My vision was tunneling already, my lungs burning in protest. That breath I’d sucked in desperately was gone now. Everest wasn’t here. No one was coming to my rescue. So, I did the only thing I could think of, I summoned every ounce of magic in my body and pushed it out of me with a soundless scream. Neon-blue and pink rushed out of me in a wave, then everything went white.

Air rushed into my lungs. I gasped and then choked on the oxygen. Everything was still white. There was no sound, no smells. It was like the world was suspended. All I saw was Soneillon still wrapped between my legs like I was a boa constrictor.

And then we crashed into stone. My body screamed and cracked as we were airborne again, rolling across rough stone. Fresh air swept over my face. We were outside now. As we rolled, I noticed we’d busted through a wall into the outdoor courtyard. When we stopped moving, I saw the night sky above her head with stars twinkling down at me as if they were mocking—wait. NIGHT SKY. Oh no. It’s night. The sun set.

I barely had time to put the pieces together in my mind before I saw dozens of them flying right for us. Unseelie. The school was now unprotected. There was nothing stopping them from flying through the shattered ceiling and into the fight.

Soneillon stopped thrashing and braced her hands on the stone floor by my head and grinned, her red eyes blazing, but I couldn’t get any angrier than I already was. “Used all your little witchling strength on that, didn’t you?” Then her hands covered my mouth and nose.

It wasn’t enough to cut off all my oxygen but definitely most of it. Yet I didn’t let her know I could still breathe, not while I needed a moment to think. With hands I pretended were spent of energy, I gripped her wrists. I widened my eyes and thrashed, then made a show out of craning my neck around her to look for help.

“No one is coming to save you, witchling. They’re all a little busy.” She cackled and turned her head to make eye contact with more students, her runes flashing like red strobe lights. “Feel my rage, little ones.”

The Unseelie dropped onto the fight. I watched in horror as they snatched students right off the ground. Rainbow magic glittered in the air and then hurricane-force winds covered the open ceiling. The Unseelies crashed into it and bounced back toward the floor. TEGAN. Black smoke slammed into the Unseelies, forcing them to drop their victims.

“Everest,” Soneillon growled his name.