by Cali Mann
I didn’t mean to listen, but I hear the word, “Oracle,” and I couldn’t help myself.
“Yes, this is a formal invitation. We would like to invite Oracle to Thornbriar Academy,” Professor Ward said.
My breath caught in my throat. The Oracle? Here? I didn’t even know how her divination worked. Would she be able to tell what I was by sight? Would she just see me and order my death? I wrapped my arms around myself. I was going to die.
“I understand her schedule is very busy.” Professor Ward sighed.
Maybe she wouldn’t come or maybe it would be so far in the future that it wouldn’t matter. My heart beat frantically against my chest as I listened.
“Yes, April 2nd is fine,” he said.
I paced back to my table, pencil forgotten. I had to leave. Right now. The Oracle was coming here, to Thornbriar, and it was less than a month away.
If I hadn’t already planned to meet my father, it was vital now. He had escaped the Council for years. He’d know what to do. I palmed the paper in my jeans pocket and looked at the scribbled writing. I had to get to this meeting. How was I going to do that? I closed my eyes, trying to think through my panic.
“What’s that?” a male voice asked and my eyes flew open.
“Sciro,” I breathed.
His lips twisted as if looking at me pained him.
Even all pissed off, he was hot as hell. Heat swirled in my gut as I imagined what two vampires might do . . . shit! What was wrong with me? I’d just found out I was going to die and already I was thinking about fucking someone else. Someone who hated me for an accident of birth. I shook myself, shoving the paper in my pocket. “Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Don’t you hate my guts, anyway?” I asked.
Sciro snarled, and I couldn’t help stepping back.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” I said, forcing strength into my voice. “If you’ve found anything on how to unwind the spiral, I’m all for it.”
“Don’t let them hear you say that.”
“I love them, Sciro. I know you don’t believe that, but I really do, and I’d do anything for them.” I sighed. “Even if it means giving them up.”
He licked a fang as he studied me.
A shiver ran through me as I imagined that tongue licking . . . who was I? Where were these thoughts coming from? Was I having some kind of episode right here in the library?
“You mean it?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Then turn yourself in,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning away. “Die and let them go.”
I shuddered at the cold hardness of his voice. He walked away, and I stared after him. I’d thought we’d almost been friends. Especially when he’d given me that crow charm over the holidays, to go with the bracelet the others had given me. I rolled the charms under my fingers: crow, jaguar, merman, wolf. A peace offering I’d thought.
But no, he really hated me.
I rubbed my head and sat down. The Oracle was coming to Thornbriar. When the clock clicked the hour, I hadn’t done any more math problems.
Avoiding the Professor, I ducked out into the hall. My skin itched, and I scraped my nails along my arms. The hallway was cool and silent, but I was bursting out of my skin. I glanced at the window, but I hadn’t shifted into a bird yet so that escape route was closed to me.
Instead, I headed for the stairs, trying to get away from my own thoughts. My footsteps rang like bells as I descended into the caverns. The saltwater scent hit me as soon as I crossed the doorway, and by the time I got back to Adrian’s favorite pool, I was already naked.
I dived in, letting the water and the shift roll over me. The water washed my thoughts away and I could just be in the mind of the mer-creature. She didn’t think, and she didn’t worry. She just was.
26
Sciro
I followed Hailey down to the pools. She must have really been involved in her own head because she didn’t hear or scent me. I’m pretty good at covering my tracks but she was in vampire form. Then I heard the splash. Or not.
Her clothes were scattered across the poolside. Her form swam completely submerged, just a shadow darting along the bottom of the pool. The curve of her hip, even in mermaid form, made me lick my lips.
I shook myself and bent over the discarded jeans and shoved my hand in the front pocket. The paper came out easily, and I glanced over it. On one side a drawing of her tattoo, and on the other a day, a time, and a place for the meeting with her father. I hadn’t been able to believe my ears when I’d heard her and that nurse talking in the chapel.
One thing’s for sure: I wanted to know the same thing she did: who the hell was her father? Even though Professor Roth talked about the Spirit Shifter colonies, where were they? And if they’d been safe, why hadn’t Hailey’s dad kept her with him? Unless he wasn’t in a colony and having her with him would put her in more danger than here. That’s what worried me the most.
I snapped a picture of the note with my cell and slipped it back in her pocket.
A splash sounded behind me, and I spun around. My jaw fell open.
She rose up out of the water like a sea goddess. Her long green hair splayed around her shoulders and her perfectly formed breasts. Her tail gleamed iridescent in the flickering cavern lights. Gills flapping, she breathed noisily in the air. Her gaze was on something in the distance. She didn’t even see me.
My throat dried, and I was unable to say a word.
Then she opened her mouth and began to sing. It was the most angelic thing I’d ever heard, and I found myself walking toward her. All I knew is that I needed to be near her.
When my foot stepped off the edge, I came to my senses. I jerked myself back, slamming my hands over my ears. Siren songs. Dammit. Spinning wildly, I ran from her. I tripped through the other caverns and up the stairs.
Only when I reached the main floor landing did I release my ears. My heart pounded rapidly. I could still hear the faint echo of her song.
27
Brenton
After her reaction this morning, I was looking forward to seeing Hailey in our afternoon classes. But she arrived, late, with wet hair, and proceeded to ignore me. I couldn’t understand it. She’d been so pissed off this morning. Now. Nothing.
Three classes as the invisible man and I was done. I plowed into her after Biology and slammed her up against the wall.
“What the hell, Brenton?” she asked, her eyes on the other students streaming by us.
I held her against the stone, feeling the softness of her body and wanting to sink into it. “What’s going on?”
“None of your business. Fuck off.”
I hated this feeling of needing to take care of her. Mine, whispered my dragon, and I growled, releasing Hailey. “Fine.”
She flipped me off and marched away from me. Her ass swung, and I remembered her smooth skin under my hands. Raking my hands through my hair, I followed after her.
When we reached the door to the office we’d used before, I grabbed her again and yanked her inside.
Hailey spun away from me, sputtering. “Thought you had other things to occupy your time.”
I smirked. So she was still pissed. Good. I leaned my arm by the door, blocking it with my body, and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
She marched toward me as if she was going to walk right through me and stopped mere inches away. “Leave me alone.”
Reaching out a hand, I stroked her cheek. “Fuck you.”
“Been there. Done that,” she growled.
“Not nearly enough.”
“I thought you didn’t share?” she asked, arching an eyebrow right back at me.
Dammit. She was right. What the fuck was I doing? Then I saw her hands trembling. My eyes scanned her. She wasn’t afraid of me. My dragon grunted in approval. But she was terrified of something. “What is it?”
Her breath hitched, and she met my eyes. “The Oracle is coming to Tho
rnbriar.”
“Fuck.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Does she know you’re here?”
“I don’t know,” she said so softly I almost couldn’t hear her. Her shoulders drooped. Her green eyes glistened with tears and she looked defeated.
Fire swirled in my gut. The dragon was angry. I was angry. Our mate should never feel like this. I wanted to set the whole damn place on fire. Smoke spilled from my mouth. Shit.
Taking a breath, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I delved inside her mouth, searing her with my brand. Fuck everyone else. This was my mate, and they had called for the executioner.
Heat roared through me and vision turned red. I grasped her ass, lifting her against me, and she wrapped her legs around me. I carried her over to the desk and set her on top. I stepped back to take off my shirt, and her eyes darkened. She licked her lips and my cock quivered.
She lifted the edge of her shirt and consumed by need, we couldn’t tear our clothes off fast enough. When her bare skin touched mine, we sizzled. My fingers raked across her core, seeking her pleasure, and she wriggled against me.
Mine. growled my dragon, and I answered, ours. I stroked her to the edge and growled when she shuddered her climax, soaking my fingers.
I ransacked her body with kisses, delving into all her cliffs and valleys. When she lay quivering against the desktop, I drove into her warm pathway. The fire raged through us and we joined as two flames. We scorched each other, our mutual pleasure driving us through the firestorm with no idea what lay on the other side. My vision reddened as we came, exploding in unison.
I lay against her, our sweat mingling, and closed my eyes.
“Brenton?” she asked, the alarm in her voice bringing me to instant alertness.
My gaze darted around at the fires on every piece of furniture and every book in the office. They glowed brightly in the dim light of the closed-up office. My hand patted down her body. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
I grabbed our clothes and wrapped them around her. Holding her in the shelter of my arms, we made our way to the door. I opened it and we stepped into the cool corridor.
Students and teachers were running up and down the hall, gathering buckets and forming a line. We dressed hurriedly and joined them, passing water from the bathroom to the office. Stone walls are solid and nothing got through. We even managed to save the door.
When we finished, Hailey, and I leaned against the cool wall, exhausted.
Professor Alexander appeared in front of me. His voice rang out down the hall as he said, “Brenton McKinnon, you are hereby suspended from Thornbriar Academy until further notice.”
Shit. I glanced at Hailey, and she looked away. If the Oracle was coming, she needed to leave too.
“Come with me,” I whispered, and she shook her head. My heart sank. How could I protect my mate if I wasn’t even here?
Professor Alexander gestured down the hall.
Heaving myself to my feet, I trudged down the hall. As I passed I met Adrian’s and Terrin’s eyes in turn and they nodded. As much as I didn’t want to share her, Hailey was going to need all the support she could get and I couldn’t help her.
28
Hailey
On Friday night, I told the guys I was going to bed early. The old headache excuse had been on every comedy we’d watched at Hastings House but they only watched me with worried eyes. They were afraid I’d have another episode. Hell, I was afraid I’d have one.
With the first of March, the air had warmed but the evenings were still cold. My air phase was fading, and the chill affected me more than it had. I wore my coat and my boots, despite the disappearing snow, and I’d grabbed a flashlight just in case.
Hurrying down off the back porch, I headed down into the woods. The sun had sunk behind the horizon and the forest calmed as the daytime animals slept. I followed the path I had run along with Terrin so many times before. The trees were budding with new leaves and the cold was giving way to more springtime temperatures. Earlier here than at Hastings House.
The route wound around the meadow where Terrin and I had first made out, and farther into the woods on the other side. I ran, letting the wind brush through my loose hair. The path got steeper and less defined, and I dodged roots and rocks on the ground.
I crested the next ridge, and I saw it. The solid boundary of the wall. I’d been wrong when I first came to Thornbriar, the iron fence only surrounded the front-facing side of the campus. When I got back into the wood, the iron gave way to a stone wall that encircled all the acres of forest land the school owned. The stones were old, lined with moss, and the tops strung with barbed wire.
Cocking my head, I wondered if this was electrified too, or if they didn’t bother all the way out here. Next to the wall, a couple of large boulders sat in a small clearing. They called this Lover’s Nest at school. I’d heard them talk about it jokingly. Tonight, this late, there weren’t any lovers at the nest.
I sat down on a rock, warmed by the sun, to wait. The small animals chittered in the darkness as they went about their way. I eyed the wall, wondering how it served as protection with its simple stones and wire. The moon rode high in the sky tonight, lending an almost daylight brightness to the clearing. The pine smell of the trees filled my nose, and I scratched the back of my arm.
An electric snap echoed across the clearing and I jumped, my gaze darting around. “Hello?”
No one answered. I shivered. I shouldn’t have come here. It was too dangerous.
The trees shook near the wall.
Standing back up, I reached for a stick. I hadn’t thought to bring any sort of weapon with me. What was I going to do? I laughed at myself. I’d come out in the woods to meet some stranger, alone, and I hadn’t thought to bring even a knife. Smart, Hailey, real smart.
Maybe because I was a shifter, I’d been thinking that I didn’t need weapons. But I’d only ever shifted into a mermaid. I didn’t think that would be much good out here in the middle of the woods. A snort escaped me at my own idiocy.
The trees shook again, and a shape dropped out of them, the curled-up form of a man. He stood slowly, unwinding himself, and I waited. He was tall and thin. Pushing back a long lock of red hair, he strode forward with a purpose. When he reached the rocks, he held up his hands and smiled, “Daughter.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Was this really my father? And how had it taken me this long to ask that question? I couldn’t see much point about lying. Who claimed to be a dad when you weren’t? Besides, he must know that I’m pissed at him. “Hi.”
He chuckled. “I’m so very glad to see you. It’s been a very long time.”
Yeah, a long time because you deserted me. Why had he left me with the Coopers? “Why did you abandon me?”
With a sigh, he said, “I didn’t abandon you. I left you with some very dear friends. When they lost you, I was distraught.”
Did he even look for me? All those years at Hastings House, thinking I was human and alone. Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched him as he paced back and forth across the ground. “Why didn’t you find me?”
“I looked everywhere I could think of,” he said, his brown eyes forlorn. “I never thought you’d been stolen by a human enemy.”
“You don’t look anything like me.” I frowned. He didn’t even look anything like my dad, or the man I’d believed to be my dad. Brian Cooper had been a large man, with broad shoulders and a gentle smile. He’d lifted me above his head like an airplane with those muscled arms. This man looked like a toothpick in comparison.
Raising an eyebrow, he said, “You are the image of your mother, Abigail. Even the attitude.”
I didn’t know anything about him. He couldn’t just barge into my life, claiming to be my dad, after all this time. “What’s your name?”
He smiled as if charm would wash my questions away. “That might be dangerous for you to know.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t,” he said with a shrug. “But most people aren’t willing to claim a spirit shifter child.”
I sat down on the rock again. “Doug said you beat the madness. Tell me how.”
“He must really like you to let you call him Doug.” He strolled over and sat on the rock next to me. “What have you shifted into?”
“The mad—”
He shook his head. “We have time.”
“No, we don’t. I’m out here meeting you in the middle of the night. When are we going to talk about all this?”
The trees rustled by the path, and we both froze.
“Hands in the air,” Sciro commanded, his hand curled around a gun.
I lifted my hands, glancing at the man who claimed to be my father. “What are you doing, Sciro?”
“Ridding the world of a couple more spirit shifters.” His hand shook.
Would he really do it? Sciro hated me. I’d felt that in the library but would he really shoot two people? I bit my lip. We weren’t really people to him, just spirit shifters.
“You don’t want to do this, young man,” the man said, his voice calm and serene.
“I have to,” Sciro said. “I have to save my brothers.”
My heart sank. He’d do anything for Terrin and Adrian. I would too. Maybe it would be better for them if we were dead. I grimaced. But Sciro didn’t need to live with that guilt. He’d torture himself over it. “Sciro, no.”
The man asked, “Save them from what?”
He was so calm, even in the face of Sciro’s rage. He didn’t seem worried at all.
“From her!” Sciro sputtered. “She’s going to kill them.”
“Maybe she’s going to save them.” He strolled over and held out his hand. “Give me the gun.”
“She’s going to go mad,” Sciro said, his eyes darting between me and the man.
