The first pair of eyes appeared between the trees like embers in the dark.
Hope saw them the second they blinked into existence—low to the ground, too far apart, burning with a vicious gold light that did not belong to any natural creature. Then came another pair. Then six more. Then dozens.
The woods surrounding the clearing began to breathe.
No one moved.
Not Alaric.
Not Lizzie or Josie.
Not even MG, who had gone still beside the tree line like his body had realized before his mind had that something was very, very wrong.
Cassian stood at Hope's side with one hand resting on the silver-thorned handle of his cane. His face had gone almost expressionless, but the bond between them gave him away.
He knew what was coming.
And he hated it.
The growl that rolled out of the dark did not sound wolfish.
It sounded manufactured.
As if rage itself had been taught to speak through an animal's throat.
Then the first creature stepped into the clearing.
It was shaped roughly like a wolf, but only in the way a nightmare might be shaped like memory. Its body was too long, its shoulders too high, its black fur interrupted by jagged seams of gold light that pulsed beneath the skin like molten veins. Bone-like spikes rose along its spine, and when it opened its mouth, its teeth looked more like shards of polished glass than anything living should have owned.
Lizzie's voice came out thin. "That is disgusting."
The creature lowered itself, muscles coiling.
Hope raised both hands, blue-white magic spiraling up her arms. "What is it?"
Cassian's answer came low and immediate.
"A fracture hound."
Hope frowned. "A what?"
"A hunting construct." His gaze stayed fixed on the beast. "It was made from dark magic and broken realm energy."
"That is not better."
"No," he said. "It rarely is."
The hound lunged.
Hope met it with a blast of raw force that hit it hard enough to send it flying sideways across the clearing. It slammed into the dirt, rolled once, and sprang back up almost instantly, snarling harder than before.
Hope's eyes narrowed. "Rude."
Then the whole tree line broke open.
More of them poured out of the woods—fracture hounds, faceless things walking on too many limbs, twisted humanoid creatures with bark-black skin shot through with glowing gold cracks. Some crawled. Some stalked upright. All of them looked wrong in a way that made the air around them recoil.
MG took an involuntary step back. "How many are there?"
Cassian's jaw tightened. "Enough."
"Helpful," Hope snapped.
Alaric moved in front of the group, weapon raised, though even he had to know it wouldn't matter much if the clearing flooded. "Hold the line. Keep them away from the school."
The first wave came fast.
Hope slammed up a telekinetic barrier just as three hounds launched at once. They hit the shield and rebounded, shrieking. Lizzie and Josie raised their hands together, magic flaring in twin streams as they siphoned the unstable energy from one of the faceless creatures. It convulsed, burst apart, and rained black ash over the grass.
MG blurred forward and tackled another before it reached Josie.
Hope didn't have time to watch the outcome.
A second hound came for her from the right. She pivoted, caught it by the throat with magic, and drove it hard into the ground. The impact cracked the earth.
Before she could finish it, Cassian moved.
No warning.
No wasted motion.
One flick of his hand, and a ribbon of black-gold shadow lashed out across the clearing, wrapped around the hound's neck, and yanked tight. The creature made a wet choking sound as it was dragged backward through the dirt.
Hope drove a spear of power straight through its skull.
It dissolved instantly.
She glanced at him. "Thanks."
Cassian didn't look away from the woods. "Don't sound so shocked."
"I'm not shocked."
"A little shocked."
Another creature launched itself at them before she could answer. This one looked almost human, if humans had no eyes and mouths that split too wide. Cassian brought the cane up in one smooth arc and cracked the silver handle across its jaw with a force that sent it spinning. The thing hit the trunk of a tree hard enough to leave a dent.
Hope stared for half a second.
"That cane is ridiculous."
"It was a gift," he said.
"From who?"
"My deeply upsetting family. Focus."
That nearly made her laugh.
Nearly.