Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,66

head, too shocked and too numb to say anything. Instead, I raced forward, dragging him with me while I groaned against his weight.

“Always remember that I love you,” Grandpa said. “Always.”

I tightened my hold around his waist. Just a bit farther. We were almost there.

There was a loud hiss and the stomping of feet…

With a shift in the air, I could feel the weighty presence at my back. The blood mages were closing in.

My grandfather planted his feet and shoved me away with surprising force.

“Go!” he commanded, and then the air crackled with his power.

I lurched forward then stumbled, catching myself before falling to the floor. I straightened and then turned.

My grandfather stood before the wall of blood mages, arms out as a clear bubble of magic, like a shield of protection, burst forth from his palms. The wavy lines of magic wobbled in the air as the blood mages pounded their fists on the protective layer. Gramps groaned as he fell to one knee, and I reached for him. But before I could get to my grandfather, someone grabbed me from behind.

“No!” I screamed, struggling to break free.

“I’m sorry,” Rage said in my ear as he dragged me back into the library. “I’m so sorry, love.”

A flash of light, a million times brighter than the one I’d sent at the blood mages, lit up the entire high mage library then and bled into the hallway. My vision disappeared, and I sagged in Rage’s arms.

Then Rage was whispering … or was he yelling?

Darkness swam in at the edges of my vision as the bright light faded, and then a cloud of silver light flared before me, sucking into my chest. My entire body seized. Power, unlike anything I’d ever felt before, slammed into me. I arched my back as the energy poured in, filling each and every cell … searing me with the unbridled power of spirit. The soul stone in my pocket burned with a fervent heat.

“Oh. My. Mage,” Rage said.

I let out a wail of grief, and Rage clutched me to his chest. I knew what this was, what this meant. My grandfather had died, and spirit had chosen me.

My vision returned, but my body was weightless. I could hardly lift my head. My stomach churned when I saw Justice dragging my grandfather’s body into the library before collapsing next to him … lying inert on the stone floor … his clothes covered in ashes…

Someone in the Alpha Academy library screamed, and my gaze flicked to the still-open door Justice had just dragged Gramps through.

A hundred more blood mages appeared at the other end of the hallway—someone I recognized at the head.

Kalama.

How were there so many? What the mage hell was going on?

“Nai of Crescent Clan,” Kalama said, her lips pulling up into a mocking sneer as she strode closer to the Alpha Academy library. “Who would’ve known spirit would choose you?”

“Close the door,” someone shouted. “Close the door, and seal it!”

Rage dragged me farther into the library. I tried to protest, to shout that I could do something to help, but my voice was gone.

“She’ll be okay,” Sariah said. “She just needs rest.”

I wanted to protest…

I wasn’t okay. I might never be okay again.

The library door slammed shut. I blinked, and Sariah, Jane, and an advanced mage I didn’t recognize placed their hands on the door. There was a flash of light around the edges, and then they all stepped back.

“It’s sealed,” the advanced mage said.

Then a loud crack shattered through the library, and all of our attention went to the black onyx door as a giant split appeared down the center of it.

“What the hell?” Justice growled.

“That’s … not possible,” Sariah muttered, looking terrified. I knew my aunt worked with portals every day. If she looked scared, we should all be.

Rage paled, but I couldn’t fathom why until he spoke.

“Kalama. She … I gave her my blood, and she did some spell work on the door,” he muttered under his breath.

Sariah held Donovan to her chest and pointed at the splitting door. “Rage, we need to evacuate the island. Now.”

Her words shook him, and his arms tightened around me.

What the hell had just happened? One moment, we were sleeping after having make-up sex, and the next … we needed to flee our home? Gramps was dead…

“Yes, you’re right.” His voice held defeat—resignation—and the sound wrung my heart. Then, through the incessant pounding at the door appeared another crack.

“Everyone to the docks,” Rage shouted. “We need to