Spearwood Academy Volume Four (The Spearwood Academy Book 4) by A.S. Oren Page A

hybrids weren’t possible with our kind.
    “That’s not possible,” Horace says behind me, echoing my thoughts.
     
    Aibek looks at Horace. “But it is. I’m the first Fallen Angel and Dragon. Just like little sister and brother.”
     
    “They aren’t demons like you,” Igraine says.
     
    In the blink of an eye, Aibek stands in front of her. “Not a very nice thing to call your twin sister, Aunt Igraine. And I thought Angles were supposed to be forgiving creatures. Are you fallen now, too?
    She glares at him. He looks her over, before reaching into the air. Two fingers grip at nothing. He pulls down. Igraine flinches. A white feather appears in his fingers. A black tip stands at the wide end of it.
    “No, not fallen, yet, but you aren’t pure anymore either. I guess that comes from letting a man, who you stole away from my mother, impregnate you.”
    “That’s not true. She told you lies!” Igraine shakes.
    He stares at her without blinking. Will he lash out at her? “My mom never lied to me. She told me only the truth. I will fulfill her dream of our kind leading the world into submission. And I will do it with my hybrid powers.” He turns in our direction now. “What do you say, little sister . . . and brother? Let’s combine our powers and take back our world.”
    “Don’t listen to him, Avalon. He tried to kill you and your brother when you were babies,” Igraine says.
    “Only because I didn’t understand how beneficial they would be to my cause. I wanted to be the only hybrid, but now, I’ve changed my mind.”
    From my protective knight barrier, I say, “You must’ve gone mad from all those years locked away inside your head, because I would never join such a cause.”
    He nods, as if he understands. Is he really going to take my rejection so easily? “And you, little brother?”
    “I second what Avvi said.” My heart beats again. I knew he would never go to the dark side, but there was still a small part of me that had doubt.
    “So be it. If you won’t join me . . . then you are against me, and I can’t have two other hybrids roaming this Earth.”

Escape

    T he air grows colder. Shadowy energy appears in the palm of both of his hands, swirling like whirlpool. My muscles grow tight, and my heart drops heavy in my stomach. I don’t want to move. I don’t want to do anything. “Get Avalon out of here. She has to survive, at all costs!” Elex orders. The guys go into an attack stance. How do they have the will to move? I loll my head to look back at Amr, whose eyelids are heavy. It’s only affecting us.  Whatever magic Aibek’s doing ’sucks the will to function out of me. I fall to my knees. Maybe if I just curl up and rest for a while, I’ll feel better.
    “Lon!” Maverick yells.
    “Amr!” Horace screams at the same time.
    “Innocents, like you, can’t handle the pull of pure darkness,” Aibek laughs.
    “Attack his hands!” Dante yells.
    The crumbling rock and the elements moving around alert some small part of my brain to the chaos happening. I know I should care. I should be doing something to help, but the rest of my brain could care less. I close my eyes. The heaviness of sleep falls over me like a wet blanket. Yes, this is nice.
    Strong arms pick me up. I try to open my eyes, but I can’t bring up enough strength to even crack them.
    “Shift! We need more power!”
    Who’s talking? I wish they would be quiet. I want to sleep.
    “Get down!”
    “Cover her!”
    All the voices swirl together in my mind, forming one monstrous sound: The Boogeyman. My body meets the cold, hard dirt. I gasp. A heavy body presses down over me.
    “Your body won’t protect her!”  Aibek’s voice ’echoes, the only voice I can differentiate from the others.
    The person on me grunts in pain. The need to sleep eases off. Something hot and wet hits my cheeks. I force my eyes open. I need to know what’s going on. Maverick’s body shields mine from the assault of Aibek’s attack.