“HELP!” I screamed as loud as I could. “KRAKEN!”
The kraken roared and a wall of warm water slammed into my back. A shadow moved so I ducked down just as a tentacle swung over my head. I cursed. Come on, legs, don’t fail me now. The grass was just up ahead, if I could just get out of the beasts’ reach we’d be okay.
“TEGAN! TENNESSEE!” I shrieked.
The kraken roared and the ground rumbled. Gigi squawked and flapped her wings and my grip on her slipped. This some baby back bullshit, ma’am.
I looked back up and almost cried with relief. The entire Coven was gunning right for us, the blades of their weapons glistening in the sunlight. My heart was pounding out of control. My legs were burning and screaming in protest, but I wasn’t going to quit.
Tennessee was almost to me. That glowing sword in his hand was almost as tall as him.
Tegan materialized right in front of me and a portal opened up beside her.
I lunged for it when sharp pain pierced through my back and spread down my spine. I gasped and my back arched. My arms went limp and Gigi plummeted to the sand at my feet. A fire like I’d never known ripped through my body, scorching everything inside me. The blue sharp-pointed tip of the tentacle shot out of my stomach and the air in my lungs vanished. I was burning from the inside out. I tried to scream but no sound came. Tears streaked down my face. Dark red blood gushed like from a spout.
Tegan’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. She reached for me just as my legs locked up and my knees hit the sand, but I couldn’t feel the softness. All I knew was the fire burning in my veins and the sea of red gushing from my body. Everything went quiet. Black dots swarmed my vision and the world went dark.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Saffie
I screamed as the kraken’s tentacle pierced through Savannah’s stomach.
“NO!” Everyone behind me shouted as we ran as fast as we could.
Tennessee was already flying over the water with his golden angel wings.
Rainbow magic shot by him and slammed into the kraken’s face. It flew back, pulling its tentacles with it and away from shore. Savannah’s body hit the sand with a thud, her blood splashing like a scarlet wave. Tegan was already at her side, dropping to her knees and reaching for her wound. Red blood gushed over her pale fingers.
My throat was burning and I knew I was screaming but I didn’t care.
Why aren’t I moving faster?
Riah and I were ahead of everyone else, our wings giving us an advantage that even still wasn’t fast enough. Even Tennessee and Tegan hadn’t been fast enough.
Everyone was screaming. I felt nothing but panic upon panic from all around.
When I got to the shore I lunged over penguin-Gigi, who was still rolling in the sand and trying to get back up, and slid through the blood caked sand to my knees at her side. “SAVANNAH!”
Tegan’s hands were pressed tight to the gaping hole in her stomach, completely submerged in the sea of blood. She chanted low and quickly. Rainbow magic poured out of her. A pale blue haze lingered over Savannah as her soul was preparing to leave her broken body.
“NO!” I dove for her head and cupped her face between my hands. “SAVANNAH!”
She gasped and blood splashed onto her lips.
“SAVANNAH!” Cooper slid in across from me. He slammed his big hands on top of Tegan’s and pushed his magic out. “Savannah.”
Her eyes opened but the blue in her irises were gray. Her face ashy pale. She looked up at him and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“Hey, hey, no. Stay with us.” Cooper leaned down more. “Savannah.”
“SAVANNAH!” I screamed.
She met my gaze. “…be…free…”
And then her eyes rolled back in her head and her heart stopped.
“NOOOO! SAVANNAH!” I screamed and pressed my hands to her chest but there was no pulse. No warmth. No life. “No, no, no, no!”
Gigi, real human Gigi, slid up beside me and a strangled cry left her lips.
“No. No, no,” Cooper whispered and his voice broke. “NO!”
Come on, Savannah! STAY WITH ME! I’d saved Riah. I’d helped him hold on. I could try — my gaze dropped to the six inch wide hole in her body and a violent tremor ripped through me. I screamed and slammed my magic into her chest.
But I felt nothing.
NO. PLEASE NO. Don’t you DARE die on me. This is NOT the hill you gon’ die on!
I pushed harder but that blue light wasn’t dimming.
Everyone around me was screaming and shouting in panic but it was nothing but a loud hum. My ears rang. Water and blood splashed all over me but I didn’t care. Golden glitter spread everywhere. Tears rained down my face. My lungs and throat were on fire.
Cooper took her neck in his blood-soaked hands. His thumbs pressed into her skin like he was looking for a pulse. “Nooo. No, come on.” He cupped her face and turned it toward him. He whimpered and shuddered. “Savannah.”
Gigi shook like a leaf in a hurricane. She stared with wide, shocked eyes.
“Tegan, do something,” Cooper shouted in a broken voice.
“I’M TRYING! IT’S TOO MUCH!” Tegan screamed back.
“Kiwi, damn it, kiwi,” Cooper growled – or that was what it sounded like. “No.”
“SAVANNAH!” I cried and a broken sob poured out. I collapsed over her lifeless body.
Hands gripped my shoulders and tried to lift me but I latched on to her and just kept pushing my magic. I would give myself Witch’s Shock if it meant saving her. I didn’t care. They could strip my Mark. They could heal me. My life was not more important than hers.
“SARAPHINA!” Riah shouted in my ear.
The sound of his panicked voice made me look up on instinct but he was nowhere in sight. The Coven stood around us and in the water fighting the kraken.
A wave rose up and I gasped, but then a head of wild red hair emerged from within the water and a person stepped out. A person with long red hair and a crown made of crystals and shells. KELTIE. A whirlpool of water swirled around her. She threw her arm out, pointing toward the horizon. “Go.”
The kraken hissed and dove back under the water, disappearing faster than it appeared.
Blue light flashed brighter beneath me. I gasped and looked down. “NO, NO, NO! SAVANNAH! SAVE HER! SAVE HER!”
“Saraphina! Saraphina, move aside!” Riah shouted but I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t stop until I had nothing left to give.
“KESSLER, get her off! NOW!”
Massive hands gripped my waist and then I was lifted in the air. I kicked my legs and thrashed but then an even larger arm snaked around my body and held me against someone’s chest. I knew it was Kessler but I was beyond reasoning. I had to get to Savannah. I had to keep trying.
Riah slid down beside her and slammed both hands to her chest. Bright silver magic exploded out from under his palms and wrapped around her body. The muscles in his arms pulsed. His silver wings popped out of his back. A dark, black shadow slid over her and then a soft golden glow shimmered from beneath his palms…inch by inch it pushed the shadow off.
That blue light faded away.
Her face flushed with color.