Last night, the Davenport family had taken the plush furnishings, and I had spent the night on the safe room floor against one wall, lying with only Amber’s thin dress separating me from the hardwood. Every few minutes, I had startled awake. I was pretty sure Mitch hadn’t slept a single wink. He spent the night leaning up against the wall, glowering.
Mitch parked in the Hope Springs Recovery Center lot, and as he reached for his door handle, I grabbed his arm. “Wait. I need to ask you something, and now that I have this necklace, this is probably the safest place to do it.”
“Okay?”
Leaning in closer, I lowered my voice. “Can I take the money from the Roberts’ pool house? I need it for Justin, but I don’t want to do it without your permission.”
Mitch rocked back. “You’re not planning to run from the Hawthorn Group, are you?”
The question blindsided me, even though I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d jump to the right conclusion. Justin and Mitch had gathered that money for that exact purpose. I knew this was my moment to come clean. Yes. We had to run to get the strzyga demons away from here. But Mitch’s words played through my mind.
I don’t care if it’s demons or dhampirs or whatever else coming after you, I’m appointing my own self as your bodyguard now.
I looked into his dark eyes and knew that I would rather die than risk him dying to save me. I knew Justin felt the same way, at least about Mitch risking his life for Justin’s.
“No. We’re not planning anything like that,” I told him. “I need the money so Parker can bribe her brothers. They’re going to get a witch out of Alderwood. We’re breaking Justin out. He knows it’s only a matter of time before the strzyga demons find his family. The werewolves are going to help him go into hiding until the threat is over.”
“You set all this up?” Mitch’s gaze darted back and forth between my eyes.
I nodded. “I’d use the money from the settlement, but Parker says it’s flagged.”
“Yeah. Of course you can use the money for that. You didn’t need to ask, January.” Mitch reached for the door handle but turned back. “You promise?”
A knot formed in the back of my throat. “Promise what?”
“Promise that you’re not running away.”
My face heated, but I managed to keep my expression blank. “Of course. That’s not what I need the money for. I promise.”
The lie felt like acid in my mouth, especially when he nodded. Mitch believed me. I’d worked so hard to earn his trust, and I finally had only to realize that I never deserved it.
No ambush waited for me in the Women’s Restroom at Hope Springs Recovery Center. I found my usual stall empty, and as soon as I stepped inside, the trashcan rattled.
When I opened the bin, I found a blank piece of paper and a pen.
After writing down the time and place of Sebastian’s speech, I reached into my bra and pulled out the building’s schematics. Setting both in the small metal bin, I closed the lid and waited.
Ten seconds later, there was another clattering sound. When I opened the lid, the schematics and form were gone, replaced with a slip of paper that had a short message scrawled across it.
Meet us at the liquor store at the corner of King and Fifteenth on Halloween at eight o’clock. Do not be late. Be ready to leave for Phoenix directly from there. No stops.
It was a liquor store I knew well. I threw the paper in the toilet where it instantly dissolved. A strange calm settled over me as I headed out of the stall, and I managed not to react when the same blonde nurse was washing her hands in the sink directly across from my stall.
Heading over to the sink next to her, I turned on the water and ran my hands under the warm spray.
“Did you ever find your phone?” I asked her, amazed at the calm in my own voice.
“My what?” Her brows shot up.
“Sorry. You lost your phone a while back and were looking around stalls.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “Yeah. It was actually at my station. I can be so forgetful at times.”
As I headed out of the bathroom, I spotted the woman heading straight into the stall I just vacated. It was almost comforting. If Mr. Yates was still having his lackeys searching for evidence, he probably didn’t have any.
When it was time to leave, I hugged my mother just a little too tight and for a few seconds too long. I knew I had to stop or it would look off, but I wanted to engrain her dried paint and rose oil scent into my memory. I wanted to memorize the feel of her wiry arms. This wasn’t goodbye forever. I’d find a way to bring her to Phoenix.
“Aren’t your midterms next week?” she asked when I’d finally pulled away. “I bet you’ve been studying until you see double.”
“Oh wow. You know what? I haven’t cracked open a book.”
She pressed a cold hand to my forehead. “You feeling okay?”
“Yeah. Life has just been really hectic, and I let some things slip.” I was going to fail my midterms, and even though it shouldn’t matter as I planned to drop out of the school days’ after the test, I was so not okay with failing any test. “Holy shit. I need to study.”
“Okay, honey.” My mother laughed. “When I told you that you should cut loose a bit, I didn’t mean that you should drop out of high school.”
Drop out of high school was exactly what I was planning to do. That thought hit me upside the head. After working my ass off for my entire school career, I was throwing all of it away. I was going to be a fugitive, there was no way that I could ever use my transcripts.
I suddenly wanted to cry, but I pushed the emotion down. I was immortal now. I could do high school again. Justin’s survival was so much more important than high school transcripts.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Mitch fell into the seat beside mine as I flipped to my next flashcard.
“Bjorn Halvorson killed the last known ice dragon in… fifteen…” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Fifteen—”
“Twenty-seven,” Mitch muttered as he reclined back on his seat.
I pointed at him. “Don’t mix me up. I’m going on fifteen minutes of sleep here.”
I felt like I’d been run over by a boulder. After I left my mother’s rehab, I canceled everything, including the BBC movie night, and mainlined caffeine for forty-eight straight hours. My whole body ached, and I wasn’t sure if I was fully conscious or not. When I turned over my flashcard, the back said 1527.
“The hell, Mitch?” I muttered. “If you get an A on this test without studying, I might murder you.”
He shrugged. “I studied.”
“You are a dirty, rotten liar, Mitch Holter.” I knew for a fact that Mitch didn’t study as he was in my dorm room, eating everything out of my fridge, binge-watching auto mechanic shows on my TV, and passing out on my couch. He only left when I kicked him out fifteen minutes before curfew.
“January.” A hand touched my shoulder, and then suddenly Justin’s face was inches from mine.
I let out a loud shriek and grabbed my chest before I could stop myself. “Holy shit. You scared the crap out of me.” I reached up and touched his collar, just wanting to be sure that he was really here. “How are you here? Isn’t it painful?”
The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and the area around his eyes was red.
“I can handle it.” Justin smiled, and the smile shone in his golden eyes. “It’s only going to be for a few hours. My butler drove me so I could take my midterms. He’s waiting in the hallway to take me back directly after this.”
Translation: Justin was here, but he was here under heavy guard.
“You’re leaving right after the midterm?” I asked.
“Yeah. This is my only Monday test.” Leaning in, he gave me a kiss. It was just a light meeting of our lips, but it felt electric, and suddenly, I was wide awake.
“Mr. Roberts, this is not the time or place,” Professor Abbot called from the front. “Please take your seat so we can get this test s
tarted.”
“Just hoping for some luck, professor,” Justin said as he stood. He stepped away, and damn, I didn’t want to let him go.
I watched until he took his seat in the back. As soon as Justin was seated, his gaze found mine, and he mouthed the words, “I love you.”
“Do you?” I mouthed back.
“Here’s your test, Dirtbag.” An eraser tapped against my hand, and when I swatted it away, a packet of paper smacked the back of my head. “Dirtbag… get your head in the game.”
I turned to glare at Mitch. “Says the guy who spends more time sleeping than awake in class.”
“I’m not sleeping. I’m listening. I just don’t want to fucking deal with people.” He slid my test in front of me and held out a pencil. “Focus.”
“Shut up, Mitch,” I said with a roll of my eyes before I grabbed the pencil out of his hand.
“Alright class,” Professor Abbot said as she took a seat behind the long table at the front. “There should be no more talking. If you need help with any of the questions, raise your hand, and I’ll come over to you. Ready…” She glanced at a watch on her wrist. “Go. You have one hour and fifty minutes.”
I cracked open the booklet and began filling out bubbles. To my surprise, Mitch was going through the questions at twice my pace. Had I really been mistaking Mitch’s avid listening for disinterest this whole time?
“Eyes on your own test, Miss Moore,” Professor Abbot called, making my heart jump as I turned back to my test.
The test blurred before me, and I shook my head and then started working out my own series of questions.
The low ticking of the wall clock marked the passing of time, and I skipped the questions I didn’t know, marking them to come back. As I wrote a short essay about strzyga demons with the information I learned in the textbook that was not whatsoever true, the urge to glance back at Justin was almost painful.
He and I were the two secret Supernaturals in the room, and even with the stress of the exam and everything else, I felt the connection between us. I wasn’t the only irregularity in this world. I wasn’t even the most powerful Supernatural in this room.
When I finished the essay, I went back to the questions I didn’t know, trying to guess the answers to the best of my ability.
“Five more minutes.”
Mitch was already out of his seat, handing in his test, and I worked faster, guessing the answers as the seconds ticked away.
“Pencils down.”
I finished filling in a bubble and set my pencil down on my desk. With a sigh, I stood and stepped into the aisle, going to stand behind the small line there.
“Hey,” Justin whispered as he slid up next to me. His hand wrapped around mine, and a slip of paper pressed into my palm. “I wish we had more classes together. I’ll try to make it to lunch tomorrow, but it might not happen.”
We each laid our tests in front of Professor Abbot, and Justin shot one more smile back at me before heading for the door.
As I headed back toward the table where Mitch was glowering with his arms crossed, I snuck a peek at the note in my hand. Surprise washed through me as I read the name on the paper.
“Here, I’ll help you get your lazy ass up yet again,” I said, holding out my hands.
Mitch’s nostrils flared, but he grabbed my hands and when I pulled my hands away, he took the note.
Halfway to our next midterm, Mitch muttered, “Something is up with him.”
My gut twisted, and I pressed a hand over my button-up shirt. “Do you mean aside from everything I already told you is up with him?”
Mitch’s hand clenched, probably around the note Justin passed him, and he glared forward down the hall. “See you in the cafeteria.”
Mitch didn’t wait for my response, he just turned and slammed open the door of the boys bathroom. Instead of walking ahead, I waited a little way down the hall, chewing my lip. Less than a minute later, Mitch reemerged with empty hands and an even deeper scowl.
“What did it say?” I asked as I fell into step beside him.
“It said… this is none of January Moore’s business.”
I glared up at him. “Seriously?”
Mitch glanced over. “If he wanted you to know, he would have written the note to you, yeah?”
“You really know how to bring out the stabby in a girl, Mitch Holter,” I muttered for probably the hundredth time, and I could swear that I saw the barest touch of a smile flit over his lips.
We said nothing more as we headed into our Supernatural anatomy final. Five hours and two midterms later, I could barely keep my eyes open.
A mix of now-defunct coffee and anxiety threatened to burn my insides as I headed for Gregory Hall with Mitch glowering at my side.
Mitch stopped in my doorway and leaned against its frame. There was something in his expression that I couldn’t quite place as he asked, “Okay if I pass out on your couch?”
“Sure. I think this is the first time you’ve ever actually asked to take a nap in here.” I gestured to the couch in question that might as well be called Mitch’s domain at this point.
He looked a little tense as he sat, but I was so damn tired, I didn’t have the energy to consider why. I curled up on my mattress, called Bailey next to me, and was asleep within seconds.
A knocking woke me, and I looked up groggily to find Mitch standing in my doorway. I spat dog hair out of my mouth and wiped off my tongue. My voice came out hoarse and croaky. “Just go through here if you have to go to the bathroom. It doesn’t matter.”
“January,” Mitch said. “I need you to tell me what Justin is planning here before I go after him.”
I pushed up into a sitting position and squeezed my eyes shut before opening them. “What are you talking about?”
Mitch crossed the space and held out a piece of paper. I recognized it immediately as the note I handed over in History class this morning.
On it, Justin had written a short message.
I was a dick for hitting you, and, you’re right, I don’t appreciate you as much as you deserve. I’m sorry for all the bullshit, Mitch. I’ve asked too much of you, but please do me this one last favor. Distract her tonight. Sit on her if you have to. There’s only one way that we all come out of this mess alive, and she’s not going to like what I have to do. Don’t let her leave Blackburn Academy.
Mitch rubbed a hand over his head as his gaze fixed on the front door. “I’m going after him, but I need to know what I’m walking into.”
“No,” I whispered. “No… Mitch. What time is it?” I glanced over to my window, only to see the sun setting over Blackburn Academy. My heart dropped. “Why would you do this? Why would you wait to show me this?”
“Because, he asked me to. Justin is all I fucking have, and he said this is the only way that you’d both survive. Obviously, he has a different plan than you do, and your idea to have Justin hide around town sounds like something that will get him killed quick.” Mitch grabbed my doorframe. “I’m going after him, and you’re not coming with me. But I need to know what’s really going on, January.”
I clambered off the bed and shoved on my shoes. “I don’t know what Justin is planning, but I’m probably the only one who can talk him out of it. Give me your keys.”
“Hell no.”
I grabbed for Mitch, but he dodged away. “You fucking asshole. Give me your keys, Mitch! You’re not coming with me.”
“Fine. I’ll go into this with no idea what I’m facing.” Mitch turned, ran across my dorm room, and ripped open my front door, disappearing without another word.
“Shit.” I scrabbled to grab a bag of blood out of my refrigerator drawer and ran after him, but Mitch only ran faster.
“Wait, Mitch!” I yelled as Mitch slipped into the elevator, but he ignored me. The doors slid shut, and I ran full out, just managing to put my arm into the opening before the doors closed.
“You’re not coming,” Mitch growled as he repeatedly jabbed his f
inger into the ground floor button. “The moment I get out of here, I’m going to zip for my car.”
“That won’t stop me from going after him.” I grabbed a handful of Mitch’s t-shirt. “I’ll run out of here on foot if I have to.”
“Bullshit. The gate guards will stop you,” Mitch said, and he was right. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he took off. His shirt pulled out of my grip as he ran away from me and threw open the doors of Gregory Hall.
Ignoring Bob, who was calling out that we needed to walk in the hallways and curfew was in less than an hour, I caught the glass door as it tried to slam closed.
“Mitch! Stop. You asshole!” I yelled but his figure blurred away from me.
In the distance, Mitch’s massive form vanished into the parking lot. No. He wasn’t getting away with this. He wasn’t leaving me behind.
My sides burned as I leaned into the run. I needed to get to that parking lot and past those cars... The world blurred around me, the streetlights streaked past as the cooling night air blasted against my whole body. The ground under me hardened, and the pressure jolted up my leg. I tried to stop, but my whole body pitched forward. My stomach flew up, and I flipped end over end. Pain seared across my legs and arms as concrete burned my flesh. Pain exploded through me as my ribs collided with something metal. I gasped for air, looking up at the bumper of a truck.
It felt as if knives were slicing into my chest as I stumbled to my feet, but I somehow still had the bottle of blood in my hand. Gritting my teeth, I managed to limp the remaining ten feet to where Mitch was climbing into his muscle car.
I ripped open the door and fell into his front seat. “If you try to remove me from this vehicle, you’re going to have one hell of a fight on your hands, Mitch Holter.
“Get out.” He glared over at me, but his eyes went wide. “What the hell did you just do to yourself?”
Every inch of my body ached and burned. It looked like I’d taken a cheese grater to my skin rather than just rolling across the asphalt. Blood oozed out of both of my knees. My school shirt and skirt were just shreds of fabric, filthy with dirt and blood.
Broken Elites (The Vampire Legacy Book 3) Page 25
