Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 48*

A dozen or so paces away, Diana steps out from behind a large, white obelisk and starts toward us, her footsteps soft across the grass. She's in full police uniform, her badge glinting from its place on her chest and her gun pointed in the headmaster's direction. Her eyes remain trained on him as she quickly makes her way across the graveyard, her footsteps light and trained.

"I'm not here for anyone but you," Diana calls as she shakes her head.

Her eyes flick to me before they return to him, her jaw clenched tight.

"Ah, but that's where you've made your first mistake," Hallewell muses as he turns away and readjusts his coat.

Diana's feet are suddenly swept out from underneath her, like a giant hand has grabbed her. Her eyes go wide, her arms pinwheeling for something to hold onto as she's abruptly flung into a nearby headstone.

There's a sickening, heavy thud and I gasp.

I can only watch helplessly as she slams into the granite, her skull hitting it hard enough my stomach clenches at the noise. She slides to the ground, her head lolling to the side like a ragdoll's as her eyes flutter shut.

"Diana!" I yell as Tessa darts out a hand and grabs me around the wrist to keep me from running forward.

"You can't Kara, he'll kill you," she urges me.

I try to shake her off, but her grip remains firm. Her dark eyes stare into mine, begging me to stop before I relent and finally go still. The fight drains out of me, leaving me weak and trembling as I stifle a sob.

"Don't worry, I'll credit you for her death too," Hallewell comments lazily with a wave of his hand.

"You're a monster," I spit as I clench my hands into fists, a crackle of electricity zipping across one of my knuckles.

"Steady," Astrid cautions me, "you couldn't take him head on."

"You are the monster, Kara," Hallewell counters sharply, his blue eyes sparking, "if you hadn't gotten her this involved, she would get to live," he says as he gestures toward Diana's motionless form. 

I lash out then.

My vision is streaked in white as I reach, summoning Eleanora's tiger with every ounce of strength that I've got left. I can feel the strain in my chest as my breath catches, but I push onwards even as I gasp. The white tiger shakes its head as I pull it into existence a dozen paces away. I keep it behind the gathered students, the large beast baring its teeth threateningly. I unravel the control that Eleanora has, like unwinding a ball of thread as I direct the tiger's attention toward the headmaster. 

Him, he is your target. 

The tiger's blue eyes widen as it growls low in its throat and prepares to spring as its legs flex.

"Smart, but not quick enough," the headmaster quips, his tone scathing.

It's almost like he seems to sense that the tiger is there and he lifts a hand and waves it like he's shooing a fly.

The tiger stops moving as Eleanora makes a quick hand motion, the connection I had with it snapping as I struggle to hold onto it. But it's like trying to remember a dream after waking up and having it flicker and disappear before I can fully know what had happened. *

"You think that we haven't come up with ways to resist the influence of an Unfamiliar?" Headmaster Hallewell says as he takes a threatening step toward me.

Tessa draws in a sharp breath as she looks to me, her eyes widening. Maybe she's hoping that I'll come up with a plan, or a way out.

But I have none.