Kiko jogged to catch up. “We’re going home?” she asked.
Home? Back to the academy, anyway. Where else was I going to go? But whether it would ever be home—without Marcus, how could it be?
My mind drifted to Havoc. But he didn’t want me, either.
The little legs tickled from beneath my hair, but I ignored them. To hell with men, I decided.
I lifted my chin, and said, “We’re going home.”
3
Marcus
I vibrated with rage.
Isobel. The children.Riley.
I sensed Iskar’s hold over the demon was slipping. My arms contorted, growing thick and powerful as the black scales chased over my skin.
Lightning struck the tree behind me. The power surged through the branches before forking straight into me until I glowed like the sun itself.
Emmanuel stood not ten feet from me, one hand outstretched, but I backed away. One touch, and I could kill. I knew it.
A small form pushed past him and came at me. Cara moved so fast that she had her hands on me before I could blink.
I snarled, and lightning hit the ground around me—but she held on—feeding me her calm energy as mine crackled and flashed. Iskar seized hold of what she offered and used it to push the monster back. It fought every step of the way, clawing and snarling as the clouds broke and the rain pounded down.
“Marcus,” said a feminine voice from beyond Cara and my father.
Emmanuel spun, and with one agile leap, he was supporting my mother. She was deathly pale, and wobbly, but alive. She beseeched me with her amber gaze as she rasped, “It will be okay. You just have to breathe, son. One breath at a time, you will get through this.”
She’d told me that long ago, when I’d been a child whose entire world had gone up in flames. And it resonated through me now. I took a deep breath, and everything Iskar and Cara were doing suddenly gained strength.
Together, we forced the demon back into the depths. Not gone. But caged. For now.
I stood and trembled as my arms reverted to normal and the pain slowly faded. The rain slowed, and then stopped, as the clouds drifted away.
Cara squeezed my arms and smiled at me. “Welcome back, Marcus.”
Emmanuel brought my mother over, and Cara moved aside so the Centaurina could fold her arms around me. “Knew you could do it,” she said, but her voice trembled.
I tried to avoid her gaze, but somehow, Cara captured mine anyway. “That was closer than I’d like,” she stated. “You can’t stay here, Marcus.”
The words were like swords through my heart, but I gritted my teeth at the truth in them.
I glanced to the smoldering tree and the blackened grass around us. I could have killed everyone.
My mother’s arm tightened around me. “Cara will help you get control over that thing. Then you can decide which path your life will take.”
But to return to the academy meant facing Riley. Besides, we had other concerns…
“What about the children?” My voice didn’t sound at all like my own. Hoarse, raspy. “Isobel has them.” And I knew what she’d do to them.
My rage rose again. Cara folded a hand around my arm once more, sending another pulse of her soothing energy into me.
One breath at a time,Iskar reminded me as he pushed back on the demon.We will face all that when we must. For now, let’s just get you back to Cara’s. Where we are going to eat as much crystal dust as you can stomach.
“Emmanuel!” An elderly Centaur pushed through the small crowd of onlookers. He slowed as he approached, casting wary glances at me. Then he handed something to my father.
