Last semester, the Soul Sisterhood had made a reappearance. In an effort to provide the Academy with beefed-up security, the guard towers had been erected around the warded perimeter. Each tower was fitted with sensors and enough firepower to take out a small army.
Astrid squinted. We were sitting less than a hundred metres away from the fenced-off area around the towers. Wanda had some serious visual acuity to have spotted the bikes from this far away.
“There are people up on the platform,” Astrid said. I saw them too. Though we were too far away to pick out features, it wasn’t hard to see them strolling about the tower. One of them was holding the rifle that should have been locked in the cabinet by the security door.
“Can you make out what they’re doing?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Astrid said. “To them, this would appear to be an official government facility. That they’ve disregarded that authority puts them in the hostile territory.”
“What if they’re just stupid kids?” Wanda asked. It seemed unlikely given the location and difficulty of gaining access to the tower, but it was still a possibility. Was this the kind of idiotic thing I’d be doing if I weren’t enrolled in Bloodline?
“If they’re kids, then they won’t have an issue if I walk in there and ask them to leave,” Astrid said. “Stay in the car.”
“Umm…” I started. She was already out of the door.
One of the things Sophie and I had been trying to impress upon Astrid was that she wasn’t as imposing as she believed. Blessed with the kind of looks that most women would kill for, her best bet right now would be to stun them with her appearance. If she unfurled her wings or brought out her angel blade, she would do damage to the equipment. On the other hand, if she did nothing, we might be in a bit of a jam.
Wanda’s leg bounced up and down. She was biting her bottom lip. Her eyes were glued for intervals between Astrid’s striding figure and the railing on the guard tower. They’d spotted us as soon as we drove into view.
I hissed as the figure on the ledge, a male judging by the span of his shoulders, pointed his gun at Astrid.
“This isn’t good,” Wanda said. “Should we call for reinforcements?”
Now I was the one chewing my lip. “There are only four of them. Astrid could take down a human army with her eyes closed.” And yet something was gnawing away at the pit of my gut. I hadn’t let go of the steering wheel. My knuckles were blue.
I heard Kai’s huffed warning in my head. “If something happens, do not under any circumstances throw yourself in the line of fire.” He didn’t seem to understand what taking this role meant for me.
Wanda and I both opened our doors at the same time. A second and third figure appeared on the ledge, their guns raised. A fourth was squatted down in what I recognised as a chanting position. Even with the sun blaring down at us, I could see the flicker of a red candle. Those bastards weren’t kids. They were conjuring.
My circle clashed with Wanda’s as we attempted to provide Astrid with protection. Dispensing with any kind of disguise, her wings sprouted from her back. She raised herself into the air, her voice booming. Wanda and I started running. We split our protection between Astrid and ourselves.
Sparks ignited in the engine room as the sum of Astrid’s power rolled over the technology. I covered my ears with my hands as the speakers attached to the tower squealed.
“You’re trespassing on private property,” Astrid spoke. “Leave now or you will be removed.” She didn’t need the assistance of a megaphone. The air around her shimmered silver. It still somehow managed to appear dark.
The first gunshot bounced off my circle. I flinched and jumped a little as I ran. It stung like a bitch. Unlike supernatural energy, a physical hit by a projectile of that magnitude was like getting slugged in the jaw.
Wanda swore. The parallel nature of magic and technology meant there was no way to salvage either in this scenario. We were going to have to destroy the tower in order to contain the situation.
She came to a screeching halt and ripped a remote device from the pocket of her jacket. The way she banged it against her palm as I kept running told me that it was malfunctioning. It was little wonder considering Astrid had now risen to the eye line of the intruders. Her angel blade flashed in her hand. I wasn’t sure what the rules were for the dispatch of humans. The show of the blade had been a bluff. She didn’t need the weapon against mere humans. Often it was enough to bring it out and swing it around. This time, it had no effect.
Two of the men on the tower opened fire at her. Only one of the bullets actually grazed my circle because Astrid was evading them. On the other hand, I wasn’t so fast. When they realised they weren’t getting through to her, the tide of their attention turned.
Ah shit. Now those guns were pointed at me. A bullet ricocheted off my protection circle. The next one embedded into the shield of blue before it got stuck, and the force of the circle crushed it. I yelped and ran in a snaking fashion, hoping to create a harder target. It made no difference.
Suspicion reared its head in my thoughts. No random humans could be this good a shot. This was military-style precision. Astrid struck out with her angel blade. She aimed it at the railing so that the corresponding blast of light forced the men to cover their eyes. That took the heat off me enough that I was able to duck
