"Do not stop me, Torian," I warned. "Their minds are mine, and I will - "
"They burned my face!" Ms. Caldwell whimpered, clearly talking to Keir. "They sent knives at me! My hair!"
"I can't help the hair," Keir said softly. "I'm sorry, Ms. Caldwell."
But the Taxonomy teacher was shifting from survival mode to reacting. "Why?!" she demanded, and it sounded like she was talking to the students.
"They can't hear you," I said, struggling not to let rage turn my voice into a growl. "I have them glamoured so hard they will never find their way out on their own."
"Make sure they never do this again, Your Grace," Ms. Caldwell begged. "We're scared. We thought we were the last of our season, and now they're coming for us? Wanting to kill us all?"
"Or just chase you away?" Poppy asked. "Ms. Caldwell, no one has died yet."
"Carol Dumontdied!" Aspen screamed, making it clear just how wrong Poppy was.
"So stop them, Your Grace?" Ms. Caldwell whimpered. "Stop them for good?"
I couldn't tell if she wanted me to kill them or destroy their magic, but it didn't matter. One of those things was possible. The other wasn't, but while I might not have the ability to strip power from a Summer fae, I could crush their minds.
It would be easy to do. They were already scared and confused. I'd stuck them in a replication of a world they'd never been to, hiding from a monster they'd only read about. Oh, it would be so very easy to turn on the lights in their glamour and let the troll find them. Let their heads be dashed against rocks until their thoughts were permanently scrambled. To do to them what they'd been doing to us!
And I wanted to.
The feel of a soft hand on my shoulder made my head snap over. There, Torian was merely watching me. He wasn't telling me to stop. He wasn't trying to yank me away to break my concentration. He was simply showing he was with me. That no matter what I chose to do, he'd support me.
"The pain is real," he said softly. "Someone must pay for it."
And yet I'd already looked away. I'd let my concentration slip just enough that I might as well give in now.
"Grab them," I said, flicking my hand to release the glamour. "Our court are the heroes, not the villains."
Immediately, the three guys scrambled in place, disoriented by the change in scenery - and the brightness of the lights. One began to scream, sounding like he was ready to fight back. Another sank to his knees in relief. The third was whipping his head from side to side, likely looking for a way out.
"Oh, shut up!" Poppy yelled, flicking a hand to silence the sounds coming from all of them.
"Keir, Pascal..." Rain paused. "We need to take them to the office. Torian, make sure Aspen's got eyes on her. Hawke, keep our royals safe."
"No," I told her. "I have Aspen. Tor, you go with Rain."
"Only if Hawke goes with you, Wilder," he said.
I nodded. "He will. Nevaeh?" I turned, finding her kneeling beside Ms. Caldwell on the other side from Keir. "You will stay with Poppy, and if anyone else tries to attack anyone from my court in this building..."
She looked up, meeting my eyes. "The sides have changed, Wilder. It's not Winter versus Summer anymore."
"No, it's the sidhe versus The Silent," I agreed. "And I'm giving you permission to stop holding back. If anyone in this school - from Ms. Rhodes to the fucking janitor - has a problem with it?" I took one step toward her. "Tell them they can talk to the Duke of Avalon.Igave the order."
In unison, both she and Poppy bowed their heads and replied, "Yes, Your Grace."
Chapter Forty-Seven
RAIN
Ok, Wilder was a scary motherfucker when he snapped. He was also exactly as cold as I'd expected, almost like it was in his bloodline or something. Yet while Pascal, Keir, and I got the attackers under our control, Torian spoke with Wilder and Hawke, saying something that made those two react a bit.
They also took Aspen with them as they headed downstairs. Poppy and Nevaeh volunteered to get Ms. Caldwell down to the nurse for more healing. Torian? He gestured for us to lead on, but that muscle in his jaw was jumping again.
I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but the idiot I was holding kept trying to pull away. Thankfully, magic made it easy to keep them contained, and I was pretty sure it wasn't all mine. When we headed for the stairs, the doors magically opened for us. But when we came out on the first floor, we weren't alone.
