Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,64

mages back at the entrance to the library to buy everyone time to leave. “I’ll get Gramps and Reyna and meet you at Alpha Academy in a minute.”

She looked too shocked to move, so I pushed her, Donovan, and Annette in the general direction they needed to go. “GO!”

“Nai!” Rage bellowed from behind me, but I couldn’t wait for him. Not when seconds could mean life or death for my grandfather.

‘Get Sariah and Donovan to safety!’ I told him without looking back. ‘Please!’

‘I can’t reach you! This is insanity.’ Rage sounded as in shock as I felt.

‘I’m fine. Just, please, get my family onto Shifter Island.’

His response was merely a growl. There was too much chaos for anything else.

I dodged past a few panicked mages, ducking below a fireball, and then a stream of water, but as I reached for the handle to the door to spirit, something—someone—crashed into me from the side, and together, we fell. I caught a glimpse of dark hair and ivory skin, but as we tumbled to the ground, the muscle memory of training with my father all of those years in Montana took over. I used the blood mage’s momentum to launch him over me, and I rolled to the side and jumped up, running through the spirit door.

On the other side of the door, I spotted Reyna struggling under the weight of my grandfather.

“What the hell, Nai?” she yelled. “You need to get to safety!”

I rolled my eyes and ran forward to help her. After ducking under Grandpa’s other arm, we lifted him off the ground. His hand was shaking when he reached out to hand me a familiar black pouch.

The soul stones. My soul stone. I couldn’t believe I’d almost left them here to be found by blood mages! I prayed that wasn’t the reason he was late to escape.

Thank you, I mouthed to him and shoved them in my pocket.

Reyna and I tightened our grip on Gramps and ran. By the time we re-entered the library, the scene had changed. We’d been gone mere seconds, and now, dozens of bodies littered the floor, black robes on the blood mages, and an array of brown, red, orange, blue, green, yellow, and purple on the advanced mages and high mage heirs. My insides twisted as I surveyed the corpses. There were more dead high mages than blood mages. And some of the high mage heirs looked like they’d been bled dry, their bodies only husks. I scanned the room, seeing the horde of blood mages converging on the few remaining high mages. The ratio was beyond disproportionate…

They needed to run or they would die! I glanced back at the hallway leading to Shifter Island to see it clogged full of people still.

No way…

Understanding dawned on me with sickening certainty. Those high mages were serving as a distraction. Willing to risk their lives to provide their loved ones time to escape to Shifter Island. No matter the cost.

Almost as if to reinforce my thought, I saw a dozen blood mages gang up on Snade while fire continued shooting from his hands. With his loud bellow, flames arched through the tall room, landing indiscriminately on books and tables.

No.

Not like this.

I might not like most of these bastards … but not like this.

And I still needed to get Gramps out of here!

Reyna and I darted through the aisles toward the hallway leading to the portal door. There was a huge traffic jam. I could see several people crowding to get away and others pushing to move forward. Rage was in the middle, some unconscious person draped over his shoulder as he barked orders at people to stay calm and walk slowly.

Panic thrummed through me when I spotted Sariah, Annette, and Donovan still on this side of the portal. The two women were struggling to get Donovan to move, but my cousin was standing in the middle of the hallway, yelling incomprehensibly, shaking and probably terrified.

Several blood mages zoomed in front of us then, and glided into the crowded hallway, cutting off my view of my cousin and aunt as they closed in on my family.

My mouth dried, and my heart stopped.

Over my dead body.

“I’ll be right back. Hide here.” I all but dropped Gramps’ arm; he sagged into Reyna as they tucked into a little alcove that held a giant potted plant. Reyna nodded, dragging her and Gramps behind the plant, and then I was off.

“Hey!” I shouted at the blood mages as anger and fear