"Way to alert the bad guys," Tristan yelled.
I glared at him. "Just go."
Our group ran down the stairs, full speed. At the bottom, Tristan pushed open the exit door and Gia ran after him. I held the door open for Jasper and Ryder.
Everything ached as I shut the door, cutting off the sound of the alarm. The burning was gone, but my muscles were left feeling like the aftermath of a long workout. I wondered how long that would last. What was that alarm? Had it caused permanent damage?
"Everyone okay?" I looked at our ragged group.
"You shouldn't have come," Gia said. "It's a trap."
"I know," I said. "But I couldn't leave you here."
"You don't understand," Gia said.
"It's fine. We're heading out now. She didn't get me. She can't open the gates." I looked up and down the alleyway, wondering which way was the best way to go to leave this place.
A series of popping noises sounded from behind us, in the direction of the main entrance of Terra's Place. My whole body tensed as I turned to look that way.
"She's not after you," Gia said. "She's after the Circus. She found a way to take their magic without breaking the curse. She never wanted you. You were the diversion."
My blood ran cold. No wonder we'd snuck right in without incident, even with Ryder hitting the alarm. They wanted me to go get him, to leave the Circus unprotected, to get them all here.
Without waiting, I took off at a run toward the main road, toward the popping noises. Gia and Tristan called me but I ignored them. I wasn't about to let the Rose Circus pay for my mistakes.
I knew that I could channel the magic that Terra threw at me. I could even use it against her. And somewhere out there, Goldie was waiting with a vial of iron dust. It was up to me to do what I could to keep Terra from gaining the power she wanted. It wasn't just my life on the line. If Terra gained the magic to open the gates, she was going to unleash all sorts of terrible things.
Flashes of blue lightning split through the sky, followed by a thunderclap. When I glanced up, there were no clouds in sight. That was all Terra. Howls filled the air, and the sound of screams wasn't far behind.
Steeling myself, I ran headfirst into the storm. Fog hovered above the street, making it difficult to see anything. I could hear the shuffle of people moving, the grunting and cries of battle, but I couldn't find them.
A growl sounded from behind me but I kept running, not stopping to fight. My mission was clear. I had to find Terra and if not her, at least Goldie so I could help her.
The fog had forced me to slow down, taking careful steps and reaching ahead of me with my hands. Where was everybody? As if on queue, the fog began to dissipate, and as it faded, I realized I was surrounded by wolves. My heart pounded, as cold fear seized me. Did I have enough power stored inside me to try to take them all out? If I did, what would happen to me? To my friends? Would I have enough magic left to help them? Gia had said magic needed to be recharged. I didn't know what I was capable of, let alone how much I had.
After a few deep breaths, I noticed the wolves weren't attacking me. Taking a few cautious steps forward, one of the wolves snapped at me, but he didn't advance. They weren't attacking me, they were holding me.
In a single stupid decision, I ran forward, twisting between two of the wolves and took off away from them. At first, I thought I'd escaped free and clear, but they were following on my heels, attempting to close in around me, trying to block me in again. I continued to dodge around them and searched for the battle. The street was empty. It was just the wolves and me. No Terra, no Circus, nobody.
Risking a quick glance behind me, I looked for Tristan or Gia. Had anyone followed me? Instead of seeing them, I noticed movement on the top of a smaller one-story building across the street from Terra's place. Tons of people were crammed on the roof, and lightning crackled above it.
Spinning on my heels, I made a mad dash for the building, wolves snapping at my heels as I ran. Three of the beasts beat me to the door, growling at me, haunches raised. They weren't going to let me through.
This time, I didn't hesitate. I wanted the lightning, like Terra was using. With minimal effort, white sparks traveled down my arms, electrifying my whole body. The hair on my arms and neck stood on end. I probably looked like the bride of Frankenstein, but I didn't care. Right now, I needed to get through that door.
"Move." I glared at the wolves as I held my hands out in front of me, lightning dancing up and down my arms, forming a ball of light in my palms.
The largest wolf growled again and the two on either side of him seemed to want to back down. I took another step forward. "Move."
The largest wolf snapped at me, taking a few steps toward me.
With a scream, I released the lightning from my hands, aiming it at the largest wolf. Smoke rose in front of me and the scent of singed fur hung in the air as the wolves went yapping away from me.
Arms still sizzling with electricity, I kicked open the door and looked around for the stairs. Finding them, I made my way upstairs. There wasn't an exit to the roof, but there had to be a way to get there. After looking into three rooms with no view of the roof, I opened the fourth door to find exactly what I was looking for: a window with a perfect view of the top of the building.
A large group stood in the center of the roof, bound by a glowing blue light. I could make out some familiar faces in there. My heart ached at the sight of Brenon and Evangeline tied up and defenseless. Then, I spotted Goldie, Joe, and Maggie. They were all here. All trapped.
In front of the Circus members, Terra and two others stood with their back to me. It took me a moment to recognize the two figures that were with Terra. My face burned when I realized it was the twins, the elders. The same people who had told me they'd help us after telling me how bad the Fae were. They were the ones who were helping Terra. That meant they'd helped her to destroy that whole Sayge town. Who could do that? Why would they help her?
Picking up a chair, I threw it at the window sending glass shattering all over the floor. The broken glass crunched under my feet as I walked to the window and looked out.
Terra, the twins, and all the members of the Circus turned to look at me. Nostrils flaring, I stepped through the window. Every part of me that said this was a bad idea had been silenced by the anger surging through me. I felt like a different person. There was no way I was going to let Terra or those evil twins get away with this. "Let them go."
Terra took a few steps toward me. "How nice of you to join the party. I was just about to remove all their magic. There's only one piece missing from the spell."