Shelton's accuser screamed in terror as my body grew to tower over him. Agony in my head tore at my consciousness, and the rage of my inner demon tried to snuff out lucidity. I gripped a nearby sapling and squeezed. Felt the satisfying crunch of bark and wood beneath my huge hands.
"No!" I roared. "Stop!" Fighting back with everything I had, I forced myself to stagger backward, away from the people. I saw Acworth and the woman, my connection with them gone, as they stared in horror at the beast consuming me.
Shadows crept from the forest, silent wraiths with faces I recognized. Maximus. Dash. Brad Nichols, his face consumed with rot from the vampling curse, and right behind him Mortimer, his head dangling at a grotesque angle, eyes pleading for mercy.
Feed. Drink. Devour. The voices in my head grew in volume until I could hardly hear my own defiant roars. The curse was waging a war in my mind, and I was losing.
Elyssa, I need you!
The cold in my body strained to expand my rage, my bloodlust. I couldn't let it happen. I'd rampage. I would murder everyone in sight. I thought back to the first time Elyssa and I had made love. I remembered when she'd died in my arms after I'd drained her life. "No, no, no!" I cried in a guttural voice. I reared back my head and howled in anguish. Tears sizzled in my eyes, burnt to steam by soul flames.
I dropped to my knees in supplication. Elyssa was my anchor. My solace. And suddenly, the anger evaporated. My muscles contracted, and my bones shrunk. After a moment, I stood panting, my stretched and ripped clothes hanging loose around my frame. My shoes were little more than strips of material hanging to my bare toes. I definitely couldn't pass this look off as the latest in fashion. A hand settled onto my back, and I looked up into Shelton's concerned eyes.
"You okay, buddy?"
I almost laughed at the understatement.
Instead, I nodded even as my body shivered from the cold pulsing in my leg. I felt the tendrils spreading across my crotch, reaching toward my stomach. Despite the potion, the curse was spreading. My body had been through tremendous trauma in the past few hours—golem robots, evil shape shifters, angry Arcanes, and their drooling lycan buddies. Was that causing the curse to accelerate its spread?
I looked up and saw Shelton aiming his staff at Acworth, the female, his accuser, and two other men with gray cloaks who looked like Arcanes. Cinder stood behind them, his gray eyes keeping a constant watch.
Trembling, I rose to my feet.
"Damn it, Zagg. Why the hell can't you just let it go?" Shelton glared at his accuser.
"Because I love her you heartless piece of sh—"
"What crime did she commit?" I asked, in a croaking voice.
"Illegally selling magic items to noms," Shelton said. "She's lucky she didn't get the death penalty."
"It was a setup!" the female cried, hands crossed over her bare chest. "Kayla would never do that! I know my sister better than anyone. She would never break the covenant."
"Doesn't matter what you think, Natalie" Shelton said. "She broke the rules. She's paying the price."
"She's innocent!" Zagg screamed. "And you took her away from me, you bastard."
I couldn't help but feel terrible for the guy, but didn't know what I could do except tell him and his buddies to leave us alone. On the other hand, the negative impact of Shelton's past had morphed from annoying to beyond ridiculous. Who else had a vendetta against him? Would I be dodging spells my entire educational career?
I bit back a curse. "Look, I know some higher-ups in the Templars. Maybe I can get someone to investigate her case and get back to me. If she's really innocent, maybe they can get her out. In return, you have to promise not to try to kill me or my friends." My request sounded so ridiculous, I shook my head in disbelief.
Zagg looked at me with such pain and hope in his eyes, I had to look away. "Who do you know?" he asked in the voice of someone daring to believe.
"My girlfriend is Elyssa Borathen."
He sucked in a breath. "You know Thomas Borathen?"
"He's a legend," Natalie said. "If he can prove her innocence, nobody would doubt it."
"I'm not promising Thomas himself will look into it, but someone will," I said. "I want your word."
Zagg jumped up, and Shelton looked like he was about to fry him with whatever he had cooking at the tip of his staff before he stopped himself at the last minute. Zagg shook my hand.
"You have my word. If you can free my Kayla—" He choked up. "We were supposed to get married, and then…" He trailed off, looking with pure hatred at Shelton.
Shelton held up a hand in surrender. "For crying out loud, man, I was just doing my job."
Acworth and the other group members regarded me with suspicious expressions. Natalie, however seemed to believe me, if her expression was anything to go by.
"Cinder," I said. "Can you give her your suit jacket, please? It's kind of cold out here."
"Of course, Justin." He handed it to the girl, who wasted no time in covering up. "Shall I give her my pants as well? I do not think the cold will affect my genitalia in the same manner as—"
I quickly waved him off. "No, that's not necessary. I'm sure they have clothes nearby."
Acworth nodded. Even in human form he was a big man, thicker and taller than even the meaty MacLean. "We do." His voice was a low rumble. "Why should we trust you, spawn?" He spat the last word like a bad taste.
"Look, I may be demon spawn, but I'm still…a nice guy." I shrugged. "I mean, would Elyssa Borathen date a creep?"
He regarded me with narrow eyes for a moment. "I don't personally know her, but I know from my Templar friends the Borathens are honorable people who won't stand for corruption. But don't think their honor gives you a free pass, spawn."
Natalie gripped his big arm and whispered something. He looked at her, his eyes going from rock hard to gentle in an instant, and nodded.
"Alrighty, then," I said, rubbing my hands together. "Why don't we get out of here and back to civilization?"
A basso roar sounded from somewhere in the forest, and the sound of trees bending and breaking reached my ears. An alarmed look flashed across Zagg's face.
"Just great," Shelton said. "All that noise attracted the tragon."
"The what?" I said as the crunch of vegetation grew louder by the second.
"Everybody run!" shouted one of the other Arcanes, jumping to his feet and plunging with abandon back in the direction of the castle. The other Arcane screamed, leapt to his feet, and followed the first one.
Acworth and the girl shifted back into wolf form and loped away while Zagg hurried after them, fear blazing in his eyes.
"Judging from the reactions of the others, I recommend we do as suggested and run," Cinder said.
"Okay." I tilted my head at Shelton. "Cinder, throw the slowpoke over your shoulder and carry him back."
Before Shelton could let out a cry of surprise, Cinder slung the Arcane over his shoulder and ran through the forest.
A deep rumbling growl reached my ears. I glanced behind me as the hairs on the back of my neck rose to full attention. A Tyrannosaurus Rex regarded me with glowing red eyes. Correction—it looked like the dinosaur, but its forelimbs were longer, its scales glistened red, and dinky little wings flapped on its back. The creature blinked. Then it bellowed and shot a jet of fire from its mouth. A tree to my right burst into flame. I yelped and ran. The monster roared and gave chase, plowing through underbrush and tree alike as though they were made of paper. Even as I blurred through the forest, underbrush snagging my torn clothes, I knew I'd be lucky to get away.
A blast of bright yellow light hit the thing square in the eyes. It stumbled to the side, breaking a swath of trees. A cloud of what looked like giant spiders with bat wings screeched and took flight. I looked ahead and saw Shelton bumping along on Cinder's shoulder, somehow managing to aim his staff at the tragon. Cinder burst from the trees and into daylight ahead. Using his path instead of blazing my own, I swerved around a large tree and toward the edge of the forest.
Something caught my foot. I flipped through the air, glanced off a tree, and rolled to a stop in the grass a few feet outside the forest. Before I could scramble to my feet, the tragon, less than ten yards away, lunged for me.
I was dead meat.
Chapter 22
The air a foot away from my nose shimmered blue, rippling like water as the tragon's snout struck it. Rending jaws with more teeth than a pool full of sharks snapped at me, but missed, slipping harmlessly off the blue dome. The tragon's maw opened wide. Flames jetted from its throat. I flinched back, even as the fire clouded the shield without penetrating it. At first, I thought Shelton had saved me with a defensive spell, but then I noticed how far the rippling shield extended. Even he couldn't manage one so large.
"Ha!" Shelton said, whooping. "Saved by the fricking shield again!" He laughed maniacally, panting like he'd been the one to run from the forest and not Cinder. "Oh, man, that reminds me of the good old days." He clapped a hand around mine and pulled me to my feet.
"This shield is normally here?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. All sorts of creepy crawlers live in the forest, man. It's like a nature preserve for nearly extinct animals. They sure as hell don't want any getting loose and gobbling up the students."
"Any unicorns?"
He snorted. "No, but plenty of spider bats. I used to make a hole in the shield so they could terrorize Greek Row." He laughed again. "C'mon, let's get back to the academy."
"Whose bright idea was it to crossbreed a T. Rex and a dragon?" I said.
"Science Academy nerds."
They really are mad scientists.
Cinder, Shelton, and I headed toward the shuttles bound for Science Academy.
"I need to call Elyssa," I said and sighed as I remembered her unavailability. "Or someone."