Page 41 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

His body seizes, and his eyes roll back. I run over to help Draco hold him steady while he thrashes through the fit. People are yelling, but I can’t understand any of it. Lincoln’s foaming mouth, scarlet skin, and convulsing is all I see. All I hear is a strange grunting hum coming from him, like he’s trying to scream something at me but he can’t get the words out.

“What do we do?” Draco asks me, eyes wide as he dodges Lincoln’s head which slams back before shooting forward. Lincoln folds over, going suddenly limp.

“No!” I try to lift him, but his body won’t move.

Draco eases him to the ground, putting him on his side so he can feel for a pulse on his neck. Running my hands over his arms, I check each of his wrists, grimacing when there’s no beat to be found. Rigor mortis shouldn’t set in for at least a few hours, but his body has stiffened already.

A dark chuckle fills the room, and shouts erupt as shifters scramble away from the flood of ghosts; they spread through the cafeteria like an infection. Adler grabs Bea and he, Carter, and Everett move toward one of the groups of shifters by the windows, out of the path of the specters who are heading straight toward Draco and me.

I drop my hand from Lincoln’s skin, falling back on my butt when the ghosts reach for him, their cold bodies passing through mine. Some of them glance at me, eyes lighting with a spark of something. They recognize the link to the land of the living. My medium powers call to them. Soft whispers fill my head, each one trying to tell me its story. More glance in my direction, called to me by the same power. As one, they stop moving toward Lincoln and start moving toward me. One reaches for me, a spindly, transparent finger jutting toward me like a knife.

“Raven?” Draco’s voice is distorted, like he’s speaking through a pane of glass.

Swinging my gaze in his direction, I gasp when I realize I can’t see him. Ghosts are surrounding me on all sides, each trying to tap into my power. My chest tightens when the finger jams into my skin, brushing against my heart with an icy caress.

“No,” I whisper, breath misting from the chill.

They won’t take me like they did Alice. I don’t care if I am the only connection they have with the land of the living, they’re not going to take me down. Snapping my eyes shut, I breathe in and reach toward the dark power within the center of my being, drawing up a handful of the vile black mass and sending it to my hands, letting it pool there as I open my eyes. Staring at the ghost whose hand is inside of me, I bare my teeth, lifting my hands. I release a shout, shooting the power from my hands and to the spirits surrounding me. Filling them full of black swirling magic.

Ear shattering screams fill the space around me. The specters flicker in and out like there’s a crappy reception on an old box television.

“Send me home!”

“Save me. I’m beggin’ you to help me.”

“You can’t let her keep us here!”

The voices grow louder and louder. Begging for freedom. Begging for a way out. Begging. Begging.Begginguntil all I hear is their pleas. Until all I can feel is their pain. My vision dims, and all I can see is my hand and the black magic coursing out of it and into the ghost in front of me. My fingers cramp, freezing as they slightly curl in. The ichor-filled power pulses through me and booms out of my palm in a wave of darkness, taking the spirits one by one. Onyx colored smoke swirls around the empty space, as if savoring the last drops of their souls, before floating back to my arm and disappearing all together.

Draco snatches me up from the floor and holds me in his arms, a fierce growl rumbling in his chest. He spins around, searching for more of them, but they’re gone. Even Lincoln’s body is missing. I blink, thinking I’m imagining it, but when I glance at the floor where Draco laid him down, he’s not there.

Adler, Carter, and Everett rush over, faces lined with worry.

“Did I make him disappear?” I point, and they all look at the ground.

“Everett and I moved him while you were busy with the ghosts.” Carter touches my shoulder, like he needs reassurance I’m real.

“It was only a few seconds though.” Pinching my eyebrows together, I meet his gaze.

“It was about four minutes for us. Draco ordered it after we couldn’t break through the wall of ghosts.” Everett sighs. “The worst four minutes of my life.”

Adler hums in agreement, lips pulling into a severe frown.

“How were we able to see the ghosts?” Layla asks from behind Carter. He steps aside to let her near. “I thought you were the only one who could see them.”

“I don’t know. I guess if they’re tied to Jinx, she has enough power to make them appear.”

She frowns, obviously not happy with that answer.

“I wish I knew for sure what was going on.” Lifting a shoulder, I pat Draco’s chest so he’ll put me down. He hesitates, squeezing me closer to his body before finally setting me down. He doesn’t let me go though, instead, he wraps his arm around my waist and holds me against his side. I shoot him a look but decide not to say anything because his eyes are glowing yellow.

“What is going on out here? I’m in the middle of cooking, and I can’t concentrate with all the scream—” Brayden cuts off, eyes stopping on his brother before his gaze clashes with mine. The door to the kitchen swings back and forth, squeaking with each pass. “What the fuck just happened?”

The guys and I all exchange looks. Draco’s raised brow readsyeah, what the fuck just happened?So I run my hands over my face and shake my head.

“You better sit down.”

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