So he wanted to test me, did he? I had a lesson for him...
Teeth snapping, I dove back to the ground and landed.
I swiped out at the councilman, severing his head from his body. Parts of him tumbled in two directions, sideways and onto the grass.
Wolfy plunged to the ground a short distance away. My friend lay still. He was not breathing!
Grief and rage churned in my belly, channeling into a blinding wrath I couldn’t control.
It controlled me.
Tipping my head back, I released my dragon in a blast of fire that roared up to the sky. The tops of trees around me burst into flames, tinder for my never-ending frenzy. I stomped my feet, and my claws dug into the ground, ripping through grass and roots.
“Stop!” someone said from behind me. “Maddy. Please...”
I lumbered around, determined to rip off more heads. Because I wasn’t done. I’d never be done.
Wolfy!
“Oh shit,” she said. “Maddy...Maddy, it’s me, Cece. Your sister! You have to snap out of it!”
Cece. Horrified, I reeled away from her.
Tears streamed down her face. She cried out, like my wolfling friend had cried out.
What had I almost done?
Get out of me! I shouted to the dragon who’d taken over my body.
Go away. Please.
But the beast churned inside me, eager to claw something new to shreds.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cece
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A dragon. An honest-to-God dragon was charging me, and somewhere buried deep within its shining scales and terrifying size was my sister.
Or at least I hoped so.
“Maddy!” I screamed as I dove out of her beast’s way. She crashed into the building, and it shuddered under her massive frame. But there was no time to marvel at the damage. I scrambled to my feet and bolted across the yard to where I saw the wolfling, wounded but trying to rise.
“Wolfy!” I shouted. He turned to me with wide eyes as the ground shook beneath us with every step the dragon took.
“Maddy is losing her control over it,” he said as I scooped him up in my arms.
“What can we do?”
She stomped around, and I cut left to escape being smashed flat.
“Dammit, Maddy!” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Yelling won’t help,” the mini-wolf chided.
“I’m not sure sweet-talking her will either, big guy.”
Maddy roared as I hopped into an alcove, and she nearly ripped the door it hid off the hinges. Locked. Of course.
“I don’t suppose you can unlock doors like Rhys and Aidan?” I asked him.
“There is no escape from this,” he said, and I bristled at his resignation.
“So, what’s the plan? Let my sister’s shifter destroy everything in sight—including us?”
Somehow, amid all the chaos, the mini-wolf managed to cut me an incredulous look. “Hardly. You need to help her calm the beast. You are an empath, are you not?”
“Yeah, but—”
“There’s no ‘but’, Cece. You have to do this before the beast does something the girl will never forgive herself for.”
Fire shot past us and I tucked into the corner, sheltering the wolfling in my arms.
“How the fuck am I supposed to help calm anything when I’m freaking out?”
“Simple,” he said, as though I were too stupid to live. “Stop freaking out.”
I stared down at him like he was joking. “Yeah. Of course,” I said, dropping him lightly to the ground. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves for what I was about to do. What I had to do. Face down the shifter side of my sister that seemed to have swallowed her whole.
Light paws tapped against my leg, and I looked down to find the mini-wolf leaning against me.
“Appeal to who she is,” he said. “Reach her through your sisterly bond.”
I nodded, then turned to find thick, scaled legs pacing back and forth in front of the alcove. The marble burned hot in my pocket, and I reached down and grabbed it. The comfort I felt when the smooth glass touched my skin was undeniable. I squeezed it tight and stepped out.
“Maddy,” I said softly. The dragon roared in my face, blowing my purple hair straight back. “This isn’t you. You’re not angry. You’re not rash. You’re not vengeful. That’s me, remember? In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve used those exact words to describe me...on numerous occasions, if memory serves…”
The dragon circled herself quickly and lowered her belly to the ground so she could lie before me, her reptilian eyes staring holes through me. But she wasn’t trying to incinerate me, so I took it as a win.
For the moment.
“You are the kindest person I know, Maddy. Kind and trusting and sweet—all the things I wish I was! You’ve looked to me to be a role model for so long, but what you were too busy to notice was that I was doing the same thing to you.” The dragon huffed in my face and slammed a massive clawed foot on the ground right next to me.
Terror shot through me, and her eyes narrowed.
“Keep going!” the mini-wolf shouted. “You’re breaking through! Trust in your bond!”
“Trust in our bond,” I whispered under my breath as I stared at a beast that could tear me limb from limb with one bite. “Trust in our bond…”
I closed my eyes tight and took a leap of faith: I reached my hand out toward the dragon and took a step forward. When my hand wasn’t ripped from my arm, I dared to take a peek. The dragon stared at me with narrowed eyes, but she didn’t move.
I took another step. “I love you, Maddy. More than anyone or anything in this world. You know this. I know you do. And I know you love me just as much—hell, maybe more. You’ve got a big, beautiful heart. Please don’t lose it. Don’t let this side of you steal that. You are in charge,” I said, my voice more forceful this time as I inched closer still. “This being is a part of you, not the other way around.”
A low growl emanated from the dragon, and I felt a wave of anger followed by uncertainty crash into me, but I pushed it back with the love I felt for my sister. The sister I wasn't willing to lose to the beast before me.
“Come back to me, Maddy,” I said softly, just as my fingertips brushed the snout of the dragon. The second my flesh met scale, a whoosh of power jolted between us. It shot me back into the alcove, nearly crushing the mini-wolf in the process. By the time I stood up, the dragon was gone. In her place stood my sister, fully dressed like nothing had happened. But her wide eyes and shaking limbs gave her away.
“Cece?” she whispered, looking me over from afar for any trace of damage.
“I’m okay,” I said, rushing toward her. But the wolfling cut me off and shook his head.
“She needs a moment.”
“I…I…”
“I know, Maddy,” I said as her guilt wrapped around me like a noose. “It wasn’t you. It’s not your fault.”
Fat tears rolled slowly down her cheeks, and I stepped past the mini-wolf to reach her just as my tears began to fall. Her arms flew open to grab me, and I fell into them willingly. We held each other so tight, it was a wonder that either of us could breathe. But in that moment, we didn’t care. All we wanted was to latch onto one another and never let go—just as we’d always done when we were scared as kids.
“I killed a Council member,” Maddy said between sharp inhales. “He was torturing Wolfy.”
I opened my eyes to see the headless corpse lying just beyond where we stood. Fear once again coursed through me at the sight. My sister had done that. My sweet little Maddy had decapitated someone who’d hurt her friend—someone she loved.
I gripped her tighter as a burst of pride shot through me.
“I’d have killed him, too,” I whispered in her ear. “But maybe in a less messy way…”
My morbid humor struck the right chord, and she choked on a laugh,
her body jerking in my hold.
I let her go to find her tear-stained face staring back at me. A small smile tugged at her lips.
“So...you’re not mad?” she asked.
“That you killed that bastard? Hardly—”
“No,” she said, averting her gaze, “for...you know…”
“Trying to roast my butt off and possibly eat me?”
Her eyes shot back to me. “Yeah. That.”
“I’m mad that you tried to turn my pants to chaps.” I looked over my shoulder at my jeans, whose pockets were burned off. The remaining fabric was charred and threadbare and barely concealed my underwear. “If Aidan sees this, I’ll never hear the end of it…”
At that, she chuckled. “Maybe he can glamour it for you.”
“Doubtful, but I appreciate your optimism.”
Our shared laughter died off as our collective gaze landed on the corpse. “What are we going to do with him?” she asked, nervousness tingeing her tone.
Fair question.
I took a deep breath and turned to face her. “Strangely enough, I know just the place to dispose of a body.”
“How?” she asked, stepping in front of me. “Where?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way there.” Her eyes narrowed at me, and I swore I saw a hint of the dragon in there, assessing my words. “Just help me...collect him,” I said, heading over to the body. “We have to figure out how to carry him.”
The marble in my pocket blazed yet again, and a picture of the blast furnace popped into my mind as my sister inched closer to his torso. The mini-wolf pranced over with the Council member’s head dangling from where he held his hair in his mouth.
I nearly gagged at the sight.
He dropped it onto the man’s belly, face down, thank God.
“Everyone hold on,” I said, taking hold of his boots, my sneakers squished in the blood-soaked ground. “And hope this works.”
Just as Maddy opened her mouth to ask the question, our surroundings disappeared, and we found ourselves in a darkened hall, eyes desperate to adapt to the immediate lack of light. Squinting hard, I searched for what I could feel was near.
The draw of the furnace was strong.
Hungry.
Then the marble glowed brightly enough to take in our surroundings.
“Where are we?” Maddy asked.
The mini-wolf answered. “Somewhere we should not be…”
“We need to get him in there,” I said, pointing to the still-open door of the furnace—or body-burner. Whichever.
“What’s in there?” Maddy asked, stepping closer to the heavy metal door.
The mini-wolf cast me a dubious glance, and I swallowed hard.
“Ashes and bones,” I replied, “and shit I don't want to get into right this second. We need to dump him in there and then get cleaned up.”
Maddy went a bit pale at my words. “How do you know?”
“Because I was just in there last night. Looks like I’m headed for shower number two in a twelve-hour period.” I looked at my clothes, covered in blood, and started to question who I was. In a few short days, I’d become someone who hid bodies and covered up murders. Worse yet, so had Maddy.
I let that thought sober me as I hoisted the Council member’s feet and hauled him toward the open door.
“A little help here, Mads?”
She grabbed him under the arms and stared at me. “Why is your hair purple?” she asked. It seemed an odd time to ask, but maybe she was searching for something normal to talk about while we disposed of a body. Maybe her mind was near the point of breaking. Maybe mine was, too.
“My color upgrade is courtesy of Aidan. Another long story. It involves him and me in a shower.” Her eyes went wide. “We were washing off the ashes of what I assume are the missing kids of Wadsworth. It’s far less scandalous than it sounds.”
Then my mind drifted to the moment he and I had shared in that shower, and I wondered if that was only true because we’d been interrupted.
The marking on my hand flared as my cheeks burned, and I forced myself back to the grim task at hand.
“Jesus,” she muttered to herself.
“Yeah. You’re not the only one who’s had an eventful twenty-four hours…”
“Guess not,” she replied as she hoisted the man up under his shoulders. We struggled with his weight as we slipped on the bloody stone beneath our feet, trying to get him over to the furnace.
“Why does this always look easier in the movies?” I grunted as I propped his feet into the furnace mouth. I let go, and one leg fell to the floor with a wet thud.
“Because dummies are much lighter,” a male voice said from behind us. Maddy and I jumped at the sound and turned to find Aidan and Rhys storming toward us. The former’s eyes were narrowed with suspicion and concern; the latter’s were wide with shock.
“What the hell happened?” Rhys asked, his voice distant and dark.
I looked to Maddy, not sure how to explain. I watched as she squared her shoulders, hands still holding the weight of the life she’d claimed, and answered.
“I killed a Council member.” The boys both stared at her in disbelief. “He was torturing Wolfy. I had to.”
The mini-wolf nodded. “I tried to keep her away, but she came anyway. I feared it would end like this.”
“You mean with one of the most powerful beings in existence being murdered with his brethren still on campus?” Aidan asked.
“Yes,” Wolfy replied, “that.”
“We’re trying to get rid of the evidence,” I said, helping my sister lift the surprisingly heavy man. “Are you going to help us or stand there?”
The boys exchanged a look before they walked over and hefted the man up with ease. Seconds later, he—and his severed head—was in the furnace. I felt a flare of magic erupt around us as it roared to life. Heat shot up through the chute, flames flickering up behind it. Aidan lunged forward and slammed the door shut.
He turned back to the rest of us as our collective gaze stared at the furnace that had just gladly accepted our offering.
“How?” he asked, sharp eyes on Maddy. “How did you kill him? Because I know your malum magicae isn’t enough to have done this.”
She cast me an uncertain look, and I nodded. “Just tell them, Mads. They need to know.”
So she did. She recounted the entire event in vivid detail, until she came to the part where I’d intervened. Whether it was because she couldn’t force herself to admit she’d nearly killed me or because she didn’t recall that part, I didn't know. What I did know was that it hurt to see her in pain. So, for what might prove to be the last time she’d need me to, I stepped in and answered for her.
“The dragon attacked me,” I said, making sure to differentiate her beast from her. “But I think it was a reflex—a bloodlust thing. I helped to calm the beast, and then Maddy returned. It wasn’t long. It turned out fine.”
Aidan looked unconvinced. So did Maddy, for that matter. But Rhys looked mesmerized—almost like he was in a trance. He stepped toward my sister, arms outstretched, and didn’t stop until her face was cupped in his hands.
“It makes so much sense now,” he whispered, bowing his head down closer to hers. The moment was so intimate, I felt self-conscious witnessing it. I turned away to find Aidan staring at me, his face a mask of indifference. But his energy once again betrayed him. My account of what had happened had shaken him.
He was at my side in a flash, lips at my ear. “What you did was reckless.”
The weight of his words made me squirm, so I deflected with humor. “You do know me, right?”
“You could have been killed.”
I dared a glance up at him. “But I wasn’t.”
“This time.” He shifted closer still, and my blood crashed through my veins. “But it was also incredibly brave. It shows your loyalty—and your strength.”
My brain could hardly process his words, so I stared at him for a mo
ment until I found my tongue. “How did you find us?” I asked, my voice low and hoarse with something I didn't want to acknowledge.
His hand grazed the golden marking on mine and it flared to life. “We are connected, remember?” He pulled away just enough for me to stare into those icy blue eyes. “I can find you anywhere.”
I swallowed hard. “That’s handy…”
A wry smile tugged at his mouth. “Very.”
I felt my heart pounding in my chest and wondered if he could hear its erratic pace; if he knew he had that effect on me. Before, it had been from adrenaline—from seeing him as the predator he portrayed himself to be. But now, it raced for an entirely different reason.
“We should go,” Rhys called from behind us, and I almost jumped at the sound. I was wound way too tightly after everything that had happened. I needed to chill out, and soon.
“Agreed,” Aidan said, turning to face him. “You two are a mess.”
Maddy and I could hardly argue, our shirts and pants covered in blood.
But that turned out to be the least of our worries.
“Who would like to explain to me why you’re covered in blood?” a man called to us from down the hall. A man not one of us had heard approaching—not even the mini-wolf. We all turned to find another Council member staring at us, dark eyes flaming. I knew that face. It had been only inches from mine the night before.
The acne-scarred man stormed toward us, fire blazing in both hands to light his way, and I reached into my pocket for the marble, only to find it had absconded again. That means of escape was gone, and it was too late for Aidan to glamour us. I looked back at the smoking furnace we’d just stuffed his fellow councilman into and wondered if we’d soon find ourselves in there, too.
If we’d be the next missing kids at Wadsworth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maddy
“You want me to shift and rip his head off?” I whispered, only half-kidding.
Wolfy whined and slunk around behind me.
Cece’s panicked gaze met mine. “Let’s hold off on that for now, okay?” She leaned into Aidan, who stared at the Council member. He flicked his finger and mumbled something, but the acne-scarred dude continued to stalk toward us.
Rogue Reformatory: Broken (Supernatural Misfits Academy Book 2) Page 18
