Page 54 of The Fate of Eternity

With her.

The sea of people who stand in our way is supposed to be a band of support, but instead, they serve only as a blocker between her and us, rendering us helpless to protect her.

Not from them, from herself.

“Why the fuck would she do that?” Cassian snarls as the students start to disperse slowly. The murmurs are all centered on the girl who no longer stands beside us, making the ache in my chest worsen with every passing breath.

“Because she’s Addi. I think I would have been more shocked if she didn’t,” Brody states before grinding to a halt as Raiden whirls around on him.

“Then why the fuck didn’t you stop her?”

Brody doesn’t take any of his shit, shoving at his chest with a sigh. “I didn’t know she was actually going to hand herself over,but she slipped between all of us before we could do anything about it. Besides, I’ve heard and been a part of the conversations when she gets mad at being controlled. I won’t push her away by smothering her.”

“It wouldn’t have been smothering her. It would have been protecting her,” Cassian interjects, raking a hand through his hair as desperation thickens the air.

“How the fuck are we supposed to protect her now? We don’t know where she is, and we’re practically trapped here,” Raiden snaps, his eyes almost entirely black with rage as a thought comes to my mind.

“For them to have gotten in, the magic holding the lockdown in place must have?—”

“Been lifted,” Brody states, finishing my sentence, and I nod.

A look travels between the four of us before we take off. We don’t need to take off like fools to the gates, but somewhere a little more private so Brody can work his magic and get us out of here the quickest.

Raiden rolls to a stop as soon as he steps out onto campus grounds, stepping behind a tree as we gather around. “Where to?”

“The Council,” Brody grunts in response. “If she’s not there, my father will be, and I can push him for answers. Either way, it’s a start,” he adds, making total sense as the three of us reach out to touch him. A whispered chant falls from his lips, but after a few moments, the usual tingles of magic aren’t traveling over me as we shift locations. Instead, we’re left with… nothing.

“Hurry up, Brody,” Cassian growls, earning an eye roll from the mage.

“Does it not look like I’m trying?” he snarls back, irritation stiffening his shoulders before he sighs. “The lockdown must still be in place,” he finally admits, and we all step back.

“How?” Raiden asks, but I shake my head.

“The how doesn’t matter right now. What matters is what other options we have,” I grumble, scrubbing a hand down my face as I try to remain focused instead of letting myself succumb to the worry that threatens to take over.

“We need to get off campus. That’s the main point,” Brody explains, and we all nod.

“If we can’t use magic, let’s try on foot,” Cassian states, turning toward the winding path without another word.

The three of us hurry to keep up as Raiden huffs a sigh. “If we can’t use magic to get the fuck out of here, how do you think it’s going to be possible on foot?” he asks, earning a grunt from the wolf storming ahead.

“I would rather fail trying than not try at all.”

Well, then.

“That’s the wisest thing you haveeversaid, and I should know because I’m wise as shit,” Brody declares, amusement in his tone, but when I glance at him, the grin on his face doesn’t reach his eyes, confirming the worry that’s settling over him too.

We need to get to our girl, and we need to get there now.

As if the thought runs through all of us, I grab Brody’s arm and take off at speed for the gates. He grumbles his thanks as we slow to a stop at the unmanned post, but when we attempt to cross the barrier, we’re met with an invisible wall.

We’re not getting out of here.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The tension thickens between us, worry morphing into anger and frustration as we try with all of our might to get the hell through the magic, but it’s pointless. We’re locked in.

“What now? There has to be something,” Raiden states, his words more like a plea than anything.

---