Out of The Shadows (Shadow Series #3)

18- Illusion

I step out of my car with my katana looped over my shoulder, bow in hand, quiver on my other shoulder, two daggers tucked in the inside of my leather jacket, and one dagger safely hidden in my right boot. One might say that I have come prepared to kick some ass. Derek was not happy with the fact that we had to seperate because I felt the need to be with Stiles and make sure that I didn't lose him, too. He really wanted me to go back to his loft and pick up the triskele box, but I wanted to be part of the action.

I needed to be there with my friends. I wanted to be the one to kill the Nogistune. He's no longer in Stiles' body, although he might look just like him, but I can kill him without hurting Stiles now. Everyone else wants to trap the Nogistune inside of the triskele box for good, but I'd prefer to just kill him somehow.

The blue jeep is parked by the school as I walk up to it and I see my friends scramble out of it. Scott's mouth falls open when he spots me waltzing towards the four of them. I keep my head up high when they all notice me.

"What are you doing here?" Scott's eyes widen as he notices the katana and bow.

I walk over to Stiles, wrapping my arm around him when I see how weak he looks. "My sister is dead, Scott. I'm not going to just sit around and cry when the Nogistune is still out there." I peer up at Stiles. "I'm not going to lose my best friend, too."

Stiles smiles at me, sadly. He wraps his arm around my shoulders to let me support most of his weight. "You didn't have to come."

"Yes, I did." I squeeze his back. I look over at Scott, who is standing in between Lydia and Kira. "Let's go kick some ass."

Scott hesitates, his eyes flicking from Stiles to me before he nods. He leads the way towards the school with the rest of us following close behind. Stiles and I are walking a little slower, his strength decreasing by every minute. I need to save him. I'll completely lose it if I lose him, too.

Scott reaches out to grab the door handle to the school's door until Stiles stops walking altogether, forcing me to stop as well. I give him a confused look.

"Scott, hold on." Stiles holds out his right hand towards his friend. Everyone turns around to look at the sickly pale boy. He glances down at me for a second before speaking again. "I know what you're all thinking. If this works, it might kill me, too. But, even if it does, you have to go through with it."

I narrow my eyes at the boy beside me. "The plan is to save you."

Scott nods, agreeing with me. "That's the plan I'm going with." Scott turns back around to open the doors to the school.

The rest of us trail in behind Scott. Instead of walking inside of the school hallway, we find ourselves in some kind of snowy yard. The arm around Stiles' tightens in slight confusion. This isn't right. The air has grown much colder, enough for goosebumps to rise on my skin and my breath to come out in smoke.

The five of us walk further into the yard that resembles the Japanese culture. Behind us, large doors shut, locking us in the yard. I twist around, eyes wide. This must be the work of the Nogistune. I slide one of the daggers out of my jacket after placing my bow over my shoulder.

Stiles steps out of my grasp, stumbling ahead of us a few feet. "Oh, this is definitely not part of the plan."

I twirl the dagger in my hand when a man limps out from behind a wall, his head completely bandaged except for his mouth. With my left hand, I reach out behind me to grab a hold of Stiles. I'm not letting him out of my sight. Kira withdrawls her katana from the cover.

The Nogistune heads towards us. "Like I promised, Stiles. We're going to kill all of them. One by one."

An Oni appears in front of Kira, sword drawn. Their swords clash together and I tuck my dagger back away. I pull my own katana over my shoulder as another appears near Stiles and I. Two more Oni appear out of thin air behind all of us.