Page 32 of The Tribes of Magic
At least that was a spell I’d done enough times to know it would probably work.
But my stomach tightened anyway. “Do you expect we’ll be attacked?”
“Not yet. But shortly.”
“By whom?”
“By the vampires guarding those daggers.”
I looked at the ring of vampire guards stationed around Seriana’s and Fenris’s bodies.
“I summon you,” Kato said in a deep, commanding voice, his gaze locked on to the knives.
They shot across the room, like they were on invisible strings, and he tugged on those strings, drawing the knives right into his hands. Telekinesis was so cool.
The vampire guards were less impressed. The moment the knives snapped into Kato’s hands, they charged at us. I barely threw up my shield in time to throw them back. I cobbled it together from a chaotic assortment of chairs, silverware, and glasses. A few of the Court members gasped in alarm when their drink glasses were sucked right out of their hands.
Beside me, inside the shield, Kato said, “I need a few minutes.” He was already examining the knives.
“A few minutes. Ok. Got it. No problem.” I winced when one of the vampire guards shattered a glass with his fist.
On second thought, maybe glass didn’t make the best material for a shield. I would have realized that if I’d been thinking clearly instead of panicking.
Duchess Dellondré’s voice called out from the other side of my inelegant shield. “Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work! And tampering with the evidence only makes you look guilty.”
“We’re not tampering with the evidence,” I told her. “We’re examining it.”
The small army of vampires slammed into my shield with a resounding crash.
I cast a hasty, sidelong glance at Kato.
“I need more time.” He flipped the daggers over.
“I’m not sure how much time I can give you,” I told him honestly.
I cast a spell to snatch one of the vampires’ swords as he drew it, using it to plug a very visible hole in my shield. Which caused all of the other vampires to draw their swords—and me to snatch them too.
“Swords are made of metal, dummies! And my spell eats metal for dinner!” I taunted the vampires.
Admittedly, that wasn’t very mature of me. But it did make the vampires growl and start kicking their own swords, all of which had been assimilated into my shield. And that was pretty funny.
“Gaians! Cease this lunacy at once and surrender!” Dellondré looked like she was about to blow her top.
Kato smiled at me. “Got it.”
“Evidence?”
He nodded crisply.
I let out a flat, deflated hum, and the pieces of my shield crashed to the ground, like they’d all at once collectively discovered gravity.
Kato looked down at the sea of debris. “Remind me to teach you how to unravel spells properly.”
I blushed.
“Seize them!”
Dellondré’s vampire guards charged forward. I thrust my hands out in front of me.
