Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 229

Allison, listen to me, I beg, pouring everything I have into those fragile points of light. Take the soldiers. Only them. Remember your friends. Remember your family. Remember who you are protecting. The wraith hesitates just for a heartbeat. A shadow tendril veers mid- arc, tearing through a fleeing soldier instead of the tree line where Kael had been moments earlier. Another blast of power redirects, consuming a cluster of enemies instead of collapsing inward on itself. It’s working… Barely. But it’s enough.

“Get everyone out of her path!” Rhaziel roars, shadows flaring as he moves,

Evander takes to the air, mentally shouting orders that ripple across the field, his voice carrying over the chaos. Kael is already moving, snarling commands, dragging fighters out of the danger zone as Allison’s rampage narrows inward. The rebellion scatters, pulling back hard and fast and still, she feeds. The number of soldiers dwindles rapidly as bodies litter the ground. Magic burns itself out in panicked bursts before being swallowed whole. I feel the shift before anyone says it.

“She’ll take off the second there’s no one left to kill,” Evander says tightly, landing hard and shifting beside me.

“Or she’ll turn on us instead,” Kael snaps, ducking as a rogue shadow lashes overhead.

“What do we do?” someone yells.

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20:34 Thu, Jan 15

Contain Her

I scream in frustration.

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(2)

Enough! I shout, pouring every ounce of my will into the mental connection, anchoring her again, again, again as the wraith thrashes against me. Allison, stay with me. Stay with me.

My vision blurs and blood trickles from my nose, warm and metallic.

“She needs to be contained,” I say hoarsely, the words tearing out of me. “We need a place strong enough to hold her.”

“The Shadow Realm,” Rhaziel says immediately. “There are cages meant for beasts. Impenetrable by dark magic.”

“No,” Evander snaps. “You don’t get to just take her there. She’s our mate too. We help her together.”

“I agree,” I say, not taking my focus off Allison for even a second. “We can’t abandon her.”

“You can’t stay in the Shadow Realm,” Rhaziel counters. “Not for long.”

I swallow. “Why?”

“Your souls are not meant for it. They will degrade.”

“How long before we go boom?” Kael asks grimly, vaulting over fallen debris to rejoin us.

Rhaziel hesitates. “That is… difficult to quantify,” he admits. ““Which is why you do not go there. Unless…”

“Unless?” Kael prompts sharply.

Rhaziel’s gaze flicks to him. “Unless I mark you.”

“What,” Kael says flatly, “like mates?”

“It would not be a mating mark like Allison’s,” Rhaziel replies coolly. “It would be a bite to the neck. A demon-binding mark. It would make your souls recognisable to the shadows.”

“Recognisable how?” Evander asks.

Rhaziel doesn’t blink. “As mine.”

Kael snorts. “So… concubines.”

“In this context,” Rhaziel says dryly, “yes.”

Another explosion of shadow rocks the clearing, and I look back at Allison. She is still standing. Still screaming. Still tearing the last of the soldiers apart as the field empties at a terrifying pace.

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20:34 Thu, Jan 15

Contain Her

“What about the rebellion?” I demand. “We can’t just leave them. What happens when the Council comes back with another army?”

Vale steps forward, bloodied but unbowed. “We’ll manage.”

Evander’s parents nod in unison.

“We’ll find somewhere to hunker down,” Lysara says. “This isn’t over, but we can survive without you for now.”

Marrow’s gaze is fierce. “You contain your mate. We’ll hold the line.”

I close my eyes for half a second. Then I nod.

“Do it, Rhaziel,” I say.

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