by May Dawson
Chapter Nine
When we turned off a country road and passed through tall wrought iron gates, the tires crunched over white gravel. It startled me out of my daze. I hadn’t fallen asleep, had I? But at some point, Malcolm and Cade had switched spots; Malcolm was in the driver’s seat now. I hadn’t even noticed.
The sun was just beginning to break the horizon, tinging the sky a murky orange beyond the pines. My gaze followed the gate to the fence that wrapped around the academy.
“Is the fence to keep everyone else out, or us in?”
“It’s decorative,” Cade said.
My lips twisted. “Decorative. Sure. Just like you.”
He turned in his seat to look at me, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. I held my smirk as best as I could under his cool hazel gaze. What the hell was I saying? Had I really just called the boy decorative? He certainly was pretty, but he didn’t need to know that I saw him that way.
I’d gone almost twenty-four hours without sleep at this point, and I was lacking in filter. I didn’t have much filter at the best of times.
I wanted to look at the time, then realized I didn’t have my cell phone. “Did one of you grab my purse? My personal stuff from the police station?”
“No cell phones at the academy,” Cade said. “There’s nothing you need, anyway.”
No cell phones. Nothing I need? “You’re a pair of kidnappers.”
“Most students seem to feel that way when they’re separated from their cell phones,” Malcolm noted.
“Do you have my purse?” I demanded again.
“Yes,” Cade snapped back. “Good grief. I had to take the SIM card out of your phone to make sure that no one would follow you, though, so it’s no good to you anyway.”
“Who would be following me?” He knew something about the man in the sedan, didn’t he?
“It’s just a safety precaution.” Cade was still twisted in his seat, and his gaze met mine evenly. There was something fake about the way he met my gaze, even though normally people can’t hold your gaze when they lie. Maybe he was such a practiced liar that this was his tell.
I leaned in toward him. “There’s something you’re not telling me. You think someone will come after me.”
Malcolm said cheerfully, “I like her.”
Cade didn’t look away from me when he said, “I don’t. Common sense, Deidra. If something makes the police suspicious, do you think the cops won’t think to track your cell?”
I stared back at him, then the building in front of us caught my attention.
There was a lush green lawn spread in front of us, with four three-story gray stone buildings on one side of it and an enormous white stone building on the other side, with a tall spire watch tower rising from the center. It all looked so striking, like a photo from a college brochure.
Students in long lines, two across, ran along the white stone driveway. Malcolm eased off the road to drive on the grass as he pulled up in front of one of the stone buildings.
“Make sure she’s not alone,” Malcolm told Cade. “She’ll be disoriented when she wakes up.”
“She’ll be fine,” I assured him.
Cade got out of the passenger seat and opened my door for me. “Sorry, Princess. Around here, there’s a hierarchy, and everyone follows the rules.”
That had never been my strong suit.
I looked at Cade doubtfully as he stood with his hand on the top of my door. He gestured impatiently. “Come on.”
“I’m going to be here for a while, right?”
“That’s the idea,” he said. “You’re a fucking hazard to the universe right now with those kinds of powers and, apparently, no clue about anything.”
“Then do you think maybe my first introduction to the Academy could not be in handcuffs?”
“I didn’t take you for the kind of girl who cares about her reputation,” Cade said. His words made me prickle with irritation. But he glanced at Malcolm and Malcolm nodded.
Cade sighed. “Scoot over.”
Reluctantly, I pushed myself back across the leather seat as he swung into the car beside me. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a key, but he gripped it in his palm. He began to murmur in a language that sounded like Latin.
“Are you doing a spell?” I asked incredulously. “What kind of Harry Potter shit is going on here?”
“Shut up.” Cade said. He pushed my shoulder forward so he could reach the cuffs, but he only grazed them his knuckles, his hand still gripping the key. He murmured one more word I didn’t understand.
The cuffs flashed hot. It felt like my skin was burning. I bit down hard on my lower lip to hold back a cry. Then it was gone, so fast that I wondered if it was my imagination.
There was a popping sound, and suddenly my wrists weren’t bound together.
I pulled my hands in front of me, but instead of handcuffs, I wore silver bracelets on both wrists. Wide, flat bangles, they were intricately carved with all kinds of runes, eight-pointed stars and symbols I didn’t recognize.
“What the hell are these?” I demanded. I tried to pull one off, but they fit too closely to my wrist; I couldn’t fit it over my hand.
“They’ll keep your powers suppressed until you know how to use them,” Cade said calmly. “Your instructors will be able to remove them.”
“I asked you to take the cuffs off. I’m still wearing the cuffs,” I pointed out.
“Did you ask?” Cade questioned, his voice barbed. He slid out of the car and offered me a hand. “Come on. Let’s get you to that bed you’ve wanted so badly.”
“Cade,” Malcolm started to say. He broke off, but the two of them exchanged a meaningful look.
“I’ll take care of her,” Cade promised him.
“I feel so much better.” I slipped out past him, ignoring his outstretched hand.
But he was still standing in the doorway, so when I stood up, it brought us so close together that I breathed in the scent of his peppermint gum and his aftershave, something clean and cool. He was a total jerk, but he smelled good.
Cade glanced down at my bare feet, and then at the rocky driveway between us and the door to the house. “Do you want me to carry you?”
As I imagined him carrying me piggy-back for my first day at the academy, I almost snorted. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Have it your way.” He watched me, unmoving, as I limped around him.
The gravel hurt on my already aching, bloodied feet, but I wasn’t going to give him the chance to pretend to be gallant. Not when they’d brought me here in handcuffs, and not when he seemed to hate me on sight.
He caught up to me in a few quick strides as I reached the base of the stairs. He bounded up the stairs with plenty of energy, tucking one hand into his pocket. As he reached for one of the big wooden doors at the top of the stairs, I took the chance to study his back for a second. He was tall and broad-shouldered. His dark blond hair was freshly cut, and I caught a glimpse of a tattoo at the back of his neck before his collar shifted again with his movement and he was gone.
I didn’t really do boys at this stage of my life, and I definitely didn’t do condescending assholes, but if I were in the market for a boyfriend, physically, he’d be exactly my type.
I frowned at that random thought. What’s wrong with you, brain?
He swung open the door for me and half-bowed dramatically, ushering me in. “Welcome to Coville House. This is my house, and I guess it’ll be yours too.”
Wow, he sounded enthused about it.
“Lovely welcome,” I assured him.
We entered a three-story foyer, all warm wooden floors, with two sweeping staircases leading away up to the second and third floors. Cade hesitated, then led me quickly across the floor to the stairs.
“I’ll get you set up with a roommate later today,” he said. “For now, it’ll be easier to keep an eye on you in my room.”
In his room? “Excuse me?”
“Do
you want to sleep or not?” he asked impatiently. “The sun’s rising, vampire. Let’s get you to bed.”
“I was at my school dance,” I said. “I don’t normally run around the city at midnight or get myself arrested, at all, for that matter.”
Despite what he’d implied in the car, about how this probably wasn’t my first time in a cop car.
“No dances here,” he said lightly. “Hope you won’t be too disappointed. We don’t have much of a football team, either.”
My heart squeezed. If I hadn’t gone to that dance, if I hadn’t been kicked out, my uncle and I wouldn’t have been at Duffy’s. We hadn’t even saved that girl. It hadn’t mattered that we were there.
If it weren’t for goddamn Nick Molich, Liam would still be alive.
If it weren’t for me, Liam would still be alive.
Cade paused halfway up the stairs. His voice was a little softer, a little kinder, when he asked, “Deidra?”
“Yeah.” My voice came out sounding distant to my ears. I climbed the steps behind him, my legs burning with exhaustion.
When we reached the second floor, he led me to the right and pulled a key out of his pocket to unlock one of the doors.
He led me into a small living room. Two windows at the back of the room looked out over the lawn. A flat-screen television was mounted on the wall, in between crammed bookshelves, and a pair of cheap wooden futons were angled toward the television. There were mirror-image doors on either side of the room, and he pushed open the one on the left. “You can sleep in my room. I’ll be out here. Bathroom’s in there too, if you want…”
I glanced down at the torn skirt of my sleek black dress. There were freckles of blood dried across my arms. I wondered whose blood it was.
“Yeah.”
“Help yourself to my clothes for now. I’ll have Nix bring up uniforms for you.”
“Uniforms?”
“You’re at a school, Deidra Ainsley.” There was an edge of amusement in his voice.
“I was about to graduate.”
“Mm, are you though?” He plucked one of his books out from the bookshelf and threw himself onto the futon.
I hesitated for a second, but he was already flipping his book open. He cocked his arm behind his head, making himself comfortable. His booted feet were stacked on the arm of the futon, and for some reason, I had a sudden, childish impulse to push his feet onto the floor.
Lack of sleep—and grief—were making me punchy.
I left him there and went through his room—neat, sparsely furnished, guitar in the corner and a lot more books—to the bathroom. I turned the water on hot, then stripped off my clothes. The entire left side of my dress was dried stiff with red-brown blood. I stared at it for a second, trying to remember how it had gotten like that. I touched my uncle’s face, leaning over him, over his torn-open throat.
Yep. Like that. I balled up the dress and stuck it into the trash can, pushing it down as far as I could.
Then I climbed into the shower. Hot water streamed through my hair, and I yanked out the last of the bobby pins and a wayward elastic.
This is it. This is your chance to cry. Then you need to figure out where you are, and what you’re going to do next. But for now… just cry.
Nothing happened. I sagged against the cool tile wall and let the water wash over my body. I felt numb. What kind of monster felt numb about watching her family die in front of her?
I had to keep moving. I found Cade’s body wash. I lathered my hair with his shampoo. When I got out of the shower, I hesitated, then helped myself to his toothbrush and his deodorant. Whatever. If you put enough toothpaste on someone else’s toothbrush, it’s really not that gross.
Cade didn’t know how well we were getting to know each other, but when I checked my minty-fresh teeth in the mirror, I felt like he and I had bonded.
I wrapped myself up in a towel and padded across the floor of his room to pick through his dresser.
“Are you all right?” he asked from the doorway.
I turned, my heart jumping in my chest, and squeezed the towel tighter against my chest. “I’m fine.”
His gaze studied me, like he knew better. “All right.”
“Would you close the door on your way out?” I demanded.
Without comment, he left the room and closed the door.
Funny how as soon as the door was closed between us, I felt lonely. Even though he was an ass, at least he was human. He was the only human connection I had right now.
I pulled on a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt that hung almost to my knees. I tried to untangle my long, wet hair that was soaking through the t-shirt, then gave up and climbed into his bed. His sheets carried the faint scent of his aftershave.
Just like tears, sleep wouldn’t come. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured Liam’s still face, all over again.
After a while, I got up and opened the door. Cade was still lying on the couch. His eyes flickered up to me over his book, but he didn’t comment.
I left the door standing open between us. When I laid down in his bed, I couldn’t see the whole couch, but I could see his boots propped up on the arm of the futon. I could see that I wasn’t alone.
Chapter Ten
When I woke up, it was dark outside again. I rubbed my hand across my face blearily. My head ached. I’d hoped I’d feel better when I woke up, that the world would make sense, but if anything, I feel more dazed and confused than I did before.
Outside, I could hear the low rumble of men’s voices. There was Cade’s slightly husky, rough voice. Whoever answered him had a voice that was pure sex, honeyed but low and masculine. I sat up in bed carefully, trying not to make any noise, and leaned forward to catch what they were saying
“…better for her if she just jumps in,” Cade said. “She looked like she was in shock last night. The more she’s distracted, the better off she’ll be.”
“Distracted? You and I both know damn well what that kind of grief is like. She’s not going to be distracted.”
“You know what I’m saying, Nix.”
“If you wanted to distract her, finding the guy responsible for those monsters would probably keep her busy.”
Wait. The guy responsible for those monsters?
There was someone to blame for my uncle’s death? Someone besides me?
“You didn’t see what she did.”
“I saw the pictures. She’s powerful. Useful.”
“She’s a fucking hazard.”
“I’ll teach her not to be.”
Cade sighed. “You’ve never lacked in confidence…”
“That’s what we do here, right? We teach. We’ll teach her to manage it all.”
“I’ve never seen anything like her.”
“She’s just a kid,” Nix said impatiently. “She’s even from a good Hunting family. She’ll figure it out.”
I already liked this Nix, even though I hadn’t seen him yet. I rolled out of bed. Their voices broke off, and I could hear them listening for me in the pause that followed.
I pushed my wayward dark curls behind my ears before I turned the corner. Cade’s hazel eyes flickered up to me; he was still lying on the futon. On the other side of the room stood a tall guy with dark hair, a chiseled jaw and the coldest, bluest eyes I’d ever seen. He was gorgeous, but when his gaze swept over me, it made a chill race down my spine.
“How much did you hear?” Nix asked. His warm, sexy voice didn’t match those icy eyes.
Might as well be honest. “I’m a fucking hazard. I think he said that in the car too though.”
“Winning friends and influencing people as usual, Cade,” Nix muttered.
Cade ignored him. “You slept all day. We can go have dinner in the main hall.”
“Is that a good idea?” Nix asked.
“I don’t care about eating,” I said. “I want to know more about the guy responsible for those monsters.”
Nix swore, turning away from me.
Cade said, “Well, I care about eating. We’ll go to dinner, I’ll fill you in after.”
“Why not at dinner?”
“Because those beasts of yours are need-to-know, and first-years don’t need to know,” Cade said.
Nix’s gaze slipped between Cade and me. Then he said to Cade, “Look at you. Negotiating with first-years. Never thought I’d see that.”
“It’s been a weird twenty-four hours, and I’d rather not force her to eat,” Cade said as he rose from the couch.
Force me? “Good fucking luck,” I said.
Cade’s gaze flickered to me. “Deidra. Before we go downstairs, I need to make something clear.”
Nix ran his hand through his hair. “Here we go.”
“What?” I demanded.
“At the academy, we have a hierarchy,” he said.
“You said that already.” And I thought it sounded ridiculous the first time through.
“Because it’s important,” he said. “Hunters die when they leave these walls. Sometimes they die even if they’re smart, even if they’ve listened to their teachers and mentors. But if they aren’t smart? If they don’t follow orders? They definitely die.”
Cade crossed the distance between us until he was dangerously close to me. Those warm hazel eyes met mine seriously.
“I know you’ve had a hard time. But when we walk out those doors, if you say something like good fucking luck to me in front of your peers, I am going to ruin your goddamn life. You are not fucking up discipline at the academy and putting your fellow cadets at risk, no matter how sad your story is.”
He held my gaze. I felt heat—furious heat—crawl up my cheeks. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“I’m just asking you to be respectful and act like a Hunter,” he said.
“My goddamn life’s already ruined, you goddamn prick.” I stabbed my finger into his chest, since we were so close to each other anyway. I stared up into his eyes, daring him. “But I can say that, right? In here?”
“Sure,” he said. “You can say that. In here.”
He didn’t seem to care one bit about my emotional reaction. It made me even angrier. The memory of the way he’d looked at me at first—distrustful, almost fearful—rose in my mind. But now he seemed to feel differently. He felt… pity? Irritation? A sense of responsibility?
