Page 67 of Shattered Darkness
“Sounds good to me. That’s pretty fucking cool,” I reply.
“How long does it last for?” Jax asks, which is probably something that we should know.
“About two days,” Kysen replies.
“Okay, so you can secure them and get them out of the way. It doesn’t give us long to try and figure out another way to protect it because if we aren’t killing them, then they’re just going to move it again, and we can’t keep stopping them because they’ll just up their game.” Levi muses, sounding stressed.
“Two days is better than nothing. We’ll just have to step it up,” Cole suggests.
“Which is going to be difficult while the Enforcers are here,” Damon points out.
“Guys, we really need to go. It sounded like it would take them a while to figure it out, but it's not going to take them that long,” I point out as I head toward the door, and the others follow.
“Keep in touch,” Maverick calls after us.
“We’re already on edge. Thanks to Kai, Asher and Jett being gone, we don’t need to lose contact with you four as well,” Kyle adds.
“Are you sure we should be splitting up?” Nate asks, looking worriedly at Erin, “I don’t like it.”
She skips back over to him and kisses him before saying, “We don’t really have a choice. We need to go and deal with this, and we need to leave as many of you here so that if the guys need you, then you’re ready. I will leave the Bond Lines open for you, so you’ll know the second that something goes wrong.”
“Okay,” Nate replies, not sounding much more convinced by the situation.
Levi looks at me, “I want you to do the same.”
“Of course,” I reply, “now let's go.”
“Stay out of view of the Enforcers. It’s quite late, and you don’t need to be questioned as well.” Hunter reminds us.
“Got it,” Jax replies.
“Shall I shield us?” Erin asks.
I pause and resist the urge to smack myself on the forehead, “I was so excited to get going that it didn’t even occur to me that we could do that.”
“Me neither,” Kysen chuckles and then turns to Erin with a smile, “Yeah, that might be a good idea; as Hunt said, we want to stay out of view of the Enforcers.”
“You got it,” Erin grins.
With very little effort and far easier than she was finding it a few weeks ago, I feel her magic surround us, and then when she gives us a nod to say that we’re completely covered, we all head off again.
As we’re walking down our hallway, Kysen hands us each some of the ties so that we can bind the teachers when we get there. I’ve got to admit that I’m looking forward to a bit more of a fight—a real one. Although, as we stealthily race in the direction of the temple, the Darkness within my magic writhes, its wound tight like a coiled snake ready to strike, my fear over Kai and the others is clearly fuelling it. I don’t sense anything untoward about it, but it does feel exceptionally powerful, and I almost instinctively know that I won’t be able to control it if it breaks through my magic, which is only barely surrounding it now.
In all honesty, I don’t even know if it is mine. I don’t know if it’s my magic to control or if it’s something that wants out, some unknown entity or something and that probably terrifies me even more.
Thankfully, the temple comes into view, and I’m reminded of the here and now. I make the decision to try not to use my magic at all; I don’t want to risk it.
Besides, it makes it more interesting that way, like a challenge, not that I want to tempt fate or underestimate them. They are the teachers of this prestigious academy for a reason; they’re powerful in their own right and have honed their magic. Not only that, but they could be getting a boost of power from Kronos through the object.
No, it would be very unwise to underestimate them. However, I still hope that I can last as long as possible without using my magic. As we get to the door, we share a look, grinning. Oh yeah, I think we all needed this. I take a moment to check and see if I can reach Kai yet, and when I can’t, I take a deep breath instead and focus on the task ahead.
We all sneak through the door, and I’m grateful for its silent hinges. When we get through the lobby to the door that leads into the central part of the temple, Kysen peeks through the door, opening it just enough to see through.
He closes it again and then turns back to us, “We’ve got lucky; they’re all facing away from the door and appear to be having quite a heated discussion, although I couldn’t quite make out what it was about. There are four standing and one kneeling down, and I’m guessing she’s the one that’s drawn the short straw and is responsible for removing the object.”
I nod, keeping my voice low like his, “Alright, let’s do this. Remember, knock them out and secure them; don’t kill them unless you have no choice; they are all being controlled.”
Erin tilts her head, “Or at least we think they are.”