Blood Pledged (Arcane Arts Academy #3) - Elena Lawson Page 0,97

what she was saying; we all were. My guys stood around the two of us in a loose circle, listening. Waiting for instruction.

Bianca nodded, her blonde waves falling to shroud her face. “I think so.”

“Can you explain to us where it is?”

She peered up at me, and I saw hesitance there, but she plucked up her courage with a sharp breath. “Yes.”

“Elias,” I said, turning to him. “Open the portal. We have a killer to catch.”

He seemed to be debating something internally, looking down at the floor with a clenched jaw. “Harper, I think we should—”

“Open the damn portal or I’ll do it myself. We don’t have time to argue, Elias.”

“She’s right,” Cal agreed. “There’s a girl in danger. We need to go.”

Thank you, I mouthed to him, so happy he understood, even though he knew how little I cared for Kendra.

A life was a life. If we could save her, we had to try.

“For the record,” Draven said. “I think this is a terrible idea.”

“Again,” Adrian said, a note of impatience in his voice, “no one asked you.”

Draven put his hands up. “Fine. Fine. I’m at your disposal.”

“Elias?”

He nodded tersely and turned to set up the portal on the opposite wall.

“I need to get you home,” I said to Bianca. “You should be safe there.”

“But—”

“Nope,” Cal said, stepping in. “I realize you weren’t fully conscious for what just happened to you, but trust us, you aren’t in a state to be going anywhere.”

Bianca lowered her head, knowing she couldn’t argue. She’d already played her part. Her very important part. Now it was our turn.

“You, too,” Cal continued, and I cocked my head at him, confused. He reached out as though he would try to touch me. Caress me. But ultimately, he pulled his hand back, grimacing. “You scared the shit out of me,” he admitted, and his green eyes glistened. “You aren’t in a state to go walking into a fight, either.”

Like hell I was staying here.

“I’m going,” I said definitively. “And I’m going to kill whoever is responsible for this.”

Cal was taken aback at my words but said nothing.

After a moment, I softened my voice, hoping he heard the apology there. “Give me your strength. As my familiars, you and Adrian lend me strength and power when I need it. It’s why when we’re close”—I reached out to brush my fingertips over his arm—“it feels like this.”

Right now, I needed all the strength I could get.

Adrian, having overheard, came nearer, pulling me against him. He gave Cal a pointed stare and Cal relented after a moment and hugged me to him, creating a Harper sandwich.

Bianca began to explain how to get to the secret room beneath the academy, how there was a section of wall next to a bust of a dude with an angry-looking expression that would open if you spoke a simple incantation to reveal what was hidden.

I was listening intently to her, but I was also reveling in the warmth and surge of strength and power given to me by my familiars. Once Bianca had finished explaining, I focused solely on them, remembering what I’d been teaching myself about familiar lore. After I’d had to connect with them mentally to warn them not to return a couple weeks ago, I thought it might be a good idea to learn all the other things that a witch-familiar bond could do. This was one of them.

“Channel it.” I held them tighter. “Share your energy.”

“This is so messed up,” Cal groaned.

“Just do it.”

It took mere seconds to take effect. They already strengthened me just with their contact as they always did, but with them actively trying to lend me more of their energy, it was as though I could feel myself charging up like some sort of magical battery. I shivered as the weakness within me was replaced with a resurgence of strength and power. As the bits of lingering darkness were replaced with light.

“The portal is ready,” Elias announced, and the three of us separated, sighing.

I rolled my shoulders back and cracked my neck, a slow smile slithering over my lips. I clenched and unclenched my fists, reveling in the renewed vitality I found there.

Oh yes. I was ready.

“Where’s Marcus?” Bianca asked, rising from the bed so quickly she almost lost her balance. In a panic, her voice rose to a near shout. “Has anyone seen him?”

“B, I’m sure he’s fine.” I gave her an understanding look, keeping my voice level so she would stay calm. “Go