Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 5

"Stop!" sophie screamed as her whole body started to shake. Her vision dimmed and blackness clouded her mind—but Sandor grabbed her arm and yanked her behind him, and the jarring motion pulled her out of the frenzy.

"Who goes there?" Sandor demanded.

"I don't answer to you, Goblin," the taller figure called in a dry, snooty voice.

Sandor drew a handful of star-shaped blades from his pockets, a bit like ninja stars, but with longer points and spiraled edges. "You have three seconds to identify yourselves or I will use these—and I assure you my aim is flawless."

"What's going on here?" Grady shouted as he rushed up behind them. He put one hand protectively on Sophie's shoulder as he squinted at the figures. "Vika? Timkin? Is that you?"

One of the figures tossed her hood back, sweeping her wavy brown hair out of her eyes. "Who else would it be?"

The last of the dark fog cleared from Sophie's mind, leaving traces of a headache.

It wasn't them.

Though the Hekses were almost as bad. Especially since Sophie knew who the third figure was even before she swept back her hood, revealing a scowling face and a mass of frizzy brown curls.

"Stina," Sophie grumbled, glaring at the girl who went out of her way to make her life miserable at school. "What are you doing here?"

Stina tugged on Silveny's harness. "We're here to collect the alicorn so it can be properly rehabilitated."

Calm, Sophie transmitted as Silveny's panic flooded her mind. I won't let her take you.

She was amazed Silveny had even let them get close enough to attach the reins. Clearly she needed to teach the glittering horse how to recognize pure evil.

"I wasn't aware that had been decided," Grady said, tightening his grip on Sophie's shoulder as she tried to step forward.

"Please, you didn't think they'd have you rehabilitate the alicorn, did you?" Timkin asked as he jerked Silveny's reins toward him. "A noble creature deserves a noble trainer."

"Last I heard, your wife was the only one appointed to the nobility," Grady corrected. "And only as a Regent, not an Emissary."

"Give it time," Timkin growled, yanking Silveny's reins so hard he wrenched the frightened horse's neck.

Regent, Emissary, noble—Sophie didn't care. "You're hurting her!" she screamed as she lunged toward the enclosure.

Sandor blocked her.

"We're doing nothing of the sort," Vika snapped back

"I can feel her pain," Sophie insisted.

Stina laughed her high, wheezy snicker. "Last I checked, empathy wasn't an ability your creators gave you."

"Last I checked, you hadn't manifested any abilities at all," Sophie spit through gritted teeth. "And I don't have to be an Empath. I can feel her emotions with my mind."

Timkin snorted. "That's impossible."

"If it were coming from anyone else, I'd agree with you," a voice with an unmistakably crisp accent announced. "But you're forgetting how remarkable Sophie is."

Sophie spun around, relieved when she found five figures still glittering from their leap into the pasture. Alden, tall and regal in his dark blue cape, stood beside a beautiful girl Sophie's age with long dark hair and another one with sea green eyes, full of mischief. On his other side were two teenage boys, one with dark hair and impossibly teal eyes, and one with carefully disheveled blond hair and his trademark smirk.