Chapter 63 SERAPHINE'S REVENGE
CHAPTER 063: SERAPHINE'S REVENGE
The fires spread faster than before and every student ran helter skelter.
I watch from the courtyard as flames jump from the training building to the Library. Students rush out of dormitories in various states of dress, some still in pajamas, others half-shifted in panic.
"Get everyone to the gates," Corvus shouts to the faculty. His voice was raw with urgency. "Now!"
Kieran's already moving, gesturing the students away from the burning buildings with the other pack wolves.
Alaric vanishes into the smoke, vampire speed making him a blur as he searches for stragglers.
Cassian's hovering near the flames, hands outstretched like he's trying to control them but it's not working.
"They're not normal fire," he calls out, sweat already forming on his forehead. "There's magic in them. Dark magic."
Seraphine steps out of the smoke like she's walking through a water.
She looks different from what I remember from the Hollow King's realm. Her eyes burn with rage.
"You," she says, her gaze locked on me with focus.
Kieran appears at my side immediately, half-shifted already. "Get the students out. I'll handle her."
"No." I don't take my eyes off Seraphine. "She's here for me."
"Exactly why you should run."
"I'm done running. It's time to fight."
Seraphine laughs, sharp and brittle. "How noble. The Phoenix Soul stands her ground. Do you know what you took from me?"
"The Hollow King wasn't yours to lose."
"He was everything!" Her voice cracks. "He gave me purpose, power. He made me more than I was."
"He used you." I step away from Kieran's protective stance. "He used all of us."
"He loved me."
"He loved power. You were just a tool."
She screamed, her scream is primal. The shadows surge forward, combining with fire in. I throw up a shield on instinct, time magic crackling around me as I slow the attack just enough to escape it.
The force still sends me stumbling back.
"You killed him," Seraphine snarls. "The only being who ever cared about me."
"He didn't care about you. He used you."
"He gave me purpose!"
"He gave you commands. That's not the same thing."
She attacks again, faster this time, I counter with frozen time, creating where her magic can't reach.
We're matched. Every attack I make, she deflects. Every strike she throws, I block.
Behind me I hear the boys arriving. Feel Kieran's wolf prowling, ready to intervene.
"Stay back," I shout without looking.
Seraphine smiles and snaps her fingers.
The sunlight shown brightly around Alaric and burning. He screams, and crashes to his knees as his skin starts to smoke.
Cassian's own fire turns on him, flowing backward into his body like it's trying to consume him from the inside.
Zev drops like someone cut his strings, eyes rolling back as nightmares drag him under.
And Kieran, he hits an invisible barrier that changes into chains, wrapping around him so fast so he can't shift fully. The metal burns his skin, forces him back to human form with a howl of pain.
"Clever, indeed," I say through gritted teeth. My hands shake but I keep them steady. "You planned this."
"I've had weeks to plan." Seraphine circles me like a predator. "Weeks to study you. Your boys. Your weaknesses."
"Then you wasted your time. I don't need them to beat you."
"Don't you? You're always stronger together. Always hiding behind your collective."
She's not wrong. Without the soul bond, without their backup, I feel vulnerable.
But I'm still standing.
"He promised me immortality," Seraphine continues, her voice breaking again. "Power beyond measure. Everything I ever wanted."
"And where is he now?"
"Dead!" The word comes out strangled. "Dead because of you!"
Her grief makes her sloppy. The next attack is pure emotion, no strategy. I sidestep, use her momentum against her, trap her shadows with frozen time before she can pull them back.
"You can spend your life hating me," I say, breathing hard, "or you can move on. Your choice."
She struggles against the time prison, shadows writhing uselessly. "This isn't over."
"Yeah it is."
Faculty members rush in, Corvus leading them. They rushed into the scene quickly, assessing the trapped boys, the burning buildings, and Seraphine caught in my magic.
"Well done," Corvus says quietly to me before turning to the others. "Get her contained. Magical restraints, and maximum security."
As they pull Seraphine away, she spits in my direction. "The Covenant is coming. Three days. And when they arrive you'll wish I'd killed you."
I release my magic, and run to Kieran first. The silver chains dissolve when I touch them.
He's already healing, werewolf regeneration kicking in, but the burns look painful.
"I'm fine," he growls before I can ask.
"You're not."
"Will be."
I move to Alaric next, and dismiss the sunlight spell. He's badly burned, his skin is red and blistered, but alive. Cassian's gasping on the ground, his fire back under control but clearly shaken. Zev's sitting up slowly, amber eyes still distant.
"Everyone okay?" My voice sounds steadier.
"Define okay," Zev mutters.
The Council arrives before the fires are fully extinguished.
Magistrate Thorne surveys the damage with an expression that could freeze hell. "This is exactly why you should be in our custody. You're a danger magnet."
"I didn't bring her here," I say tiredly.
"Your existence brought her here." He turns that gaze on me. "How many more will come? How many more attacks will this academy suffer because you're here?"
"That's enough," Corvus snaps. He positions himself between me and Thorne, which is either brave or stupid considering the power difference. "She saved lives today and stopped a threat. If anything, she should be training students in combat."
Thorne's expression doesn't change. "You want her teaching?"
"I want her experience put to use. She's survived more in seventeen years than most supernaturals face in centuries."
They stare at each other for a long moment.
"Fine," Thorne says finally. "She can stay. But she takes on a leadership role. Combat instructor for advanced students. Mentor for younger students with dangerous powers. Turn your experience into education Miss Moonwhisper."
It's not a request.
"Okay," I say, because what else can I say?
I sit on the courtyard steps, suddenly exhausted.
Kieran sits beside me. He doesn't say anything, he just presses his shoulder against mine.
"You okay?" I ask quietly.
"I should be asking you that."
"I asked first."
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
He almost smiles. "Yeah. But we're alive so I'll take it."
The others join us gradually. Alaric with healing salve on his burns, Cassian still looking shaken, Zev unnaturally quiet.
"Three days," Cassian says finally. "What do you think will arrive in three days?"
"Nothing good," Zev answers.
"Helpful."
"I'm a dream walker not a prophet."
That night I barely sleep.
When I do, the dreams are strange. Images of beings I don't recognize, symbols that make my head hurt, voices speaking in languages that predate language itself.
Luna shakes me awake just after three AM.
"Something's wrong," she says urgently. Her face is pale, and her eyes wide with an emotion I can't quite read. "I can feel it through the twin bond."
"What's wrong?" I sit up too fast, my head spinning.
"Not me. You." Her hand presses against my chest, right over my heart. "Something inside you is changing."
"What do you mean changing?"
"I don't know how to explain it. It feels like you're becoming more. Or less. Something's shifting."
I press my own hand to my chest, trying to feel what she's feeling. At first there's nothing.
Then I feel it.
A pulse that's not my heartbeat. Something ancient stirring in my chest like it's waking up after a long sleep.
"What is that?" I whisper.
Luna's hand trembles. "I think it's them. The Covenant. I think they're already inside you."
"That's impossible."
"Is it? Oracle Mira said you're summoning them. What if you're not summoning them to you? What if you're summoning them through you?"
The pulse grows stronger. I can feel it spreading through my veins.
"Luna—"
"We need to get help. Now."
But before one of us can move, the pulse activated and power floods through me, ancient and terrible and not mine. My back arches, my mouth opening in a silent scream as something forces its way through my consciousness.
Through the haze I h
ear Luna shouting for help.
Then a voice which is not mine, speaks through my mouth with words I don't understand but my soul recognizes.
The first of the Covenant has arrived and it's using me as a door.