by Cali Mann
Yanking on my clothes—underwear, jeans, and a tee shirt had kind of become my uniform—I ran my hand through my hair and headed out into the lounge.
The other girls were watching TV, but, as usual, they ignored me. I grabbed a soda out of the fridge and popped the top. “Food cart come yet?”
“Yeah,” Monica said over her shoulder. “It’s by the door.”
Wandering over, I picked through the dishes on the cart. They didn’t leave me much: a couple pieces of French toast and a few slices of bacon. I ate quickly, sloshing them down with my Coke. So much for amazing last meals.
The door swung open as I stood there, and I stared at the guards lined up outside.
“It’s time,” the head man growled. This wasn’t our usual crew.
My stomach soured, and the food I’d gulped threatened to come right back up. I shoved my hand across my face. “I haven’t even showered.”
“Tough,” he muttered. “Come on girls.”
After rising from the couch, the rest of the girls filed out, and I slunk along behind them. I never thought this would be the way I died. My whole life had been one uphill struggle after another, and today it ended. I didn’t know whether I should be happy or sad about that. Biting my lip, I worried about the guys. They had to come through this alive. Maybe the Oracle would know about the unwinding, maybe we could still save them.
That thought was what kept me going, putting one foot in front of the other. I needed to do everything I could to save the guys, my mates. The line stopped, and I almost stumbled into Monica in front of me.
“Be careful,” she whispered, with much less venom than she’d have used just a few days ago. I was glad that we’d become friends, well, tolerant, of one another. “It’s not a big deal, Hailey.”
I forced a smile. “I know. Sorry.”
My nerves thrummed as we turned the corner toward the chapel. They’d put one of the pews along the wall, and the guards motioned for us to sit. My leg shook, my heel tapping on the wood floor. I shoved my fear down, but it only swirled in my stomach.
The chapel door opened, and a guard leaned out. “Who’s first?”
Monica and I both jumped to our feet.
“I’m Councilman Gray’s daughter,” she said, shooting daggers at me.
“Alright,” he said. “Come on Miss Gray.”
I leaned back on the hardwood. I was stuck here until they picked me. I couldn’t even die properly. I frowned. What was wrong with me? Why were my thoughts so scattered and whiny? The guys had been gone a long time. What if they arrived back just in time to find me dead?
The door closed and within minutes energy pulsed through it. I sat up straight, looking around, but no one else seemed to notice it. I wanted to ask, but they were all calm and bored. The girls next to me thumbed through their phones. The guards stood silent and at attention, their guns held across their bodies.
I tapped my fingers against the pew. I’d forgotten my phone. I hadn’t expected them so early this morning. Now I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to the guys. I sighed. And all I had was time to wait and worry.
They’d sent me a couple of texts. We’re okay. Found your mom. Getting out of here. So, I knew they were on their way home. I eyed the door. It wouldn’t be soon enough.
Around half an hour later, the door opened and the guard called the next girl in. I didn’t even try this time. I let them all go ahead of me. Maybe the Oracle would get tired before they got to me. Where had Monica gone? They must have had another exit they shuffled them through.
The guards got bored right along with me, and they began to lean on the nearby walls. The head guy came through, and they all snapped to attention.
“Don’t let them slack,” he muttered to one of the men. “You never know which one is the spirit shifter. They might become violent at any time.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said.
If I jumped up right now would they shoot me? Would that be an easier death than waiting for the pronouncement? Would they shoot me in there or lock me up like Sciro?
The third girl went in, and it was just me on the bench.
Sciro. I’d been thinking about him a lot lately. I hoped they’d started giving him blood more regularly, now that they knew he wasn’t a spirit shifter. I’d have to tell them what I knew about Professor Ward’s death. I hoped that was enough for them to release him.
Idly, I scratched my back, and I wondered what made the tattoo act up. Was it all the magic seeping out of the chapel? A few minutes after the other girl went in, I felt a surge of power. What was that? Was it the spell the Oracle did to determine our elements? How come it affected me but no one else seemed to notice it?
I was going to die anyway, might as well ask. “Hey, do you feel that?”
“What?” asked one of the guards near me.
“The energy coming out of that room?”
He frowned. “No . . .”
The door opened, and the guard beckoned me. I swallowed, gazing at him as if I didn’t understand his words.
“Come on, girl,” he said.
I forced myself to my feet. The steps from the pew to the doorway were the most agonizing of my life. I stepped through the chapel doors. The Oracle stood in the center, surrounded by a chalk circle. She looked tired. Her shoulders slumped, and shadows lay thick under her eyes.
Four guards were posted around the room, their weapons raised in my direction. Immediate death, then. Okay, good.
Other than that, we were alone. Sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, sending rainbows dancing across the floor.
“Hailey Cooper,” the Oracle said with a gesture. “Step forward.”
I walked to the center of the chalk design, standing where she indicated. The words, it’s me, lingered on my lips. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if I told her? She wouldn’t have to do another spell, which was clearly wearing her out, and it’d all be over. Instead, I asked, “Have you ever heard of a spell to dissolve mate bonds?”
Her eyebrows knitted together, but I wasn’t sure what she was confused by—the question or the fact that I dared ask it. “There is an old spell,” she said.
I glanced around at the guards, but their faces were impassive. They weren’t here to get involved unless I needed to be put down. “Do you know it?”
“I do,” she said, studying my face. “The knowledge of each Oracle is passed down to the next.”
“Is it true that you are raised in captivity?”
A small smile crossed her face. “I don’t suppose I’d describe it as that, but yes, some might say so.” She tilted her head. “What do you need this spell for?”
“I have more than one mate.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That is unusual.”
“If anything should happen to me—” I bit my lip. “I don’t want them to suffer.”
“And you expect something will happen to you?”
Again, the words lingered on my tongue, but I chickened out and shook my head.
“Well, let’s get through the ceremony and then we’ll talk more about the spell.”
“Okay.” I stood straight and still as she went around the circle chanting.
First, she stood over a bowl of dirt.
Earth plowed over me, and I smelled Terrin’s forest scent. My heart squeezed as I thought about never seeing him again. Tears clustered at my eyes. I tried to move, to escape the pain, but I was held immobile by the spell. Terrin had shown me the first kindness here at Thornbriar Academy. When I’d tried to run away the first night here, he’d stopped me climbing the fence. I didn’t want to leave him.
The Oracle moved to the next bowl, brimming with pure water, and said some words.
I didn’t understand anything she said, but I could feel the currents of energy shift. Earth faded, and water rushed over me. My heart skipped as I remembered chasing Adrian through the pools, our mer-creature forms spinning around each other. We’d never do that again. I was going to die today,
and I’d never see any of the guys again. I wouldn’t hear Adrian’s laugh or feel his patient hands on my body again. My vision blurred.
Next, the Oracle walked over to a candle, and raising a hand she lit it without a match. I frowned. She must be fire, then. Water slipped away, and I was burning. Fire roared through me, and Brenton’s eyes danced in my vision. He’d been there for me all along. Even when he was teasing and yelling, it’d been because of his own fears. I was going to lose my dragon, never again to hear his words, feel his touch, gaze upon him. My heart broke into pieces.
She marched over to what looked like an empty bowl, but when her hand passed over it, air slammed into me. I wanted to push forward as if I was walking in a gale, but I wasn’t moving. Images scrolled across my mind, and I gasped. I’d been visiting Sciro? Ever since the guys had left? How? Pleasure rolled through me, and I knew if I lived, I wouldn’t have had to check his shoulder. Sciro was a mate. My heart wrenched. Another loss. An even deeper loss because I hadn’t known the extent of our connection.
The Oracle stood at the apex of the circle and raised her hands, closing her eyes. The light weightless feeling I had come to know as spirit reached out to me. It was what I sought when I shifted into spirit form. It danced and played around me like a kitten with a ball of yarn. Joyful. Not evil. But it was too late. They would know, now. They would all know, and I was going to die.
The energies faded, and the Oracle was in front of me, eyes blazing. “She is the Spirit Shifter!” she cried.
I closed my eyes bracing myself for the bullets. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t stop it. I’d got to say goodbye to the guys in my own way, although I wished I had seen them. I wondered if death would be peaceful.
27
Sciro
I didn’t know how long I’d been staring at the wall. My mate was going to die today. Would I die too? Or was it too new a mating? Might I survive while my brothers all died?
The door flew open, and I jumped to my feet.
Adrian, Terrin, and Brenton trooped in. All but Brenton had at least half-hearted smiles plastered across their faces.
“What’s going on?” I said.
Clapping me on the back, Adrian said, “You’re free, man.”
“How?”
“It’s a long story,” Terrin said. “Let’s get you out of here and then we’ll tell you all about it.”
“Hailey?” I asked, kicking myself.
Brenton’s frown deepened. “She’s gone to the Oracle. We’re trying to figure out how to save her.”
I nodded, more than ready to leave this hellhole. “Let’s go.”
“We have to wait for Councilman Gray,” Adrian said, impatience written across his face.
We clustered together in my cell, waiting while our mate was in trouble. It strained all of us to follow these protocols.
“How did this come about?” I asked. “Hailey’s mom and Kaiden’s other mates testified on your behalf,” Terrin said.
I shook my head. “What?”
“Apparently, Kaiden was quite vocal, not only about his dislike of Professor Ward, but also his desire to see him dead. And he boasted about his kill to his entrapped mates.”
“Oh.” I was amazed that the Council had believed them and freed me. I never thought I’d get out of this unscathed. Well, mostly. “So how do we save Hailey?”
Terrin studied me, and even Adrian looked surprised.
“Why do you care?” Brenton asked. “Last I heard you attacked her in a blood lust.”
I took a breath. We were all in this together. I yanked up the sleeve of my shirt and showed them my shoulder.
“How?” Adrian exclaimed. “You’ve both been locked up since we left.”
“I don’t know. Some crazy spirit shifter fugue state.”
“What do you mean?” Terrin asked, a frown creasing his forehead.
“She visited me in her dreams,” I said.
“You fucked her in a dream?” Brenton asked.
“I don’t know. She thought so. But I could touch her, so it must have been some kind of spirit form.”
“But I thought spirit form couldn’t penetrate the walls of Thornbriar?” Adrian asked.
I shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t think any of this makes sense.”
Terrin chuckled. “Her fourth mate was right under our noses.”
“Yeah,” Brenton growled. “So, she can be sane and balanced just before her execution.”
Our faces fell almost as one.
“How do we save her?” I asked again.
“Adrian thinks the Council will want to question her before putting her down,” Terrin said. “They’ll want to know how she got around their security measures.”
“Our only hope of saving her rests on rescuing her after she’s under armed guard?” I asked.
Brenton grunted. “We should bust in and save her now.”
“Where is she? Has her test started yet?”
Adrian frowned. “We don’t know.”
“Time to do some reconnaissance,” I said, looking pointedly at Terrin. “Am I right?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
Councilman Gray entered. “You have been absolved of all charges, young man. You are free to go.”
Well, that was anti-climactic. As we passed the guards, they nodded. I inclined my head back. They ‘d only been doing their jobs. I couldn’t blame them for any of it. Time to save our mate.
28
Hailey
The room was silent. No guards rushed forward. No gunshots echoed.
I opened my eyes, forehead wrinkling. I stumbled forward, wincing as my muscles released. I guess I can move now. Glancing around, I stared at the dark lumps on the floor, stained with red.
The Oracle stared at me with wide eyes. I blinked. No, not at me. Spinning around, I faced the laughing visage of my father strolling toward us. His blue suit was splattered with blood, and his hands were tucked into his pockets.
“Of course, she’s a spirit shifter,” he said. “She’s mine.”
The Oracle swayed back. She was clearly drained by her spell, but she did something with her hands as if she was trying to attack. Nothing happened.
My father only smiled. “Not so powerful after a few days of spells, are you?”
She glared at him and tried to run, only she stumbled.
I rushed forward and caught her.
She flinched when I touched her, but I set her on the floor and stepped back again. She pulled her knees into her chest and looked like a frightened little girl instead of the powerful Oracle.
“I won’t hurt you,” I said, then I turned to Kaiden. “Why are you here?”
He chuckled. “I couldn’t let them hurt my daughter, could I?”
I shook my head. “No, you wouldn’t come now if you wanted to save me. You would have got me out before all this started.”
“I see you inherited at least some of my brains.”
“Again, I ask you, why are you here?”
He made a shooing motion in my direction and squatted down next to the Oracle. “I’ve got some business with the Oracle.”
“Fuck no,” I said, marching over to them. “You are not hurting anybody!” My gaze went to the dead guards. “Else. Anybody else.”
Kaiden chuckled. “That’s my kid. Humanitarian.” He scraped a bloody finger along the woman’s jaw. “Not me, though. I’m not known for my patience.”
The Oracle watched us with wide eyes, but she didn’t say anything.
“I know a little secret about the Oracle,” he said, laying a finger next to his nose.
My skin itched. Professor Ward used to make that gesture. Had Kaiden picked it up from him? Or was it something people did? I damned my years in Hasting’s House and the warped sense of life they’d given me. “What?”
“Everything is not what it seems in High Council heaven here.” He leapt to his feet and the Oracle rocked back. He marched over to me and smelled me. It was the stranges
t thing. I reared back, but not before he got a good whiff.
“Good, good,” he said, turning his eyes back toward the Oracle. “She’s fully mated.”
“Fuck,” I exclaimed. “How do you know that?”
“Potty mouth,” he muttered. He lifted his eyes to mine. “Didn’t Mr. Hastings teach you better?”
I felt like I’d been sucker punched. I’d had my suspicions, but I hadn’t really believed. “You knew him?”
He laughed, cold and hard. “Hailey, I hired him.”
“God damn bastard,” I growled, pushing fire toward him. Flames sprung up across the floor but with a sweep of Kaiden’s hand, they died before they even reached him.
“Now that’s out of the way, let’s get back to our previously scheduled program.” He clapped his hands and turned back to the Oracle.
I frowned. There was something different, something off about Kaiden. He wasn’t acting quite right. What was going on?
“How about it, then, Oracle?” He gestured toward me. “You can see she’s stable. She’s mated and she’s smart.”
The Oracle grimaced as if she knew what he was talking about.
Well, I didn’t. “What the hell is going on?”
“Do you want to tell her, or should I?” he asked.
The Oracle shook her head violently. “Don’t give her false hope.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s false.”
“Spit it out, somebody,” I cried.
“Oracles are Spirit Shifters, Hailey,” Kaiden said.
“What?”
“Yup, bastards are just like us, and yet they kill us. Isn’t that rich?”
I leaned back on my heels, glancing between them. “How?”
“Because they are mated to four shifters, one of each element. Just like you.” Kaiden cackled. “Not like me. Anymore.”
He really was sounding unhinged. “Are you okay?”
“Like I said: she cares: I don’t,” he said, leaning closer to the Oracle. “I’ve lost one of my mates you see.”
The Oracle’s eyes widened even farther. “That would make you . . .”
