Now she monologued.
I was about to collapse in on myself, giving in to the pity party building inside me, until she’d said that. Only those inside the ruins knew I’d called light and had shorted out everyone else that night. Since I knew for a fact she hadn’t been there, there was only one other explanation.
She had to have known someone who’d been there.
Busted.
“How’d you know that?” I asked, suddenly keen and totally tuned in to her reaction.
She laughed off my question. When I didn’t share in her jubilee, she dropped the act. “It’s not a secret what happened at the ruins the last Ides of March.”
“Actually,” Albert Stephens said as he moved in. “It is. The Council has never made that information public.”
“I…” She trailed off and backed away from the men in black advancing. “I…” She suddenly stopped and completely changed her demeanor from defensive to calm and collected. Completely in control, as if she’d expected this to happen all along, or at least had a backup plan in case it did. “I guess it’s time. Boys?”
In a belch of black smoke, no doubt for dramatic effect, Alec von Leer and Spencer Dalton popped it. Not only that, the comb-over dude from the first day of tribunals suddenly popped in next to Alec, and then Unibrow popped in next to Spencer. What the holy hell was going on?
Alec squared in on me. “I told you I could take you to your mother.”
“Still a hard pass, mother fu—”
“And you clearly know what I am,” Spencer added. “No bother hiding it. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” He bowed. “I am what you’ve believed to be extinct.”
“A dinofuckasaurus?” I snorted at my own joke.
“A leecher,” he answered, glaring at me. “There are several of us remaining.”
I darted a glance at the guys, confirming they’d all picked up that interesting little tidbit.
“Well, that’s just peachy,” I finally answered. “You guys want to line up single file to Carcerem? Or would you rather have a personal invite? We have options.”
“I’d rather we coexist with the side willing to accept us for who we are.”
I laughed long and hard. And then laughed again, wiping tears from my eyes. I attributed the waterworks to my completely misplaced humor and not any of the other unsettling alternatives, like my own mother running point on the dark side’s attempt to take over the world. Like her trying to completely destroy me to elevate her to the top.
Like the fact I had a sister out there somewhere, probably just as batshit crazy as our mother.
Sammie addressed the crowd as if accepting an award for her performance. “I’d like to thank each and every one of you. You and your fears made this possible. We can’t wait to take our rightful place at the top of the elemental food chain. Until then…” She smiled wide as she faced the head of the Council. “Here’s my parting gift to you, Albert.”
She called a root from the ground behind him. We all watched in paralyzing shock as she drove it through Stephens’s chest. His eyes bulged as his jaw dropped. Someone screamed as several more roots shot from the ground and struck at Council members like angry snakes, impaling them in swift, precise assaults.
Chaos erupted inside the tent as the root snakes went after anyone dressed in black. I focused on the darkness inside me. The coolness consumed me, energized me, and boosted my powers. I called earth and ordered the roots back underground. They ignored me and continued to attack. Oh, hell no. I narrowed my glare and increased my call.
The first root exploded, sending splinters of wood in every direction. One by one, I detonated my earth charge, blasting the roots into nothing more than sawdust.
A slow clap caught my attention. I whipped around.
Sammie applauded. “Very good. Looks like Spence was right. You are more than a quint now, and now you’ve just exposed yourself as magically enhanced. I hope you enjoy your time at Carcerem, dilute.”
She drew in a satisfied breath and glanced around at the destruction. “Looks like my work here is done. The Council is gone.” She then addressed the crowd. “This is your one chance to join the winning side. Leave with us now, and you will be spared. Anyone standing with the Reed…” she paused to point at me just case that wasn’t perfectly clear “…will fall with the Reed. You’ve been warned.”
And then she, Alec, and Spencer popped out.
Not only them, but several other members of the crowd. Even surviving Council members who’d just been the target of her deadly attack. One by one, audible pops sounded as elementals chose their side.
22
Clearwater Academy was now the location of the deadliest attack in elemental history. After the dust had settled and the staggering body count finalized, there were only a handful of Council members left on our side. The others who weren’t killed had disappeared with Sammie and her entourage.
No one spoke as we cleaned the scene by hand, leaving our elements out of it. They’d done enough. I raked up fragments of roots while Syd directed the guys to place the sheet-covered bodies on a large tarp on the far end of the tent.
So much loss. So many senseless deaths. I wasn’t Albert Stephens’s biggest fan, but he didn’t deserve to die like that. None of them did. Professor Fowler. Brooks, the Incredible Hulk of a man who’d led the search to find Stace. The tall blonde Council member from that search. Presley, the pretty redhead partnered with Rob. Even Dean Carter, now gone, murdered senselessly to decrease our numbers. So, so many more.
Thank God none of the guys were taken from me. Rob had a gash the size of the
