I can see the wheels turning in Shade’s head, and he nods slowly, looking at Hazel. “You’re saying it would be better to have someone spring a trap on us if we’re in London.”
“Exactly,” says the siren shifter. “Boston is crawling with Academy enforcers. Twice as many, with the UK humans still looking for us, and that’s not even counting the school board and the ambassadors. For all we know, everyone in the damn city is out to get us. At least if we had to duke it out with your mysterious contact in London, Millie, we wouldn’t be running the risk of the entire city coming after us.”
“And that’s all assuming your contact isn’t on their side,” Silas points out, sounding thoughtful. “It could be that they do want to help us. Remember Josie?”
I hum in agreement, thinking back to the faculty fellow who risked everything to help us escape from lockdown at the Boston campus. God, I hope she’s okay.
“Maybe you’re right,” admits Hunter.
Silas turns to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Listen, Boots, we meant what we said. You’re running this show, and we’ll follow you. To the end of the earth, if we have to.” His dark eyes bore into mine, smouldering, and his words fill me with renewed confidence -- as well as renewed longing. “It’s your call, at the end of the day. We trust you.” He looks up at Xander, Hazel, and Ruby for confirmation, and they nod their agreement.
“Give me a sec,” I say, already turning back to my phone and tapping out a message to the unknown number. I’m not expecting a reply, but it’s worth getting as much information as I can before I sign the group up for something dangerous.
Where in London? I write before sending the message.
We wait for a few moments; the others looking anxiously around at the Academy agents by the airport, and I’m debating having us return to the hotel when my phone vibrates. Surprised, I pull it back out and glance down at the screen, hardly daring to hope…
But there it is, in plain English. Hyde Park, the message reads. Speakers’ Corner. Come while it’s light out, and message when you’re on route. I will be waiting.
I feel a burst of hope as I relay the message back to my friends. “That’s… better than I was expecting,” says Silas.
“I’ll say,” Landon puts in. “I can’t think of anywhere more public than Hyde Park. And during the daytime…” He grins. “There will be people everywhere. It would be impossible for them to capture us without a bunch of bystanders seeing.”
“Not to mention the space,” adds Shade. “I don’t mind destroying a few sculptures if it means kicking a few of those bastards’ asses.”
“The risk is lower this way,” acknowledges Ruby. “I say we go for it.”
“There’s still one problem, though,” says Hunter, who has been silent the whole time. We turn to look at him questioningly, and he raises his eyebrows, gesturing around. “We still have no way of getting there,” he says. “Last I checked, we can’t just walk across the ocean.”
“Maybe you can’t,” teases Landon. “Hazel and I have the swimming thing locked down.”
The vampire shifter rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“What about Boots?” asks Shade, nodding in my direction. “You can shift into your witch form. You could teleport us over there.”
“That’s…” I splutter, feeling put on the spot. “That’s not possible. I’ve never transported anyone before!”
“But you have been taught the spell, haven’t you?” asks Silas.
“Technically, yeah,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. “At least, I think so. If I can remember it. But, guys, come on… the faculty fellows have been doing this for years! You saw how exhausted they got after warping us to Boston. Do you really think I could get us all to London without fucking it up?”
“You’re stronger than any of us,” Hazel points out.
“What if I send us to the wrong place?” I protest. “Or worse, what if I lose focus and we end up getting dropped into the ocean?”
“Silas and I can help,” offers Ruby. “We can carry you guys to dry land, if we have to. I really think this is our best bet, Millie.”
I fidget, looking from one hopeful face to the next, not wanting to disappoint them but overwhelmed by my own insecurity. It’s true that I learned the theory of teleportation back in one of my witch shifting classes, but theory and practise are two very different things. The idea of any of the guys getting hurt because of me…
So what are you going to do, then? a voice in my head speaks up. It’s not like you have a lot of options, here.
I can feel myself resigning to it even before I open my mouth. “Okay,” I say quietly. “I can try.”
“Good,” says Silas, looking relieved. “Then we just need to find some place where we won’t be seen, and we can-”
“I hate to interrupt,” Landon says, his tone worrisome, “but I think it’s a little late for that.” He nods in the direction of the airport, and when I follow his gaze, my blood runs cold. Two of the Academy representatives by the front entrance are staring straight at us. One of them murmurs something to the other, and then they both begin moving rapidly in our direction.
“Shit,” says Shade. “We have to get out of here!”
Here goes nothing, I think, and close my eyes.
Chapter 6
In case it wasn’t clear already, I don’t have a great deal of faith in my own abilities. It’s less a matter of self-esteem, although considering the circumstances of my childhood, that’s not exactly stunning either. The issue is that I’ve had the equivalent of less than a year’s training in something not only incredibly difficult, but incredibly dangerous. It’s all made exponentially worse by the fact that I have five forms to keep track of, each with its own devastating supernatural abilities, and the last thing I want is to end up causing more problems than I solve with my own magic.
Even as I clamp my eyes shut, brow furrowing in concentration as I dig for that by-now familiar cool spot in my stomach -- my own personal reserve of magic -- I find myself panicking a little. What if I can’t manage it? Or worse, what if I only half manage it, and some of us don’t make it all the way? Oh god, I think, my heart pounding a little faster, or what if I end up dismembering us? I heard stories during my first few witchcraft lessons, cautionary tales about young witch shifters who got a little too enthusiastic with the teleportation and ended up losing limbs and organs because they weren’t focused enough to do a fully-fledged job. The idea makes me feel a little queasy, but there’s no time to worry about it now; I can hear voices coming from up ahead, and I don’t need to open my eyes to know that they’re coming from the Academy watchdogs. Those bastards.
“Millie, I don’t want to rush you,” Hazel says breathlessly, “but you might want to double-time it!”
“I’m trying,” I grit out through my teeth, trying to steady my breath long enough to summon enough raw power for the spell. The witch powers haven’t exactly come easily to me, and this is something so high-level that I’m not even sure it’s in my wheelhouse; that’s the problem with being a witch shifter: it’s not enough just to get into the form. After that you need to learn how to cast spells, something that doesn’t hinder any of the other species. It’s like learning an entirely new level of magic. I try to remember my training -- specifically, what Shade taught me about transforming -- and focus on the present moment. Which is not hard to do, considering the people currently coming after us. I bring my powers to the forefront and allow them to seep through my being. A surge of triumph washes over me as I can feel the coolness of my magic permeate my body, a telltale sign that I’m on the verge of transforming, and I open my eyes just in time to see my skin turning ruby red, the magic accessible to this form bursting out of my chest in a tidal wave.