Feudlings (25 page)

"Whatever you're planning, it won't work. My Prodigy is too powerful for you," Antonio said. Perfect trust in his Prodigy. Shane wondered how many Carules had that trust in him.
Probably not many
, he thought with a frown. He threw another spell at Antonio, more powerful than he planned, spurred by jealous anger. The Edren countered, but he wasn't trying to kill Shane. He knew better, and all his spells were only trying to protect himself.

Charity's eyes glowed from across the room and she scrambled backward, cowering in the corner. "Shane, the Prodigy is coming," she said, her voice a panicked whisper. "Coming fast! Shane!" she screamed.

Shane locked eyes with Hunter, standing in the upper hallway, and nodded. Hunter threw a spell at their captive Antonio, immobilizing him but not killing him. Above, Shane could hear feet racing toward them, moving so fast the sound blurred in his ears. His hands flew through the last ward spell, flinging it forward as Hunter screamed, "Now!" The ward was in place.

The Prodigy was caught. Shane’s face lit up in a triumphant grin.

And then Charity screamed, "Shane no!"

It was as if the wards weren’t even there. The Prodigy burst through them, coming straight at them, moving so fast Shane's eyes couldn't follow, but somehow his hands acted on their own and were burning a
lirik
in the air before he even realized what he was doing. He threw it as hard and as fast as he could just as the Prodigy paused at the top step.

Ari.

Charity burst to her feet in the darkness just as another
lirik
flew out of the upper hallway. Hunter's spell joined Shane's and they both smashed into Ari. She flew backward, and Shane heard her slam into the wall with a sickening thud.

He stood frozen. What had just happened?

Charity was racing up the steps, sobbing, and suddenly Shane couldn't move fast enough.

Ari.

He had just attacked Ari with the most powerful kill spell in existence. He could hear Hunter's feet pounding down the stairs from above, but it was all as if from a distance. He could see Ari's crumpled form, blood soaking the floor around her.

"Ari!" he screamed. Two more steps and he was leaping into the corridor where she lay, racing toward her. Her hand, weak and shaking, was burning something in the air and she pushed it, a ward blooming in front of him.

Unable to stop, he crashed right into it and tumbled backward, knocking Charity over with him. Hunter was almost on top of them when another ward and then another exploded around them.

She had boxed them in, just like he had tried to do to her, except he had failed. She hadn't though, and he pounded on the invisible walls, screaming her name. Slowly, so slowly, she dragged herself to her feet, hunching over and holding her side. She looked at them, trapped there by her own hand, and the pain in her eyes had nothing to do with the gaping wound in her side. Tears soaked her cheeks, and then she turned and ran down the hall, disappearing into the darkness.

"Ari!" Shane screamed, but it did no good. She was gone.

****

Ari got to the edges of the forest before she collapsed. She lay down in the undergrowth and sobbed, clutching at her side. They had tried to kill her. Her friends… and Shane. She had thought she loved him. She was so stupid. So incredibly stupid.

She couldn't find the will to get up. She didn't care anymore. She had been born a monster, trained to be a monster. Trained to kill heartlessly, just like a monster. But she wasn't a monster. She was a soldier. The monsters were the ones who laid traps for friends, luring them in with smiles and the promise of a life less lonely. Those were the monsters. Not her. Let the war end. If this was what it made people, she didn't want to fight it anymore.

She was so cold and so tired. Ari closed her eyes as blackness overtook her, and finally, peace.

****

"We've got to get out of here! Hunter, call for a
saldepement
!" Shane yelled, crashing into the wards again and again in desperation.

"What just happened?" Hunter asked dully from where he sat against the wall, his knees drawn up and his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"I saw it. I saw Ari, but it was too late…" Charity sobbed over and over, her hands covering her face as she crouched on the floor.

"Ari is the Edren Prodigy. She's known all along that we were Carules. Why didn't she kill us?" Hunter mumbled.

Shane doubted he wanted an answer, but Charity gave it to him anyway. "Because she was our friend. And we turned on her!"

"Well it wasn't like we knew it was her," Hunter argued half-heartedly, but Charity just stared back at him, fury racing through her eyes.

"We should have known." Charity wailed. Hunter opened his mouth to respond, but Antonio chose that moment to start laughing hysterically. They had all forgotten he was there, trapped with them. Shocked, all any of them could do was gape at him.

"You had her completely by surprise and you still couldn't kill her! Edrens will prevail!" He held his fists up in some sort of victory dance. Shane's hands flew forward, throwing out Carules flames. Antonio collapsed, and spoke no more.

Shane turned on Hunter. "Call for a
saldepement
. We have to get out of here and find Ari." He was out-of-nowhere deadly calm, his metallic eyes burning. Hunter stared at him, shocked at what Shane had just done, as he fumbled for his phone, but just then the wards holding them shimmered and were gone.

"She let us out," Charity said in surprise.

"Or she's…" Hunter started, but Shane cut him brusquely off.

"She's not dead, Hunter. She's still out there somewhere, and we're going to find her."

Hunter narrowed his eyes and started to say something… just as the fire alarms went off and the sprinkler system rained down on them.

"What the…?" Shane gasped, running down the hall in the direction Ari had escaped. Charity and Hunter followed more slowly behind him.

Shane could just see the flames licking the stairway, blocking them. "We have to go around," Charity said, arriving next to Shane. Out the window, the dorms were emptying as students poured onto the lawns to see what was happening. Oddly, the flames weren't going anywhere.

"She did this," Hunter said, staring down at the wall of fire that bloomed from one sheet of paper, and nothing more.

"She's protecting the school while she blocks us from following her." Shane shook his head in disbelief. How could he have not known what she was?

By the time they went all the way around to another exit and got back to find Ari's trail, there was mass hysteria. They could hear sirens in the distance; students and staff were everywhere, yelling and crying and starting a bucket brigade to put out the flames. Smoke choked the night air and drowned the sky. It was impossible to see where she had gone. Shane searched desperately, his eyes burning, but he couldn't find her.

Next to him, Charity jumped forward, shoving her way through the crowd. "Will?" Shane heard her gasp. He followed her line of sight just in time to see Will's black and red head above all the others. But he was on the move, blending and weaving through the crowd as Charity shoved her way forward. Shane and Hunter followed, but they couldn't find him, and there was no sign of Ari.

"Look! There he is!" Charity cried, and Shane looked up to see Will again, much closer this time. His face was battered and bruised and one side was burned, but before Shane could open his mouth, Will was gone.

"He went this way!" Hunter raced toward the path to the pond. Some of the teachers were trying to do a roll call, but no one was listening and they were able to slip away during the commotion.

"We'll look all night if we have to," Shane said as he jogged down the road. It took him a while before he realized that neither Hunter nor Charity were following him. He stopped and turned to see them standing at the foot of the trail. Charity had silent tears soaking her cheeks, and Hunter stood tall and dark, his arms folded across his powerful chest, scowling fiercely.

"What are you doing? Help me look!" Shane yelled.

"I'm not going to help you kill her, Shane. I'll protect you, because I've sworn to, but I won't help you kill her," Hunter said flatly.

Charity cried harder.

"Kill her? What are you talking about?" Shane bellowed in disbelief. "I don't want to kill her! I want to save her, you idiot!"

"You want to… but you're supposed to…" Hunter stuttered, confused, his hands dropping to his sides.

Charity put a fist to her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs.

"She's hurt, Hunter. We have to find her." Shane’s voice broke as he neared his best friend, his eyes pleading desperately. He knew he couldn't find her in time without their help.

"I'll look that way. You try the road." Hunter shoved Shane in the opposite direction as he took off up the path. Shane felt relief surge through him as he again fought his way through the crowd of students, trying to get to the road, almost getting hit by a fire truck on his way.

Charity ran in another direction, her silver eyes glowing dimly in the night.

Chapter Nineteen

Ari could feel them trying to save her. She could feel her body fighting them. And she could hear Will begging her to let them heal her. But her heart shied away from the pain, physical and emotional, that being awake brought. Giving up was so much less painful than trying to fight.

"Please Ari, help them heal you!" Will pleaded, his voice breaking, and even in her half-conscious state she could hear his panic and the raw pain in his words. She couldn't bear to hear that pain in his voice.

"Will? How did you find me?" She hated the weakness in her voice and the way it shook with effort.

"Ari! She's awake! Keep healing, keep healing!" he begged, jumping up out of her field of vision.

Ari winced at the noise. "It's okay Ari girl. You're going to be okay," he said, back where she could see him, touching his forehead to hers. The hands on her strengthened their efforts, but Ari knew it wasn't going to help. There was no healing this wound from the Carules Prodigy's hand. The prophesy would win. The Carules would win. She closed her eyes.

****

Ari wasn’t sure how long it had been when she woke up again. A minute? A year? She wasn’t in as much pain as before, but she could still feel the spell there, eating away, slowly killing her. At least she was a little more comfortable, if she didn't move. Or breathe. Eating was probably out too.

She opened her eyes, waited for them to focus. Will's pale face hovered above hers, his eyes strained and bloodshot.

"Will." She sighed, trying to lift her head.

"Don't. Don't move. Just rest." He placed a cold, shaking hand against her skin. She shivered, pain shooting through her body.

"What happened? How did you find me?" she asked. Every word felt like it was ripping more of her life away.

"I’m… uh… not sure, exactly. I… just followed this
feeling
. It’s hard to explain." He shrugged, settling himself on the couch next to her, careful not to jostle her at all.

She was too tired to be confused, so she let it go. "You came to my school?" she asked instead.

"I'll explain, but you have to promise not to move. Or speak. Just rest." Ari wondered if his voice was ever going to be steady again. He was so worried.

She licked her cracked lips and nodded. Not moving sounded good.

"We have a spy in the colony, Ari." His voice hardened, and Ari could understand his betrayal. The colony was like family. Twice now family had turned on Will. Ari's heart hurt for him. Family had turned on him, but he had still saved her.

"I guess when I started asking about Shane and Hunter, the spy realized where you were and sent the Carules. Whoever it was… didn't want me to get hurt… so they tried to trap me here.” He closed his eyes, as if reliving it was painful. “When I realized the Carules were after you, I called Mom.” Ari blinked, confused. He had called Vivian? Had Vivian even known he was alive? Will continued, oblivious to her bewilderment, “She sent the Edren warriors to protect you." At this, Will gave her a rueful smile. "No, we will never realize you don't need saving. So don't ask."

Ari would have smiled in return if she didn't hurt so badly.

"I thought everything was over and you were safe. And then… I got a message from Mom." Ari's eyes widened, surprised again. Not only did her mother know Will was alive, apparently, but she also knew how to reach him.

Will just nodded as he continued, "She said they had rescued an Edren soldier who had been captured by the Carules and used as bait to lure you into a trap. He told us everything. So I… uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “I fought my way out and went after you, and followed the — the feeling. Then I brought you here." He stroked her hair away from her face, his hand still shaking. She closed her eyes.

It took her several minutes to find the energy to talk. "I'm dying, Will," she said, forcing her eyes open to meet his gaze.

“No you aren’t. We’ll fix this,” he said firmly, but the panic in his eyes made it plain that he didn’t believe it, either.

****

“It’s been three weeks, Char. Do you think they’re going to find her?” Nev’s voice, more sad and mellow than Shane had ever heard it, came through the speaker on Charity’s phone. There was constant sniffling in the background, and Shane knew Livi was there, too.
We’re probably on speaker, too,
he thought numbly.

“I don’t know, Nev. I don’t. We’ve been going nuts trying to find her. Shane hasn’t slept at all. He looks horrible. You wouldn’t even recognize him.” Charity sighed.

“Shane did like her, huh?” Livi sniffed.

“I think he’s in love with her,” Charity said. He felt her eyes on him, but he didn’t look up from the map he was studying. It had taken him hours to make, marking all the Edren attacks he knew of, marking everywhere they knew Ari had ever been.

“Well, the whole school is in mourning. We’ve searched the mountains and trails around the school a billion times. There’s just no sign of her,” Nev said.