Page 116 of A Bond So Deadly

I choke down my sob and look at my mates. They’re just as shocked as I am, but they recover quicker.

Their shadows cut down the Xalgrith warriors separating us from the students.

“Graduates of Shadowbone Academy!” Thane roars, and the students straighten, standing taller. “With us! We stand together!”

The students shout a war cry, and a chorus of growls, hisses, and snarls come from the bonded animali as the students and animali work together to tear through the Xalgrith separating them. And then we all group together, facing the hordes of Xalgrith warriors that circle us.

King Malgur shouts at his army, and the Xalgrith attack with more force.

The sound of battle is loud in my ears, and with the added strength that came with their immortality, the students help to fight back.

I’m still not sure if we’ll survive this, when a chilling song sounds from the forest.

“A tasty morsel, we can see,

Delicious, not vicious, for us to eat,

We hope it screams, we hope it begs,

We will slowly devour it until we’re fed.”

Screams come from the Xalgrith as the warriors closest to the trees are sucked into the forest.

A shadow falls over us, and Emorie lands beside me, her wing slicing into an attacking Xalgrith warrior as her feathers burn with black fire. Arizak, Bonfang, and Rinoc come from the forest, tearing a path through the Xalgrith to reach my mates, and they’re not alone. There must be a least a hundred zenali that come from each side of the forest, melting from between the trees. Foxrets. Nemins. Shekels. Naskens. And countless other creatures. They fight the Xalgrith without mercy.

“The zenali are fighting,” I say to Emorie, still hardly able to believe what I’m seeing.

“They fight for you, my bonded. And for themselves,” my phoenix answers, and another song drifts on the breeze. This one sung by the zenali.

“Come, oh mistress, bonded to four

For you we will fight, so there’s pain no more

Listen, oh mistress, hear our plea

For only you can set us free.”

“What is that?” I ask Emorie, not sure if I should be laughing or crying. “Did you guys make that up on the way?”

Her tinkling laughter sounds in my head. “That would be the prophecy the zenali have clung to for centuries, bonded.”

Tears blur my eyes as I smile. I’m still a little drained from helping to make everyone immortal, but Emorie and I pick off the few Xalgrith warriors who pass my mates and the other students.

“How did you get in here?” I ask.

“We found a weak spot in the barrier,” she replies.

There’s another earsplitting shattering noise, and the rest of the barrier around the academy comes down. There’s a rush of wind, and Blake and her mates land near me making the ground shake, seconds before the horns from the demon army blare loud and clear.

Blake’s golden eyes survey me, and she smiles. “Sorry. We came as soon as we could. Those fucking wolves…” She doesn’t elaborate any more than that, and she turns her attention to the scene around us.

“Don’t worry, darlin’. The cavalry is here,” Nate purrs before shifting into his massive jaguar form.

Alaric’s body shifts as he turns giant, reaching as high as the academy building, and Mason, Callan, and Dante all grin at me as they join the fray, fighting alongside my mates.

King Malgur shouts, retreating back through the opening where the academy gate used to be, but more battle horns sound from beyond the academy walls, and these ones I don’t recognize.

There’s a rush of wind, and Theo lands near me. The archangel healer is accompanied by two other archangel commanders. Their armor gleams in the moonlight, and Theo rushes to me, fussing over me as he searches for wounds.