Demonic Vampires (Supernatural Shifter Academy #3) - G. Bailey Page 0,44

ever, and they flash with hatred as she stares me down.

“You treacherous bitch,” gasps Shade. He’s had the wind knocked out of him, but just as he starts to get to his feet, Edith flicks her hand and moves him back another few steps. The others are struggling against her magic too, and although I can sense that she’s flagging, she’s powerful enough to keep us all at bay.

“Why?” I croak out. It’s the only word I’m able to say.

“Things must come so easily to you, don’t they?” Edith hisses, slowly walking towards me. “The school. The shapeshifting. Them.” She nods in the direction of the guys, and I suddenly see something on her face, something that’s been here this whole time without my noticing it: jealousy. “It must be nice, having a harem of guys following you around, being able to shift into any form, having the whole world watching what you do.” Her mouth twists with contempt. “You can’t blame me for wanting to shake things up a little.”

As she speaks, I close my eyes, drawing on my reserves and reaching for my witch magic. If I can just shift my hands, that will be enough. Slowly, red begins to creep up my arms, and with a hoarse yell, I let out my own bolt of magic. It’s not much, but it’s enough to temporarily pierce the entrapment spell and get the guys moving again. “Get out of here!” I yell at them.

“Millie -” Shade shouts, but upon seeing the look in my eyes, he trails off.

“Don’t let them get away,” Edith yells to one of the hunters, who takes off after the guys as they disappear around a corner.

I feel a pang of regret, but I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me. Especially not them. At least this way, they’ll have a chance.

That’s the last coherent thought I have before the rest of the hunters are on me.

Chapter 18

I put up a hell of a fight, if I do say so myself. This is the first time I've transformed different parts of myself into different forms at once, and I'm not sure whether it's due to my rage or my exhaustion. One arm is that of a dragon, the other is that of a witch, while my mouth, now a siren's, lets out a scream loud enough to rival Landon's. It's not enough though, none of it's enough, and the fact that the attackers are all women renders my commands to let go basically useless.

"That's enough out of you," Edith says, waving her hand lazily and inducing paralysis once more. I'm shaken back into human form like someone might shake a bothersome bug off their arm, and I'm helpless to fight it as the other shifters surround me, pinning my arms painfully behind my back. I let out a cry of pain as Edith strides up to me, her emerald eyes flashing. "I'm sorry it had to work out this way, Millie," she says, although I don't hear any real remorse in her voice. "It would have been fun to get to know you, but you know what they say ... nothing personal." She pauses, her brow furrowing, and then adds, "Actually, what am I talking about? Of course it's personal."

I glare daggers at her, fighting uselessly against her magic, but she seems to be done taunting me. I guess that's something, at least. She turns her back to us. "Keep her still," she commands. "We have a long way to go to get to the safe house." Raising her hand, she releases a haze of pale magical light, and I immediately begin to feel drowsy. I've seen Josie do this once before, to subdue the guards outside our room when we were trapped at the Academy in Boston, but I've never been unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end.

My eyelids suddenly feel immensely heavy, and despite the voice in my head that's screaming for me to move, move, fight it, do something, the clutches of the spell are unshakeable. Little by little, the life goes out of my limbs, made useless by the paralysis, and within moments the world has faded away around me.

I feel like I'm in a dream. Colours drift in and out, as well as vague bits and pieces of dialogue: "Get her set up."

"She has to wake up first, Sir."

"I don't care! We've wasted enough time already!"

"The procedure won't work unless she's conscious! We found that out the