“Let’s head back and see what we can do with this. Keep an eye out, someone might be watching us.”
“Well, at least the little dragon hasn’t lost her smarts.” My stomach flipped as Drew, Kylee, and Penelope stepped out from an alleyway. I bristled.
“You did this? Why?” I started to step forward, but Hudson put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“To fix what you messed up. We knew you’d find the girls, eventually. You can’t let anything go.” A chill shook me to my core. A month ago, I would have called the three people before me friends. Now seeing their smiles at catching me at night, they looked anything but friendly.
“Okay, you got what you wanted. The girls’ memories are wiped. Leave us alone.” Drew stepped forward. I could see copper fire crackling at his fingertips. Behind me, Hudson growled so low only I could hear him.
“We need the phone, too.”
“No, it proves something is going on at Animage Academy.”
“Gracie, Willa, this is going to get bad. Get the phone back to the Academy,” Simon whispered to the two girls behind me. I could pick up the words clearly. The anticipation of a fight was bringing my senses back.
Hudson stepped forward. He seemed to grow larger as he put himself between the rest of us and the other immortals.
“Leave. Now. You’re not taking the phone.”
“You guys aren’t going to stop us. A werewolf, a dragon without her powers, a fortune teller, a doe, and a butterfly?” Kylee smirked and their laughter rang out, echoing off the nearby buildings.
“Go. Now,” I whispered behind me. Willa snapped her fingers, and both she and Gracie vanished.
“Where did they go?” Penelope hissed. Drew balled his fists.
“Duck!” I yelled, just in time. Drew threw a bolt of copper fire at us. I didn’t get out of the way in time. The bolt hit me right in the chest. But nothing happened. Drew cursed.
“I forgot about her necklace.”
“This would be a really good time to get my powers back,” I muttered. I tried to spark my hands again, but no fire would come to me.
“Sophie, stay back.” In one motion and a flash of light, Hudson shifted. He launched himself right into Drew’s chest. Simon stepped in front of me and called on his own powers. Blue magic pooled in his hands. He threw it at Penelope who was gathering her own red fire. Red and blue collided in the air. Sparks lit up the night sky and showered the street like fireworks. We’d forgotten about Kylee; she chanted a spell, and a net fell out of the sky. I yelled and rolled out of the way, but Simon was caught in it. He yelled as the ropes touched his skin and burned.
A yelp drew my attention back to Hudson. Drew had thrown him off and managed to get back with Kylee and Penelope. I ran to the net and tried to pull it off Simon.
“Ahhh!” the rope burned my hands as I pulled back.
“Give it up, Sophie. We’ve won.” I had to do something. Gracie and Willa needed time to get back to the school. I had to help Simon. I had to help Hudson. Everything spun through my head as my breath came in short gasps.
“Why do you want the phone, anyway? The girls don’t have their memories, isn’t that enough? The phone is proof something bad is happening.”
“Oh, little dragon. There is so much you don’t know. Of course the phone is proof. That’s why we want it.”
“Not possible.” My mind went blank. It couldn’t be. Even with their less than desirable characteristics, I couldn’t believe Drew, Kylee, or Penelope actually knew about a plot against the school.
“Does that surprise you, little dragon?” Drew mocked me. “Does it bother you to know that not everyone is as noble as dear old dad? Although, now that I think about, maybe Dad isn’t so noble, either. You could’ve been on our side, you know. But not now. Now we need to wipe all of your memories. Then once that’s done, we can find your friends and take the phone before we work a little memory magic on them too.” I was powerless. Hudson’s and Simon’s distress clouded my mind, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t help my brother, or my friends.
I was still crouched down next to Simon. He struggled against the ropes, but they just grew tighter. Hudson was snarling and snapping at red magic that twisted its way around him. I grasped the necklace underneath my shirt. Tears were filling my eyes as a chasm opened inside of me. I was a failure. No wonder my dragon had deserted me. The rough diamonds around the outside of the necklace cut into my palm. The necklace that absorbed magic.
More red magic was gathering in Penelope’s hands. If I didn’t do something fast, she was going to wipe our memories. I yanked the magic off my neck and held it out in front of me. The magic it absorbed would still be there. That meant I could use it.
“Expel!” I commanded the necklace with my mind and with my voice. My gamble paid off when a huge blast of magic shot out from the necklace and hit Penelope square in the chest. She fell backward into the closet building.
Using the command, opened the chasm inside me even more. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around my body. I was falling. The chasm opening inside me was going to swallow me whole. I yelled out in desperation. The world spun around me. I was being consumed by the emptiness within.
Just when the edges of my vision began to darken, something rose up inside me to fill the void. My dragon
