by Cali Mann
She raised her chin. “I apologize for casting suspicion on you.”
“Mom, what?” Adrian exclaimed. Then he glanced around at the extra guards. “You thought Terrin was a spirit shifter?”
“Well, he does have a history of violence . . .”
“Against murderers,” Adrian said.
“That was never proven.”
My jaguar growled, and a little bit of it must have shown on my face because she stepped back. “Only those who have killed, madam,” I said. “Like your guard over there.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Benson. Come here.”
He jogged over and stopped in front of us. “Yes, madam?”
“Have you killed before?”
His eyes widened, but he nodded. “I was at the Council during Kaiden Hartsman’s last attack. I acted to protect the Council and the shifters who work with them.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Benson. Return to your post.” She turned to me. “That’s a useful trick you have there. Do you know if it was murder or, like Benson, in the line of duty?”
I shook my head. “No, just if they are a killer.”
“Hmm . . .” she said. “Your roommate, Sciro, is he a killer?”
“No,” I said firmly.
“And your judgment isn’t colored by your friendship at all?”
“The man sees a friend. The cat only sees killers and non-killers.”
“I see,” she said. “But I doubt the rest of the Council will be as easily convinced.”
I nodded. “I understand, but if there ever arises a situation where my testimony would aid Sciro’s case, I’d be happy to provide it.”
“You’re a good friend, Terrin. My son is lucky to have you.”
“Thank you, madam.”
“Seeing as we are cleared of all charges,” Adrian said. “Are we now free to come and go at will?”
“Yes, as each student is cleared, the restriction on their movements is lifted.”
“How will the guards know we’ve been cleared?” I asked, and she handed us two Council visitor stickers.
Her lips curled. “It’s not a great method, but it’s all we have for now.”
“Can we visit those still incarcerated?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
His mother laughed. “No, you may not visit any girls until they too have been cleared.”
Adrian made an exaggerated pout face, but he let it go.
“How many a day?” I asked, glancing toward where the Oracle was sitting, her eyes closed as if asleep. How much did these ceremonies take out of her? And how did she recharge?
His mother grimaced. “Four a day.”
“Ouch,” I said. “That’s going to take a while.”
“Mom,” Adrian said. “Can I ask a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Brenton McKinnon. Can he be in one of the early groups?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re hanging out with a McKinnon now?”
Adrian shrugged. “He’s a good guy, and he’s not like his father.”
She sighed. “Okay. Just this once, I’ll push him up the roster.”
He hugged her, and there was the slightest softening in her hard demeanor. “Thanks, Mom.”
Adrian and I strolled out of the chapel together.
“Smart move,” I whispered. “Getting Brenton cleared early.”
He grinned. “And swiping these,” he said, holding up a handful of stickers.
“When did you do that?”
With a shrug, he said, “I know my mother.”
“So, if we need to grab Hailey and run, we can.”
“Hailey and Sciro,” Adrian said.
I nodded. I hoped we’d be able to save Sciro too, but Hailey was my top priority. She’d been nuts enough when we were around to support her. She must have been going totally insane locked up in her dorm suite.
14
Brenton
“They won’t listen to me,” Mom said, dropping into the green armchair.
“Why not? Don’t they want to stop Kaiden?” I asked.
“Who knows what the Council wants?” Mom said, her voice tired. “Abigail is likely mad anyhow. An air shifter trapped underground.”
“Is that what they said?”
“Yeah.”
I snorted. “If she’s anything like Hailey, she’s stronger than that.”
Mom chuckled. It was hard and tight, but it was a laugh.
Darkness gathered outside as the sun dipped below the horizon. Adrian had been good to his word, and I’d gotten tested this afternoon. The result was a surprise to no one, but they had to keep up appearances.
The testing was excruciatingly slow at just four students a day, and the shifters were all getting antsy. But none more than Hailey. I stared at her hundredth frantic text on my phone. I hated that there was nothing I could do but write back and tell her to focus and be patient.
“I’m going after her,” Mom said.
I looked up, blinking. “By yourself?”
She nodded. “I have to. Abigail is my oldest friend, and I said I was going to save her. I have to at least try.”
“I’ll go with you.” It wasn’t like I was doing much good around here. We wanted Hailey to be one of the last to be checked so that we had time to come up with some way to help her escape. Maybe her mother could help, somehow.
“No, it’s too unsafe. Hailey needs you—”
“Hailey’s locked up in her dorm room. I’m not close enough to offer her support.” I stared down at my phone. “I can text her from anywhere.”
“But—”
“And I have to do something. I can’t just sit here being useless.” Fire roared within me, and I knew that it was the right thing. “Besides, I can fly us, and we’ll be there and back before they know we are gone.”
“Can you carry more than one person?”
I grinned. “I’m a dragon, Mom, not a horse. There’s plenty of room.”
She stood and paced across the small space. “No, it’s too dangerous. You’re just a child.”
Raising an eyebrow, I laughed. “I’m eighteen. I’ve shifted. I’m not a child.”
“You’re my son. I don’t want to drag you into danger.”
“Nobody’s doing any dragging. I’m volunteering. In fact, I’ll ask the other guys too. Maybe we can all help.”
“I can’t take all you children into battle,” Mom fretted, but she knew it was useless.
I texted Adrian and Terrin. The sooner we could get there and save Hailey’s mom, the sooner we could get back to save our girl.
15
Hailey
The guys sent me texts, but my skin ached for them. I tried to read, to watch TV, but I couldn’t stop the racing of my heart. I was trapped again. Not even in a house, but in a tiny room with four walls that seemed to inch ever closer.
It wasn’t just me. Monica and the other girls seemed bristlier than usual, and they barked at me whenever I ventured out for food. The guards brought us meals and updates. Monica flirted with them, since she knew some of them from her time at Council headquarters. I rolled my eyes at first, but then I learned to linger nearby to see if there was any news.
“Oh, Charlie,” Monica said, placing her hand on the arm of a brown-skinned guard. “When are you gonna take me for that movie?”
His muscles stood out even through the thick cloth of his uniform, and he flashed a fang at her. “Best you stay here, Ms. Gray,” he said. “Nowhere is safe but Thornbriar right now.”
Monica twirled one of her curls around her finger and widened her eyes. “The attacks continue?”
Charlie grimaced. “Yes, every place a Council member or staff stops on their way here, Kaiden’s men appear and there’s bloodshed.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. Her gaze darted across the room and tightened when she saw me.
I picked at the paint on the wall next to me, pretending to be interested in its texture. Nothing to see here.
“Yes, it’s
a dangerous world, Ms. Gray,” Charlie mused.
“Oh, Charlie.” She laughed. “Not with you to protect me.”
A red tinge spread across his cheekbones, and I smothered a laugh. I was beginning to think that Monica was purposefully digging for information. She was smarter than I gave her credit for.
“Most of the Council is here now, aren’t they?” she asked with a titter.
“Yes, Miss,” he said.
A frown creased her forehead. “And the stragglers . . . every time they stop on their way here, Kaiden attacks?”
Charlie nodded. “It’s almost as if he’s driving them like cattle.”
Monica pressed a finger to her lip, her expression thoughtful.
“But nothing for you to worry about, Miss Gray. Your family and you are here and safe.”
Instantly, she was flirty college girl again. “Thank you, Charlie,” she gushed. “I do feel safe with you and the guys around.”
His shoulders straightened. “Yes, Miss.”
She tapped a finger on his chest. “I’ll see you soon,” she said, breathily.
Charlie saluted and closed the door.
I stiffened as the key turned in the lock. The sound of my imprisonment made me cringe. Turning, I headed back to my room, but Monica stopped me, a hand on my arm.
“Hailey,” she said.
Lifting my eyes to her face, I was surprised to find her mouth tight with worry. “Yes?”
“Kaiden’s planning something. He’s driven the Council, their staff, and all the other delegates to Thornbriar.” She chewed on her lip. “The Oracle’s here too.”
“All of the shifter leaders in one place,” I said.
She nodded. “Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.”
“Me either.”
We stood in silence for a minute.
“His plans need to be disrupted,” I said. “He needs to be destabilized.”
“He does seem awfully organized for a mad spirit shifter.”
Because of my mother, trapped in some underground hole, giving him power. “Does the Council have a plan?”
“I don’t know,” Monica said. “My dad says they are counting on the protections on Thornbriar.”
“What protections?”
“The walls are spelled so that spirit shifters can’t pass through them in spirit form.”
I frowned. But I’d gotten into Sciro’s cell. How? Maybe because it had been a dirt wall in the cavern, not a regular wall. I eyed the plaster covered wall. Guess that method of escape was out. I was glad I hadn’t thought to try it yet. “The stones?”
She nodded. “In the building and on the fence.”
But we’d gone through after Professor Ward’s murder. I blinked. No, we’d gone over. That’s why we’d had to climb the tree.
“But Kaiden isn’t just a lone spirit shifter,” she continued. “He’s got others—shifters and humans—on his side.”
“Do you think he means to launch an outright attack?”
Her lips twisted. “I don’t know, but, all together like this, we’re sitting ducks. He could wipe us out with a bomb.”
I started. I hadn’t thought of that. “He wouldn’t.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
He wouldn’t because I was here. His daughter. And he might not love me, but he wanted me for something. My father wouldn’t destroy a tool until it was no longer useful, and he’d worked too long cultivating me. I still had suspicions that he’d engineered Hastings House, but there really wasn’t any way to prove that.
“Earth to Hailey,” Monica said.
I shook myself. “Sorry, lost in thought.”
She shifted on her feet. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
My jaw dropped. Monica Gray was apologizing to me? “Whatever for?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor. “Your sheets, the caves, Adrian—everything.”
So many snide comments ran through my mind, but if she was honestly trying to make amends, I wanted to at least acknowledge her. “Thank you. I haven’t exactly been the nicest—”
With a wave, she said, “I deserved every black eye you gave me.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you being so nice?”
“You’re smarter than you look,” she said, shooting a glance across the room to where the other girls were glued to the television. “And I need some smart allies if I’m going to survive whatever Kaiden has planned.”
“You believe he’ll attack Thornbriar? Once he’s collected everyone?”
“I do.” She sighed. “And I’m afraid we are all terribly unprepared.”
I nodded. “Friends, then?”
She smirked. “I wouldn’t go that far.” Monica held out her hand. “Allies?”
With a chuckle, I shook it. “Allies.”
Monica turned away, and I headed back to my room. Some of the tension between my shoulder blades had eased, and I wouldn’t feel quite as awkward grabbing dinner. But Monica was right. My father was planning something, and we needed to know what it was.
My phone dinged and I grabbed it off the bed, staring at the screen.
We’re going after your mom.
Shit. I didn’t know what to think. Part of me felt abandoned. They were leaving Thornbriar and leaving me. But I shoved that part aside. My mom might know what Kaiden was up to. She might give us some defense. Was it too much to ask that my father had babbled all his plans to her like some mad villain?
Good, I texted back. Take everyone.
I don’t want to leave you alone, Brenton replied
We need my mom and I want all of you to come back to me in one piece.
Ay, ay, Captain.
I could hear his chuckle through the words.
I love you.
We love you too.
The phone went silent. We could text or call just as well from wherever they had to go. It wasn’t like they were really gone, any more than they’d been gone when I had gotten locked up here, but you couldn’t tell that by the way my heart ached. I felt like I’d lost a limb or three.
16
Hailey
After long days of doing nothing, I hadn’t expected to sleep. But I did, restless sleeps where I alternated between hot and cold, kicking my covers to the ground and yanking them back up again. This was worse than the shifter dreams. At least then I’d run, flew, or swum through the wilderness.
The guys had only been gone a day, and already I felt bereft. They were only a text or a call away, and they were doing important work. Yet, my heart mourned as if they were dead.
I took a sip of the water on my nightstand and lay back down. I was being ridiculous. A heart-sick teen instead of a college woman. I closed my eyes.
The dream stole over me almost instantly. I was walking down the stairs to the caverns. Although, since it was a dream, I floated over the steps. Something tugged on me, pulling me toward it. I followed.
Lights flickered over the empty pools. They looked so real. I wanted to reach a hand down and trail it through the water. But I giggled to myself. It was a dream.
The sound of water trickling followed me into the darker caves, and I found myself at the wall outside Sciro’s cell. The dirt was packed hard and solid, with small stones jutting out from it. I shouldn’t have been able to see the wall without my flashlight, but it was completely visible in my vision.
Wanting to know if Sciro was okay, I stepped through the wall. He lay on his cot, a book in his hand. His color looked healthier. Were they treating him better? Or was this just what my dream-self wanted to see?
“Sciro,” I whispered.
“Hi, Hailey,” he said, not even looking up from his book. “Back again, are you?”
“Again?” I asked. “I haven’t been here since you drank my blood.”
“I drank your blood?” He sat up, his eyes narrowing.
“And very nearly killed me,” I whispered.
He frowned as if he was searching his memory. “I don
’t remember.”
I sat down on the bed next to him, looking at my translucent hands in my lap. “I forgive you.”
Running a hand through his dark hair, he snorted. “You fucking forgive me? You got Professor Ward killed!”
“Are we going to do this again?” I sighed. “My dad killed the professor. I tried to save him, and I saved you.”
“And got me locked up for the crime. Shit, Hailey, I’m doomed all the same. They’ll execute me.”
“No,” I said, shaking my invisible head. “We’re going to get you out of here, even if we have to break you out.”
“I don’t want a fucking spirit shifter’s help.”
“Even if you’ll live?”
He groaned. “Why are you here, Hailey?”
“I don’t know.” I frowned. “I’m dreaming. Perhaps I’m worried about you.”
“Dreaming?” he asked. “Well, I’m awake, and I’d rather not be haunted. Get out.”
“Haunted?”
“Fucking spirit form or whatever you’ve got going on.” He gestured toward me.
I chuckled. It must seem like a haunting to have someone invisible talk to you. I focused on letting spirit form go but I couldn’t. Oh, right, this was a dream. A really lucid one, but still a dream. At least I wasn’t tossing and turning like I had been the last few nights.
“They’re searching the students for you,” he said softly. “The Oracle is going to find you.”
“I know,” I replied.
He squeezed his hands into fists. “I tried to tell them that you were a spirit shifter.”
“I figured,” I said. “Why didn’t they believe you?”
Sciro shrugged. “I think they were so determined that I killed Professor Ward, nothing I said mattered. But now that they know they are looking for a spirit shifter, why hasn’t it occurred to them?”
“I guess I have the Headmaster convinced I’m a vampire.”
“But even the fact that you were misidentified must be a red flag.”
“People believe what they want to believe,” I said. “They tested Adrian and Terrin first.”
