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Raven

Her attention wason Ben instead of me. Using all of my strength, I tried to call to him, to tell him to flee, but I couldn’t make words form.

Desperate, I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up. Anger seethed in my gut, swirling and twisting like an old friend. I welcomed it, called to it, encouraged it. The feeling bloomed into my chest, filling me with throbbing power unlike anything I had ever felt before. It came as a comfort and it came with a request. It wanted to be unleashed.

The crazy mage ignited her sparks and Ben fell to his knees.

“No!” The energy swirling in me propelled me to my feet, moving me forward, beckoning me. Extending my arms, I released it, aiming the full force of it at Ben’s attacker.

Once again, time slowed to a near stop.

But there was something else happening this time.

I could feel a sense of control I hadn’t last time. Something had shifted. Lifting my hand into the air, I imagined controlling the other mage. Turning her so her vile blue lightning struck the wall instead of Ben.

Her body shifted, turning as if she were a pawn on a chess board, moving to my will.

The dark, swirling anger inside jumped a little, thrilled by the new discovery. But it wasn’t enough.

Imagining I was holding a pop can, I closed my hand, as if to crush it with the motion. The mage crumpled to the ground, her lightening cut off by my action. She was helpless now. She couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.

Dizzy, I let up on the magic, letting go of the power as I leaned against a wall. I squinted toward Ben, who was starting to move on the floor. He was okay.

Letting out a strained breath, I slid down the wall until I was on the cold ground. Ben scrambled toward the fallen mage and pressed his fingers to her neck. He looked up at me. “She’s got a pulse.”

“What happened?” Dr. Green was in the hallway, taking in the aftermath with wide eyes.

“She attacked us,” I said.

He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, she told me she’d killed my parents for their magic and then she tried to kill me.”

Dr. Green’s hands balled into fists and his jaw tensed. If I weren’t so tired, I might have been concerned about his body language. But there wasn’t enough energy left for me to move, let alone worry about what was going to happen from here. Maybe he’d ship me away to that prison they threatened me with. Maybe they’d just kill me on the spot. Who knows, maybe he’d even called this crazy bitch here to kill me.

The dean turned to Ben. “You should shift. You’ll heal faster.”

Ben’s throat bobbed. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Dr. Green asked.

He shook his head. “I tried that already. Whatever she did to me, it must have done something to my wolf. I can’t shift.”

Dr. Green turned to look at me. “What did she do?”

“Me? I stopped time again. I didn’t have a choice. And I’d do it again,” I said.

“Wait, you can control time?” Ben asked. “That was you?”

I nodded.

“No, not that. What did this,” Dr. Green tapped his toe on her side, “mage do?”

“She had lightning of some kind. It was blue,” I said. “Hurt like hell.”

“She got me with it too,” Ben said.


Tags: Alexis Calder Academy of the Elites Fantasy