by Cali Mann
She licked her lips. “Lucan’s pack showed up and they were all watching Alex in the courtyard. So I figured it’d be okay if I went back to my room for a minute.”
I nodded. “Of course it was.”
“But I don’t remember ever getting to my room,” she said. “That’s when they said I must have blacked out.”
“Or been knocked out. Do you have any sore spots?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Frowning, I studied Molly, then glanced at the nurse. “Did you check her over?”
“Well, no. We were caring for the injured, not the attacker.”
Turning back to Molly, I said, “You didn’t do anything, Molly. Do you believe me?”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
I stood up and walked over to the headmaster. “I think she was drugged.”
“Nonsense,” roared Lucan’s uncle. “You’re just making excuses for one of your own. She was caught red-handed.”
“No, I’m not—” I began, but the headmaster shook her head at me, so I paused. My eyes met Lucan’s, and he looked just as pissed as his uncle. What did he have to be angry about—oh, yeah, his pack. I swallowed. I’d told him they would be safe, and now they lay in hospital beds. He had every right to be furious.
“Lucan,” the headmaster said. “Would you mind returning your uncle to my office for the time being?”
He didn’t even get a chance to answer because Masters blustered, “I’m a Councilman. You can’t keep me out of this, Larkin.”
She turned her cold eyes on him. “I am the headmaster of Thornbriar Academy, and this incident occurred on my grounds and to my students. Once I have seen to my students’ health and safety, I will return and apprise you of the situation.”
The Councilman grumbled something about uppity vampires.
“Do I need to have the guards escort you?” Larkin asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or will your nephew suffice?”
“I need to know that my pack is okay,” Lucan said, his green eyes stormy.
Larkin sighed. “I will check on them myself.”
I could see Lucan wanted to growl at her, but he nodded tightly.
There wasn’t really anything he could do at the moment. The pack was in the hands of the doctors, just as my brother was. I wrapped my arms around myself and stared at the floor.
Reluctantly, the Councilman left the infirmary. Lucan glanced back at me, frowning. Would he forgive me? I hadn’t expected Charles to attack them all. I thought they’d be safe.
As soon as the doors closed behind them, the headmaster turned back to me. “How did you come to the conclusion that Molly is not responsible for the attack?”
“She doesn’t remember anything from the time she started back to her dorm to when she woke in the courtyard surrounded by the injured.” I glanced toward the infirmary doors. I really needed to check on my brother.
“The madness is known to cause blackouts.”
“Spirit shifters don’t exhibit the madness at her age. She’s too young.”
Larkin frowned. “How do you know this?”
I sighed. “I’ve been studying everything I can find on my kind. None of the books I’ve looked at mentioned any spirit madness before the age of eighteen at the youngest.”
“It was true in the colony as well,” Molly said.
“So, either she was knocked out with physical force, but she says she has no injury, or she was drugged.”
Larkin motioned to the nurse. “Check her over and see if you can find any needle marks.”
“Yes, madam.”
“Headmaster,” I said. “I need to see my brother.”
She nodded and led me into the guys’ side of the infirmary. It looked pretty much the same as the girls’ side, except it was bustling. Four guys lay on the first few beds. Their faces were haggard, and their eyes drifted closed. Bandages were wrapped around various body parts: heads, arms, legs. The doctor in her white lab coat leaned over the last one, and I ran over to stare down at the thin, frail form of my brother.
His eyes were closed, and a long, jagged cut ran across his forehead. His chest rose and fell slowly beneath my gaze. What has that bastard done to you? Someone pushed a chair against the back of my legs, and I sank into it.
“You’re the sister?” the doctor asked. Her manner was gentle and her eyes kind.
I nodded.
“Good. He’s been asking for you.”
My eyes ran down his poor bruised and battered body and his closed eyes. “Will he live?”
She smiled gently. “He’s been beaten quite badly and has multiple lacerations, but there doesn’t seem to be any internal bleeding. It may take some time, but I’m confident he will recover.”
I sighed in relief. Chuck hadn’t killed him. Not yet. I took my brother’s cold hand in my own and settled in to wait. I wasn’t leaving his side again.
33
Sasha
I sat vigil at my brother’s bedside. They had given him some drugs, so he wouldn’t wake for hours, but I couldn’t sleep. I stared out the window into the dark grounds.
The infirmary was quiet now. The doctors and nurses had done what they could for the injured and then retreated to let everyone rest. My brother had been hurt the worst of all of them. Chuck had made his point—if I wouldn’t do what he wanted, he’d make it happen anyway. They hadn’t been able to find any injection marks on Molly, and they’d imprisoned her. It was my word against the evidence, and it didn’t look good for her.
I caught sight of a dark shadow coming done the aisle, and I spun around. Recognizing the broad form and dark hair, I exhaled. “Drew.”
He wore a leather jacket over his tee-shirt, and his hands were shoved in his jean pockets. “Sasha.”
“Why are you here?” My tone was sharper than I’d intended, but I was tired and worried about my brother.
He lifted his chin. “I came to check in on Alex. How’s he doing?”
I glanced over at my brother. His chest slowly rose and fell. “Not good.”
Drew came closer. “I’m sorry, Sasha.”
My gaze returned to him. His dark hair was unkempt, and dark circles lay under his eyes. “About what?”
“That your brother got hurt,” he said, meeting my eyes. “I know I’d kill anyone who ever hurt Kalto.”
“Thanks,” I said. The violence in his gaze was startling, but it echoed my own feelings. Chuck needed to pay for all he’d done.
He nodded, then turned to go.
“Drew,” I said.
He paused, his shoulders stiffening.
“I’m sorry for what I put you through.” My words stumbled over themselves on the way out. “I never meant to mate Lucan or anyone.”
He spun back. “You didn’t mean to, but you did.” His dark eyes glowered. “You used me and tossed me away when you found a shinier toy.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No,” I stepped toward him. “I was doing it for my brother. So he wouldn’t get hurt like this.”
He gazed at me stonily.
“You just said you’d kill anyone who did this to your sister. Don’t you think I’d do whatever I could to keep Alex safe?”
He sighed. “Of course you would. Even use an idiot like me.”
“You’re not an idiot.”
“But why didn’t you just mate me?”
I smiled gently. “You don’t really want that. Sure, it would piss your father off and you’d get laid, but there are plenty of girls ready to drop their panties for you.”
“I don’t want them. I want you,” he rasped.
It’d been a long day. That was why my eyes were tearing up. “I only wanted to protect you.”
“Ever think I might want to protect you? I thought we’d bonded, after all the research and the picnic.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Hell, I got a damn tattoo for you.”
“I know.” I wrapped my arm
s around myself. I didn’t want to hurt him. He’d been there for me when no one else had, and I cared about him.
“Sometimes, you got to let people in, Sasha.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how.”
Drew advanced across the room and pulled me into his arms. I leaned into him, breathing in the smell of leather. He stroked my hair, and I cried. Drew just silently held me as I wept.
When I’d wrung myself dry, I wiped my eyes and tried to pull away.
He chuckled. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
Then he kissed me, dragging me into a whirlwind of emotion because I did want him, just as much as he wanted me. He acted tough, but he was brave and sweet and willing to do anything for those that he cared about. I couldn’t ask for anything more in a lover or a boyfriend or a mate, yet I’d let Lucan carry me off into the forest.
I broke the kiss and stroked the side of Drew’s cheek. “I’m so sorry. All you’ve ever been is good to me, and I’ve treated you rotten.”
“Yes, you have,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “What are you going to do about it?”
I grabbed his cheeks and kissed him deeply. His arms wrapped around me, and he lifted me off my feet. We stumbled down the aisle and into one of the private rooms, and he set me on the empty bed, kicking closed the door behind us.
His mouth was everywhere, tasting me and nibbling on my neck and chest. I unbuttoned my blouse and shed it along with my bra, wanting his hands on me everywhere. I reached for the button on my jeans, and he caught my hands, shaking his head.
“Slow down,” he said. “There’s no rush.” Then he cupped and stroked my breasts.
I took a shaky breath, and it caught in my throat. My focus narrowed to the pads of his thumbs as they flicked my nipples. They hardened under his touch, peaking. Then he replaced his hands with his mouth, pulling and tugging on their sensitive tips. I leaned my head back with a moan.
His lips were replaced with cool air. He stepped back and shed his clothes. The moonlight peeking through the high window illuminated his muscled arms and chest. He had athlete’s body, despite his chosen sport. When he dropped his jeans and underwear to the floor, I stared at his hardened cock and licked my lips.
He strolled forward, full of male pride, his eyes darkened with desire. After undoing the fastening on my jeans, he pulled them down, and I lifted my hips to help. He ran his fingers along my thighs and down to my ankles as he divested me of the rest of my clothing. Everywhere he touched me, I ignited, despite his cool vampiric touch.
Then he stood, pulling me to the edge of the bed. His hand stroked my sex, delving into the folds and circling my sensitive nub. I wriggled against him. My hands stroked down his chest and over his muscles, tracing every inch of him. I folded my fingers over the head of his cock, and he groaned against my ear.
I grinned, and he grabbed me, yanking me off the bed. He spun me and put me down face-first into the sheets. He ran his hands over my ass, and I trembled. Drew wasn’t playing anymore. He parted my legs and pressed against my wetness. I was more than ready for him as he plunged inside.
He held onto my hips, keeping me steady, and took up the rhythm. My hands curled and uncurled on the sheets. We took flight together, into the tornado of sensation. Our bodies merged and separated, over and over again, drawing us closer to the storm. My breath came in pants, and my eyes rolled back in my head as we crested. I pressed my lips into the bed, screaming into the fabric as I came.
34
Drew
After we caught our breath, I climbed onto the bed and pulled Sasha into my arms. She lay against my chest, and I stroked her hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She guffawed. “About what we just did?”
I smiled. “No, about what happened to your brother.”
Her body tensed against me.
“You don’t have to,” I said. “I just wanted you to know that you can.”
She took a breath. “Chuck came for him.”
“Why? You’d mated two guys from prominent families—weren’t you causing enough trouble?”
“Not the right kind.” She sighed. “He wants Thornbriar to suffer, spirit shifters to suffer, but not powerful shifting families.”
“Ah.”
She swirled her finger across my skin. “He set up Molly to take the fall. She’s a sweet kid. There’s no way she did any of it.”
I nodded.
“But they don’t believe me. Well, maybe the headmaster does, but we can’t prove it. So, they’re holding Molly under guard.”
“Can’t the headmaster just release her?” I’d never seen Larkin do anything she didn’t want to do.
“Lucan’s Uncle is here. The Councilman.”
“I bet he’s pissed.”
“That’s an understatement. He wasn’t happy about Lucan mating me, and now students have been injured by a spirit shifter.”
“What does Lucan say?” I asked, surprised to find much less anger in my voice than before. I would never like Lucan, but I could learn to accept him as Sasha’s mate. I expected if I’d had a mirror, I’d have seen my own mate tattoo already overriding the fake one on my shoulder.
“I haven’t talked to him yet.”
“Well, you should. He must be going mad not knowing what’s going on with you.” I know I would be.
“He knows I’m here. The other injured are his pack members, and he came down to check on them earlier.”
And on her. How could he have left her to deal with this on her own? I wouldn’t have been able to leave her side. Fuck his pack, fuck his uncle, fuck any other obligation he thought he had. What an idiot. “How are they?”
“The doctor says they’ll be fine. But, even as shifters, it’ll take some time for them to recover from the beating they received.”
“And Alex?”
“More time, but the doctor said she was confident he’d recover fully.”
“Good,” I said, brushing her hair.
She yawned and snuggled against me. “We’ve got to save Molly.”
“We will, Angel,” I said. “We will.”
* * *
Sasha’s mated to two shifters, and not any closer to fulfilling Charles’ demands. Will Molly be cleared of the charges? Can Sasha protect those she loves? Find out in the next installment of Misfit of Thornbriar Academy: Destroy. Watch for it here.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cali Mann is the author of the Thornbriar Academy series and Misfit of Thornbriar Academy spinoff series. She writes paranormal romance, the sexy kind with why choose, hunky shifters, sexy vampires, and women who stand up for themselves. She learned romance by reading through her mother’s entire Gothic romance collection in her teens so she and dark romance go way back. When she’s not writing, she spends her time streaming shows, playing video games, and pestering her two tuxedo cats.
Say hello to Cali online:
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