Aiden stopped to lean against a tree and drew on the magic all around him. This was his time, spring heading into summer, warm and full of life. The energy fueled him, and he ran at full speed.
He had to get there and warn Dylan. Warn everyone.
He didn’t see the man standing at the front door of the annex building until he was almost on him.
“Building’s closed. Prom is canceled.” The man held up his hands.
Aiden skidded to a stop. “What?”
He glanced around. There was nothing. No one else. No attack or explosions or any of the dozen other things he’d feared.
“Sorry, they canceled prom. Some kid pulled a prank or something. Go home.”
Had they really, or… was something going on inside?
A dark shape came around the corner and rushed toward the man. Aiden tensed, ready to fling a spell. At the last second he recognized Tiago.
His boyfriend grabbed the man and slammed him hard against the wall. The man crumpled as Aiden winced in sympathy.
“Aiden,” Tiago breathed, pulling him into a fierce kiss.
His knees went a little weak and he forced himself to focus. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t know. But the parking lot is full of cars, so I doubt he was telling the truth.” Tiago’s expression shifted. “My parents?”
“I left them trapped. We should have a little time at least.”
Tiago sighed. “Okay. Come on.”
He led the way inside cautiously, checking the hallway. It was creepy quiet. Aiden imagined the worst. What if they were all dead?
Tiago went down to the far end, not making a sound. Aiden’s breathing seemed loud, but he was still winded from the run. They were almost at the last gym, and now he heard voices. Lots of voices.
Was that Dylan?
Tiago gripped him and whispered. “We have no idea what’s going on.” He seemed much more together now that his parents weren’t an immediate threat. “We have to be ready for anything.”
“Okay.” Aiden didn’t know how that was possible.
“Ready?” Tiago put his hands on the push bar of the door.
Aiden wasn’t remotely ready, but he nodded.
“One… two… three!” Tiago shoved the door open.
The gym was almost pitch-dark, but Aiden could make out a large group of people. “Is everyone okay? What’s going on?”
“Aiden!” A purple glow rippled out, and Aiden saw Dylan in the light.
A man near him spun around, growling, yellow eyes bright in the dark. Fur and the chill of a moonlit night brushed against Aiden’s mind. The man lunged, but Tiago slammed into him, knocking him back. Magic lit the area again, and the man stopped as if hitting a wall. A barrier.
“I got him!” Tiago said as he dodged a swipe of claws. “Go.”
Aiden’s heart clenched with fear, but he ran up to the gleaming silver line on the floor that marked the edge of the wards. They were supposed to protect people, not trap them. Dylan hurried to meet him, and Mr. Johnson joined them.
“Aiden,” Mr. Johnson said. “You need to dispel the barrier.”
Stay calm. His heart was going so fast it scared him. “How?” Aiden knew how to make and dissipate his own barriers, and he knew how to attack one, but he didn’t want to throw a bunch of spells and risk hurting the people on the other side.
“Focus your magic. Feel the energy of the barrier.”
Focus? With his boyfriend fighting a werewolf only a few feet away and God knew what else going on?
“I need reinforcements at the school. Now!” the werewolf fighting Tiago said.
Aiden turned.
“Ignore them,” Mr. Johnson said. “Concentrate.”
Aiden shut his eyes and held out a hand. The magic was different than anything he’d felt before. Not fae or wizard or witch. A hum like a machine or a tuning fork. No, words. A low, muttered chant in some unfamiliar language. “Okay.”
“Now you have to break the spell. Imagine a knife of energy—”
“Imagine the spell is a ripple in a pond,” Ms. Yang cut in. Aiden lost his concentration for a moment. “Take your hand and stop the ripple.”
He saw the chanting as a circular pattern in otherwise still water. Slowly he brought his hand down, shimmering with green-gold magic. The ripples touched him, sending a vibration up his arm, and then the magic snapped.
Cheering and exclamations of surprise came from the crowd. Aiden opened his eyes to see the last few purple sparkles of energy disappearing.
“Yes!” A fireball bloomed in Dylan’s hand.
Aiden looked over to see how Tiago was doing. Oh God, if he was hurt…
Several other lights, magic in varying colors, burst to life all over, making it easy to see. Tiago looked fine, and the werewolf stood struggling in a faintly orange binding spell, Principal Nejem glaring at him.
Aiden let out a breath.
“Okay, we need to organize,” Mr. Johnson said, turning to Ms. Yang and some of the other adults. He looked pale and shaken. “Anyone who can fly needs to get out to the Galloway property ASAP to check on Bryn—”
Was Dylan’s mom in trouble? Aiden opened his mouth to ask, but the door slammed open and several people rushed in.
“Get down!” the principal yelled.
Spells started flying.
* * *
Several kids screamed and ran for the far side of the gym. Dylan heard a table fall over. He stood his ground, the power inside him eager. God, it felt good to have it back. The tight fear in his chest was gone. Now he was only worried about keeping his friends safe.
No question who the people rushing through the door were—the reinforcements Mr. Rhodes had called.
With the wards down, the gym wasn’t protected, so more than a little fire would be a bad idea. Dylan sent a wave of energy at the attackers, knocking a few of them into each other. Spells went wild, hitting the walls. One zoomed over his head.
A vampire rushed at Dylan. Summoning his claws, Dylan lashed out, grazing the man’s chest as he dodged.
An orange-red spell hit the vampire and he flew into the wall, clothes smoking. Sakura stepped up next to Dylan and gave him a wink before unleashing more magic.
Yeah, he was definitely asking her for a second date.
Dylan turned and looked for Aiden, wondering if his friend was panicking. He found him several yards away, looking scared but fighting, with Mr. Johnson next to him. The warden looked like a total badass, a dark frown on his face and magic flying all around him.
Not far from them, a group of kids huddled on the far side of the stage. A tengu—part human, part bird—leapt into the air and flew at them, claws at the ready. His birdlike face was twisted with anger.
No matter how much Dylan hated the wardens and how much he’d agreed with the things Dalton’s parents said at the protest, he knew those people were on the wrong side. They were attacking kids.
Dylan ran and jumped up on the stage, putting himself between the kids and the tengu. With a higher vantage point, he saw several small fires burning all over the gym. Well, so much for that. He summoned a whip of flame. The tengu screamed as the lash wrapped around him, smoke rising from his burning feathers.
Dylan yanked and the man crashed hard into the ground.
Light burst in Dylan’s vision and his body froze. For a second he thought it was a binding spell, but then the cold hit him. He was literally frozen, covered in ice.