Dead Air: A Collective World Novel (Academy's Rise Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  We whirled, my niswi into defensive crouches. My mom gasped when she saw who stood behind us. As soon as our sentries saw the niswi move in front of Mom, they did the same to us.

  A tall woman with long white-blonde hair stood behind us, dabbing at her eyes. She wore a full-length black dress, fitted to her voluptuous form.

  "Hello, Kane, Jillian." The blonde-haired beauty nodded in their direction. "Such a sad day. Elijah was a bright boy. It's always hard when they're taken young, isn't it?"

  "Trinity," my Dad growled. "How in the hell are you here?"

  "Haven't you heard? I had a funeral of my own to attend. You'll remember the death of my daughter? Calista."

  Chapter Two

  Fury quickly replaced my shock. It was because of Calista that we had to say our goodbyes to our friend. If Trinity thought she was going to come in and get revenge on behalf of her psycho daughter, she was gravely mistaken.

  The niswi rushed into action, barking out orders to the sentries. Mom turned, grabbing my brothers and sisters and leaving Trinity to us. Mom and her personal sentry and best friend, Angel, gathered the kids into a protective circle that Meda's mate, Sterling, and his parents created for them without being asked.

  Meda and Tala stood on either side me, and our sentries and mates took the front line as a sea of demons rushed out from the surrounding forest. As a unit, we charged forward. Meda conjured a sword while calling her fire to cover it. I felt Tala draw on my air to freeze her water into long thick icicles to use as weapons. I called on Meda's fire to heat my air as I formed a mini-cyclone, then pushed it at the crowd of demons.

  I had no idea how many from the funeral behind us joined in the fray. The demons hit us so fast it was impossible to tell what was happening more than a few feet around me.

  A dark, but familiar presence touched my awareness, and I smiled. Phenex. Our non-sexual mate shifted into his hellhound form and attacked the demons, cutting through them like they were children at play.

  Nice. Since we met Calista and dealt with her evil plots to kill us, I'd learned to embrace my darker side.

  Ami. Meda's voice filled my mind.

  Yep? I switched to making icicles, whipping them together quickly and sending them toward the demons at chest height. Some hit, some didn't.

  Take my power. Tala and I are better fighters. Stay behind us and build up a big ball of energy and fire.

  Oh, hell yes.

  I fell back, hiding behind my sisters. Meda must've talked to the sentries, because I felt Harper at my back, ensuring nobody got to me from behind. She'd gotten two short-swords from somewhere, I saw them flashing out of the corner of my eye. One of the witches must've conjured them.

  Centering myself, I ignored the din around me, completely trusting my sisters, mates and sentries to keep me safe. It took too long to do this, we had to get faster at it, practice it.

  Slowly, I built up a mass of power: Meda's fire, Tala's water, and my air, and I fed energy into it. Pulling from the forest, my sisters, and our mates, I even tried to tap into our Hell power, but I couldn't get it to open to me. I had to work with the power available to me here at the moment.

  Harper jostled against me, breaking my focus and my feed of energy. I held an enormous ball of power and fire in front of me. Using my wind, I lifted it, then stood on my tiptoes, looking for the best place to send it.

  Trinity fought my niswi not six feet in front of me, dancing around and laughing. She was playing with them. Focusing on her and the demons around her, I elongated the ball, lifted it higher, and threw it.

  The demons around Trinity evaporated, as did several rows of them behind her. She staggered back with a gasp, looking for the source of the power surge. I ducked before she saw me. How had that not killed her? Not many creatures in this world could survive a direct hit with that much energy and power. For what I knew of Trinity, she was a vampire. However, she was getting power from somewhere, or someone.

  Meda.

  Yeah, I saw. Meda's tone in my head was lethal. She was pissed or scared. With her, they were pretty much the same. Her fear made her angry. We didn't have time for all three of us to create another energy ball that big.

  So we each create smaller ones and attack her with them, Tala added with a snarl.

  That might work. I moved to stand between my sisters. Our sentries seemed to be in sync with us and able to read our body language well enough to know what we needed them to do. They positioned themselves around us to provide a protective barrier. Together, my sisters and I combined our powers as each of us formed a basketball-size energy ball, adding in our combined elements.

  We threw our balls of power at Trinity. She stumbled back, so we did it again, and again. We made our balls larger every time we formed new ones. Trinity seemed to deflect them like they were nothing more than large gnats.

  "Why the fuck is she not dying?" Tala growled out.

  "Maybe this isn't our big battle." As soon as my words left my mouth dread slammed into me.

  Meda used her fire to cover her whole body. I glanced at her to see that she glared at Trinity. "One more time."

  Tala and I didn't argue. The three of us lifted our arms and instead of making three energy balls, we merged our efforts into making one large one, bigger than the one I made. We put everything we had into it. By the time I stopped pushing energy and air into the ball, it was twice the size of the one I'd made alone.

  It wasn't until we threw it at Trinity that we realized she was ready and had thrown one of her own. The two balls slammed into each other. Meda screamed, "Down!"

  We hit the ground and so did all the Collective who'd stayed to fight. The blast from the energy balls crashing into each other lit up the sky with bright white light. When the light dimmed, then disappeared, we looked around. Trinity was gone.

  Where did she go?

  Pushing to a stand, I called my element to listen to any secrets the air carried.

  Nothing happened. Panic rose within me. I reached for Meda's fire and Tala's water. There was nothing. Focusing, I tried harder, pushing into my sisters' minds. Meda wasn't hot. Tala wasn't swimmy. And my air, my light, soul freeing air. It was gone. I gasped, sinking to my knees. "Trinity took our elements."

  My words were barely a whisper but my mates and sisters heard them. I glanced at Meda for some kind of guidance. She patted her chest and stomach as if she'd find her fire hidden in a pocket.

  Tala looked at me blankly, holding her hands out in front of her, twisting them around as if waiting for her water to rise. "What do we do?" she whispered as she looked back to her hands. "It feels so wrong."

  Meda grabbed my hand and tugged me to Mom and the niswi. "We'll figure it out." When we reached Mom and our younger siblings, Meda picked up Griffin, our youngest brother, and cradled him to her. "Is everyone okay?"

  Dad glared at each of us but his anger wasn't directed at us. He was pissed at Trinity. "Everyone back to the manor." He pointed to a few people standing nearby. "Coordinate everyone to get the wounded back. We can tend to them there. The schools and the Estate are going on lock down." Looking around the crowd, he pointed again. I didn't bother looking to see who he was assigning tasks to. "The elementary school is empty?"

  "Yes, classes canceled for this." I didn't recognize the voice. It might've been the new principal.

  "Good. Take a group of fighters to the college. Get everyone to the manor. And start the call chain. Anyone that wants protection, they're welcome to come." He looked around at the crowd, then raised his arm and waved it in a circle. "Make it happen," he shouted. "Now!"

  My sisters and I followed our parents to the Estate. Tala walked beside Mom with their arms looped together. We'd lost this battle. Lost a few sentries in the fight. And lost our elements. How would we fight off a bigger battle? This wasn't it. This wasn't the end. Trinity was sure to return. How?

  Harper grabbed one of my hands while Noah took the other. Feeling eyes on me, I glanced over my shoulder and saw t
he hot olive-skinned witch watching me as he walked behind us. With a frown, I met Harper's gaze. She leaned in and pressed a comforting kiss on my trembling lips then pulled me closer to her. Noah kept hanging on, a tight grip on my hand. I sighed and rested my head on her shoulder as we entered the Manor.

  When we sat on the sofa, Phenex appeared. He squatted in front of me and cupped my cheek. "You okay?"

  I covered his hand and nodded, tears slipping past my lashes and down my cheeks. "Our elements are gone."

  "I know." Dropping his head to my knees, he shuddered. "I'm sorry."

  Meda and Tala walked up behind him, and he stood, drawing my sisters into a hug, one on each side. He kissed each of their foreheads, and they sank into him. "This is only the beginning. We need to train harder than we have been."

  We nodded. Meda's face hardened and Tala's nostrils flared.

  Dad cleared his throat as he watched us from the center of the big room. Then he crossed to us with Paw, Papa, and Mom in tow. All our mates gathered around. We must have looked like a small army.

  Meda and Tala stepped out of Phenex's embrace as Phenex nodded to Dad and Mom. "I'm going to pop down and see what kind of information I can get from the demon hordes."

  When our parents nodded, Phenex dematerialized.

  Meda straightened her spine and stared at our parents. "We've been keeping a secret. A big one." Sighing, she squared her shoulders and got on with it. "You should know, the big battle from Tala's vision is still coming. It may be bigger than we anticipated."

  Mom growled and threw her arms in the air. "You should've told us immediately so we could prepare!"

  Tala cut in. "We were waiting for the right time to tell you. Poppy said to let you rest for a day, just be with you and family. Then we had to deal with the funeral and school, we didn't have time."

  Meda took a breath, and I guessed it was to calm her growing irritation. "You were recovering from the fight at the hotel-mansion. We were going to tell you tonight. But, Trinity beat us to it."

  Tala stepped back to lean into Randell. Her sentry circled her with his arms and she relaxed. "How is the fuck did Trinity pull power from Hell? And she took our elements."

  "What?" Mom glanced at all of us. "What are you talking about?"

  I shook my head and said softly, "This fight was only a taste of what is coming."

  Chapter Three

  "Do you want to explain just exactly what the hell you're talking about?" My mom was about as pissed as I'd ever seen her.

  Tala sighed and looked at me and Meda. "We combined our power and threw it at Trinity. She had a ball of power ready to throw at us, but the magic in it..." Tala stopped, mouth gaping, at a loss.

  I continued for her, voice hard. "The power was from Hell."

  Mom's jaw dropped. "How?"

  "I'd like to know myself," Meda said.

  "Can't you guys call your grandfather?" Harper asked.

  "We need to," I murmured. "I couldn't tap into the same power we used when we killed Calista."

  "I've been trying," Meda said. "He's blocked us off."

  "Fuck," Tala muttered.

  "Tala!" My mom looked like she was about to backhand my sarcastic sister. "Language."

  "Sorry, Mom," Tala said, but she rolled her eyes at me when Mom looked away. I stifled a grin.

  Guilt set in the second I considered grinning. How could I smile at a time like this? We didn't know the count of the dead or injured yet. And more was sure to come.

  Mom rubbed her eyes. "This pregnancy," she moaned. "I'm exhausted."

  "Mom, go lay down. We can handle this," I stood and took her hands. "Everyone is getting to safety right now. There's nothing you can do."

  "Come on," Paw said. "I'll go with you. I've got my phone, they'll call if anything happens." I handed her off to Paw and they walked out of the room, her head bowed and his arm around her.

  "It's so hard for her to take a step back." I whirled, delighted to hear the voice of my grandfather. Grandpa Graham stood behind us, arms out. Meda, Tala, and I ran into his arms, like we had since we were small children. Our younger siblings, Griffin and Marly, wiggled between us and pushed us away so they could get their hugs.

  We turned from Grandpa Graham to Grandma Sissy. "Hello, darlings," she said, pulling us into hugs. "We're so sorry to have to come home under these circumstances."

  "How'd you know to come?" I asked after kissing her soft cheek.

  Grandpa handed silver dollars to Griffin and Marly and sent them to play with their nanny. "We started driving this way when we heard about Calista. It took us a few days, but we split the driving and didn't stop."

  "I'm happy to see you," Papa said.

  "Quin." Grandpa held his hand out. "You've got yourself a right mess here."

  "You don't know the half of it." Papa motioned for Grandpa to follow him. "I'll fill you in."

  Grandma Sissy followed them out the door, leaving us with Dad. "What can we do?" I asked. It would be much better to stay busy.

  Dad looked around, going into High King mode again. "I expect people to start showing up here at any time. Can you three work out a sleeping arrangement? Whatever we have to do, we need room for everyone."

  "Of course," Meda said. "We'll do it over here in the corner. Our sentries can help with anything else you need."

  "We'll need supplies, food..." Dad's voice trailed off as everyone but my sisters walked with him to his desk.

  "Come on," I said, sitting in the corner. Tala ran over to Dad's desk and got a pad of paper and pen.

  "How many bedrooms are in here?" she asked.

  "Uh, fifteen, I think," I said. We'd explored the house a thousand times over.

  "And four rooms big enough to turn into bedrooms," Meda added.

  "This room is likely to be the command center." Tala tapped her lip with the pen and squinted her eyes. "It doesn't make sense to be here," she said.

  "What are you talking about?" I furrowed my brow. Where else would we go?

  "This place is huge, sure, but it's spread out, and there's not enough of anything. But the dorms, however, have more beds, more blankets, more of everything but food."

  Meda's face lit up. "You're right. Each floor has sixteen dorms, not to mention a crapton of showers. And, most of the dorms will be abandoned as some families flee until this is over."

  I nodded. "We need to tell Dad right now."

  We hurried to his desk. He was looking at a list. "What's that?" I asked. Grandpa Graham and Grandma Sissy were nowhere to be seen.

  "The dead." Dad looked at us with shocked and sad eyes. "Eight."

  Leaning over the desk, Meda read through it. "All sentries."

  Dad nodded. "They will be honored. It's a bad week to be a sentry."

  I pulled in a deep breath, instinctively reaching for my air to fill my lungs more and faster, but it wasn't there. The sense of loss nearly made me cry again. "Dad, we had an idea."

  Meda handed him our list. "We need to move everyone to the dorms."

  "Why?" he asked, looking confused. "So many are already here."

  "I know, but the dorms have four floors, with sixteen dorms on each of them and eight on ours. Each dorm has bunk beds, except for ours. The school provides the linens, so there's a set of sheets and blankets for every bed already, and we can take some from here, too."

  Dad's expression grew more calculating. "Interesting."

  "You can make the command center upstairs," I said. "And our rooms will hold far more than they're intended for."

  "Hell," Tala said, then ducked her head, looking around for Mom. "I mean, heck, people can sleep in the halls if it comes to it. The square footage is smaller, but it's better equipped to hold all these people."

  He cocked his head. "What about food? Those dorms only have small kitchens. The kitchen here is fully stocked and huge."

  "If everyone helps, we can easily carry the food over, and Phenex can provide portals if we need to run back and forth."


  "Not once the witches are done," he said. "Sterling and his parents are cooking something up with the Dragos."

  "The Hightowers and the Dragos are working together?" Meda's voice indicated total disbelief.

  "Gino Drago refused to leave." Dad shot me a scathing look. "As a matter of fact, he's insisting he needs to speak with Ami."

  I closed my eyes. Maybe if I pretend it wasn't happening, not now at least, it would go away. I had to assume that Gino was the chocolate-eyed witch. And my third mate. And apparently he was connected to the Dragos. Even though I'd heard about their bad reputation, and I preferred to keep my head in the sand. Or a book.

  I didn't mind having another mate, not really. I'd known it was coming eventually. But now? Of all times.

  "Care to explain that?" he asked me. I didn't even open my eyes, just shook my head no.

  "Okay, then. I like this idea. Let's make it happen. Meda, try to contact Phenex and have him get the portal open so we can move supplies. Tala, find Roberto, he's going to be heading up the sentry volunteers. We've had a lot of Collective members volunteer to beef up our fighting ranks." My sisters ran off to find our mate and one of Dad's long-time sentries.

  "What can I do?" I asked.

  "Go find that damn Italian witch and figure out what he wants. It better not be what I think it is. I don't want you mixed up with the Dragos. They're bad news."

  "What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously. "How are they bad news?" I knew the whispers I'd heard, of course, but it was all speculation and rumor.

  Dad gave me an assessing look, then rolled his eyes. "Just go see what he wants."

  Stopping to look back at him, I couldn't help but wonder what he meant. With no way to know, I walked through the house, searching for Gino or the Hightowers.

  After walking half the house and finding nothing but Collective members scurrying everywhere, I found them. Peeking into the library, I saw Sterling and his parents, alone. The coast was clear.