Vivian stuffed Antonio’s glowing, brown leather book inside her purse and zipped it tight before readjusting the strap over her head so it wouldn’t fall from her shoulder. Crawling from under the desk, she, too, kept her eyes averted from the lipstick marks on Jack’s and Pearl’s foreheads. “How are we going to get to this pond?”
“By force,” I muttered quietly, and my jaw hardened as I took a deep breath. Using my Shifter strength, I bent at the knees and launched myself across the room and out the window headfirst. No time like the present to get into the action. I ducked, flying over the pile of Com carcasses, and rolled as I hit the grass. I let my body continue with the motion and ended in a kneeling position. Wasting no time, I immediately opened fire and shot any and all Coms near our window, my gifted spelled gun never running out of silver bullets.
Wind whipped around me as Ezra arrived in a blur. He fired his gun while standing directly behind me with his legs straddling mine. He secured the right side, and I safeguarded the left. Pearl exited next, aiming one of the guns Jack had previously been holding. She targeted the Coms in the middle, squeezing her gun’s trigger at will. Jack dove through the window, as agile as the rest of us, and motioned for Vivian to get her ass moving as he fired at the Coms dwelling on top of the rubble that used to be the administration building; their vantage point had been chosen because it was better to pick off Mysticals.
And yes, only the room we had been in was still standing; the rest of the building was a mere pile of stone, wood, and bricks. Mrs Jonas’s room had most definitely been spelled. At the very least she had been smart on that account. It had saved our lives.
Another rush of wind rustled my distinctive red hair, and Vivian was suddenly in front of us, sinking her descended fangs deep into the neck of a Com and brutally ripping out his throat.
I actually stopped shooting for a second, merely blinking. I wasn’t sure what shocked me more: seeing Vivian, the woman who had raised Ezra, his mother, rip out someone’s throat, or witnessing a — albeit scary — school teacher rip out someone’s throat. Either way, it shocked me for a second. But reality swiftly intruded my mind’s numbness when I saw a Com taking aim at a Mys child, who was barely old enough to walk but was standing in the masses, her bitty mouth opened wide, screaming from fear.
My heart stalled. I may have a crazy dislike for brats, but I’m not completely heartless like the Com bitch that was about to murder the tiny air Elemental. My wolf growled instinctively, and I sprang at the Com. Falling on her rapidly, I viciously twisted her neck, damn near pulling her head clean off. The goddamned sadistic Com had it coming. Throwing her body aside, I swiftly lifted the air Elemental and held the whimpering munchkin close.
Ezra’s spring green gaze met my own ice blue one as the child threw her arms over my shoulders and cried heated tears against my neck. He raised his gun directly over my head. His eyes never left mine.
He fired.
I didn’t flinch.
A Com fell against my back, already dead from Ezra’s round.
My grin was feral, matching my savage best friend’s.
Our small group began our aggressive trek through the masses. Toward the pond.
Any damned Com who got in our path was soon cut down. A steady group of Mysticals began hovering and fighting alongside us, seeing who the four of us were.
As my friends’ guns ran out of ammunition, they began using their Mys abilities.
Pearl glowed golden, using her Mage powers to toss Coms straight into the air.
Jack used his water Elemental magic, drowning or freezing Coms.
Ezra began blurring, ripping out Com throats in time with his mother.
My gun never ran out of ammo, so I held the air Elemental close and shot every damn Com I saw.
The reverberating disturbance of jets neared again. Only, it was much closer this time. Everyone froze uncannily — Com and Mys alike — in their brutality of warfare. The downslope of the hillside where the fighting horde had stopped in their maiming to stare up into the air was the oddest scene to behold. Four jets appeared overhead, and a gasp thousands of people strong could be heard as bombs were dropped. It only took me a moment to realize that all the Coms fighting right here and now were collateral damage to whoever was commanding their forces.
My red brows rose, but I set the information aside. The Coms were now sitting ducks.
Confident that Antonio was taking care of the bombs that were falling from above to blow everyone away, I started firing on the stationary Coms. Just because they were distracted didn’t mean I wasn’t going to kill them. If they came for a fight, they were going to get just that, dirty and all. Taking down at least twenty in rapid succession, I chanced a peek upward as the crowd gasped again.