ceres began, but Alex cut her off.

  “I care just as much about the way this is going to end as you do—I want my people to live. I want my friends, and all those stolen kids, and all those people out there who are yet to be taken, to be safe from these people who see them as nothing more than a commodity. I want what you want, but I have to do this first.” He let all his pent-up emotions rattle out of his mouth, until there was only one question left. “So, Ceres, will you help me?”

  A moment of silence passed between the tense figures gathered in the tent.

  Ceres sighed. “I will hold you personally responsible if anything does happen, and I will make you pay. Is that understood?” she said slowly. “Even if I am the only person left standing, I will find you and I will make you suffer.”

  “That sounds fair,” Alex replied. He had expected no less from Ceres and knew she would be sure to carry out every threat. “So, you’ll keep Venus here, until we have either failed or won?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You had better not lose.”

  “I’m just covering all our bases,” Alex admitted. “If it comes to it, and we do lose, it might be wise to use Venus as a bargaining chip. It might be your last chance for freedom.”

  “You’re not as dim as you appear, are you?” Ceres flashed a half smile.

  Alex shrugged. “That’s yet to be seen.”

  “Will you stop staring at me?” she sighed, turning toward Demeter, who hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her the whole time they had been talking. Though he was still weaving strands of energy into Venus’s mind, the majority of his attention was on Ceres.

  Demeter smiled. “I can’t, not after so long. I didn’t even know you were alive until a few days ago, and to see yo
u again is like having all my lost hopes and broken dreams restored to me in one piece. You can’t know the joy I feel, seeing you again,” he breathed, overcome with emotion.

  “I think I have some idea,” Ceres murmured, breaking eye contact.

  Demeter did something that knocked Venus into a whole other level of slumber, though she still looked well enough as he lay her down on a nearby rug. For added security, he fashioned some cuffs around her wrists and left her to sleep.

  Alex saw his opportunity.

  “Do you have a knife?” he asked, aware that he was shattering a potentially romantic moment between them.

  Ceres nodded, picking one up off a table and passing it to Alex, who took it gratefully. Moving over to the sleeping woman, he knelt down beside her and lifted her arm up. Just as he was about to press the blade to her pale skin, he paused, realizing he didn’t have anything to carry the blood in. An idea came to him suddenly. He pulled the sack of essence from his back and took one solitary vial from within. Taking out the stopper, he poured the glowing red essence carefully into the ground, watching as it sank back into the earth.

  Breathing deeply, he pressed the sharp edge of the blade as delicately as he could into the queen’s skin, just above the dip of her elbow. Scarlet blood blossomed to the surface. Alex pushed the lip of the vial up to the viscous liquid, and it trickled into the bottle. Drop after drop fell into the black glass bottle, but he did not stop until he had a full spoonful sloshing at the bottom.

  Better to be safe than sorry, he told himself. He tore a strip of fabric from his shirt and bound it around the wound.

  Pocketing the singular vial, he strapped the bag of essence to his back once more, and stood. Turning to look at Ceres and Demeter, he saw that they were in the middle of a tearful reunion—one that made Alex feel slightly like a third wheel, and more than a touch reluctant to interrupt.

  “After so many years apart, I will never leave your side again,” Demeter said defiantly.

  Alex had to speak up. “You’re staying? You can’t—you need to come back with me.”

  Demeter turned to Alex, shaking his head. “I won’t be coming with you, Alex… I can’t.”

  “What if we need you?” Alex pressed, eager to be on his way back to Spellshadow.

  “I am needed here,” Demeter replied. “I will keep an eye on Venus. If you want her to remain asleep, she is going to require constant attention from me, and so I must stay. You have proven yourself at every turn, and you will not fail now. I know it… I can feel it in my heart.” He clapped Alex on the back.

  Alex had a feeling that convincing Demeter to leave Ceres was one battle he definitely couldn’t win. Glancing between the two lovebirds, he could see the happiness written all over their faces.

  “It won’t be the same without you, and your powers will be sorely missed… not to mention you, yourself,” Alex said sorrowfully. “When this is all over, we’ll come back. Until then, I suppose the pair of you have a lot of catching up to do,” he added, grinning.

  “We’ll meet again soon, Spellbreaker,” Demeter promised. “Now, go, before it’s too late.”

  Ceres nodded. “Give them hell!”

  Alex didn’t need telling twice. He tore from the tent and sprinted back across the field, weaving in and out of the crowd that still stood around Storm. They parted as Alex approached, and he jumped up onto her back.

  “To Spellshadow,” he told her, but she was already running along the riverbank, building up to a take-off.

  Chapter 33

  Hurtling back through into the realm of Spellshadow Manor, the flight as violently turbulent the second time around, Storm didn’t slow as she swooped across the sickly woods, before thundering over the smoking field and soaring up and over the crumbling ruins of the walled garden. As they neared the front lawn, Alex could see that the fight was still raging below, though more people had come to swell the ranks on either side.

  Alex’s friends and the Stillwater volunteers stood on one side of the grass, while others had joined Virgil’s side. Along with the professors, who were to be expected, Alex was surprised to see that a handful of Spellshadow students stood on the opposing side of the lawn. It seemed they were hedging their bets, going for the side that looked to have a better chance of winning, and the sight made Alex’s heart ache. As silly as it seemed, he felt a pang of betrayal to see so many standing with the Head. Jun Asano and Catherine de Marchmont, their golden bands forcing their loyalty, stood on either side of Virgil, with another standing behind, protecting him.

  Golden creatures bounded through the melee, savage and snapping, but they didn’t appear to have much understanding of whose side they were on, striking whoever came near. The roars and screams of the fighters echoed in Alex’s ears as Storm swooped low over the chaos.

  He saw that his friends were holding their own, sending wave after wave of rippling magic through the air, toward their aggressors, but Alex knew it was a fragile balance. At this point, there was no telling who would emerge triumphant. There would be many injured, or worse, by the time this was done.

  Grabbing the sack of essence from his back, Alex rested it on the neck of the Thunderbird, hooking the drawstring ends around the bony protrusions of Storm’s shoulders. With it securely in place, he grasped for the closest bottles. Circling the scene below, he felt a wave of panic as he saw the cloaked figure of Jun Asano approaching with lightning speed, moving so fast he wasn’t even sure Natalie saw him coming. Jun’s hands were raised to strike, a glint of sinister magic, tinged slightly crimson, surging from his palms, clearly intended to inflict real harm upon Natalie, if not something worse. The new professor’s eyes were wild, and Alex could see the influence of the Head, twisting Jun’s mind into darkness.

  Glancing at the closing gap between Natalie and Jun, Alex knew he had to step in—the new professor was barely more than a blur, gaining fast, his crimson-tinged magic building before his palms. Alex gulped. There was nothing else he could do but yank out the stoppers, feeding the pulsing light onto his hands. Focusing on the energy, he sent streams of his own into the glow. They morphed into the same golden creatures who were striding below. His golden beasts plummeted to the ground, landing directly on top of the unsuspecting enemy.

  One bore a wolf’s shape, and it lunged for the throat of Jun Asano, tearing at it with gnashing jaws. Light glowed from within the former student as the essence-forged beast clawed the very life force from the young man. Alex wished he could un-see it. Jun screamed, the sound silenced in mid-flow by the wolf snatching the soul away from the new professor. Jun crumpled, lying still on the grass, his eyes blank and unseeing. It wasn’t what Alex had wanted to do, but his quick thinking had saved Natalie’s life, the French girl still oblivious to how close she’d come to harm at the hands of Jun Asano.

  Catherine ran to what had presumably been her friend, but it was too late to do anything. As hard as she shook him, and as loud as she howled his name, he could not be woken. There was no life left inside him, his essence now trailing from the jaws of the golden beast.

  Both sides looked up to see where the deadly creatures had come from, their mouths opening in shock as they saw Alex astride the great Thunderbird. The only ones who seemed less fearful were his friends, a wave of relief passing across their faces. Alex knew it might be a little bit too early for relief—this fight wasn’t nearly over yet.

  A second later, it was Alex who felt surprise as Storm swept across a small band of Spellshadow students, who had joined the Head. Opening her beak wide, Alex felt a rumble beneath him, from deep inside the lungs of the bird. Directing her head toward the enemies, she let out a blood-chilling roar, followed by a blast of ice that rocketed toward the suddenly terrified group. It hit them with full force, smothering them in a wave of ice. As the mist of it cleared, Alex saw that the front line had turned into a series of ice-sculptures, their bodies frozen to the spot. Those who were left ran, but there was nowhere to hide.

  Storm
wheeled around, and Alex hoped the band of Spellshadow students would not permanently remain frozen. He didn’t feel right hurting anyone, the act leaving him unsettled, but Storm was, by her very nature, a warbird, and so the fate of those poor souls remained to be seen.

  With one professor down, Alex circled Storm back toward the place where Catherine stood. She had managed to dispense with the wolf and the second creature, shaped like a lion, but she was not paying attention to the enormous bird above her. There was too much going on, and it was clear she was no longer looking at the sky.

  Seeing his opportunity, Alex pulled the stoppers from another two vials, feeding his energy into them, before dropping them on top of Catherine. These took the shape of a bear and a wolverine, but the bear took off toward a different band of Spellshadow students, who stood to the other side of the Head. Alex didn’t dare see what mess it was making, his eyes drawn instead to the smaller shape of the wolverine, which had its sights set firmly on Catherine. Running fast, it sank its golden jaws into her leg, dragging it out from under her. She fell, sending out panicked flurries of magic, as the wolverine pounced on top of her, clawing at her with blade-like nails.

  Alex didn’t see what happened to her as Storm did a loop-the-loop, turning them back around. But when he looked back down, Catherine was lying still on the ground beside Jun Asano, the wolverine nowhere to be seen.

  A rapid bolt of energy flew past Alex’s ear. The Head had focused his attention on Storm. Ducking and diving out of the way, Storm managed to evade every wave, until a stray shot caught her in the wing. With a pained squawk, she flew toward the ground, close enough that Alex could jump off, though he pulled closed the bag before he did so. She would protect the bottles, until he needed them again. Landing squarely on the ground, he patted the Thunderbird’s side.