“Even when you don’t feel well, you’re still a genius,” Aric said. “She has a point. I didn’t bother asking where you got the card because I didn’t really care.”
“We’ve been watching several students – all male – coming in and out of the building for two months,” Rafael replied. “I’m sure you can understand why I was interested in this building in particular when I heard Mark was back. We watched the same men come in and leave … and not one of them went to the workout center, or racquetball courts or pool for a workout. We watched them. They all had cards and disappeared within the bowels of the building.”
Well, if I wasn’t sick to my stomach before, the mention of “bowels” was pretty close to tipping me over the edge. “Why didn’t you just tell us that?”
“Because you didn’t ask,” Rafael answered, pushing me through the door. “Get moving. We’re going to draw a crowd if we stand here talking like idiots.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I muttered, grabbing the stairway railing to balance myself. I shifted to allow Aric in front of me, knowing he would put up an argument if I tried to lead the way, and followed him into the one place most of my bad memories lived.
The stairwell was dark except for the emergency lights that dotted the walls, and we made our descent in silence. At the bottom floor I moved to Aric’s side so I could study the facility. It looked empty for the most part. All of the wall shelves and tables from Blake’s reign were gone.
“Do you hear anything?” I whispered.
Rafael shook his head.
“Do you smell anything?”
Aric shook his head.
“Do you sense anything?” Rafael asked, turning to me.
“I … don’t usually sense the presence of others,” I said.
“That’s not true,” Aric said, shifting his view so he could study me in the limited light. “You sensed the bomb was going to go off seconds before it did. You sensed the wolves in the field before we moved on Quinn’s compound. You sensed the wolves coming after you and Paris when I was out running the night of the first attack.”
“I … well … that’s not the norm.”
“I think it is the norm,” Aric countered. “You know when danger is close. What do you feel right now?”
“Both hungry and sick to my stomach.”
“God, I love you.” Aric grabbed my chin and gave me a kiss. “You’re a complete and total pain in the ass sometimes, though.”
Rafael arched a dubious eyebrow. “Sometimes?”
“Let’s look around,” I said, moving to the closest door. “This was the room where they had physical training sessions. I dominated. I was also in really good shape then because I was depressed.”
“You were depressed because you were without me, weren’t you?” Aric asked.
“I was depressed because … oh, shut up.” His ego was too big for his own good. I narrowed my eyes as I walked into the training room, shifting so I could study the walls. It wasn’t empty like the hallway. The old mats sat in the middle of the floor as they had five years ago and a few other items were strewn about.
“Does this look the same to you?” Rafael asked.
“Kind of,” I said. “They used to have a rack with a bunch of weapons on it over there. It’s gone.” I knelt down to study the mats. “These aren’t the same mats that were here before. Those were blue, and these are more greenish.”
“Perhaps time faded them,” Rafael suggested.
“They’re not the same,” I said. “They’re new.”
“I guess that answers the question about whether the Academy is back in business,” Aric said.
“Just because they’re holding some sort of classes down here doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the Academy revisited,” Rafael pointed out. “They could be utilizing the space for something else.”
“There’s that douche thing you do again,” I said, breezing past him and heading back toward the hallway. “Let’s see what they’ve done with the old classrooms, shall we?”
“I hate it when she refers to me in that manner,” Rafael grumbled.
“At least she’s feeling better,” Aric said.
I opened the door of the first classroom on the left and poked my head in. It was empty, so I moved to the door across the hallway. This room was filled with stacks of books – and they all looked old.
“Jackpot,” I said, walking into the room.
Aric and Rafael followed, their eyes widening when they saw the collection of books.
“These are all old and valuable,” Rafael said, picking up a dusty leather-bound tome and opening it. “This is about spells and curses.”
“This one is about werewolves,” Aric said, emitting a low growl. “It’s about ways to kill and maim them. It even talks about secondary markets for … teeth.”
“That book looks hundreds of years old,” I said, grabbing it from him. “Don’t get worked up.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Aric shot back. “I don’t see any books here about selling your teeth on the black market.”
“Look harder,” I said, pressing the book I glanced through into his hand and moving away from the stacks to investigate the shelf against the nearby wall.
“Oh, my … .” Aric exhaled heavily as he flipped through the book. “I’m going to rip Mark’s heart out with my bare hands and feed it to him.”
“What is that book?” Rafael asked.
“It’s about mages,” Aric replied. “They don’t suggest selling any parts on the black market, but they do suggest dismembering.”
“Those books are a lot darker than the ones Blake had,” I said, managing to keep my temper in check despite my racing heart. “Mark clearly wants to take things a step further than Blake. He’s … more evil … than Blake. I wasn’t sure that was possible.”
Aric moved up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing my cheek as he offered me a touch of warmth. “I won’t let him touch you.”
“I’m not worried about Mark,” I said, turning in his arms and pressing my hand to the spot above his heart. “It’s okay. I’m not going to fly off the handle.” Despite the words, a flicker of anger escaped and tossed the mage book against the wall, shredding it.
Rafael lifted his eyebrows but otherwise remained rooted to his spot. “Perhaps you should do that with all the books. There are too many for us to carry out of here.”
“Won’t Mark know we’ve been here if I do that?” I asked.
“So what?” Aric asked, warming to the idea. “He would have to prove it was you, and I can’t see how even making the accusation helps him, given what he’s trying to do here.”
“This building probably has security cameras,” I pointed out.
“Then they would have to explain why they have books on hunting and killing paranormals in the basement of the athletics building,” Rafael said. “Destroy the books. It will send a message to Mark, and it will prove to him that we’re not messing around. He thinks he’s a step ahead of us. He should be aware he isn’t. That might force him to make a mistake.”
“Are you sure?” I glanced at Aric. “I can’t take it back once I do it.”
“I don’t want you to take it back,” Aric said. “In fact … I think we should shred everything down here. It might be petty and only delay Mark for a few days, but it’s a message I want sent.”
“Okay,” I said, giving in. “You’re going to have to rub my stomach when we get back to the apartment, though. I feel as if I’ve swallowed a huge lump of clay.”
“Gladly.”
21
Twenty-One
“That was kind of fun,” I said as we hopped into Aric’s Explorer after leaving the athletics center. “Let’s go to Mark’s house. I’ll make his books dance before I shred them.”
“I thought you were sick,” Rafael said, his voice blasé.
“I’m feeling better,” I said, unruffled by his tone. “Apparently mayhem and getting one over on Ma
rk is enough to cure my stomach of whatever ails it.”
“I want to wait a few minutes,” Aric said, leaning back in the driver’s seat as he watched the rear entrance. “I want to see whether someone goes inside and sounds the alarm.”
“It’s a Friday night,” I reminded him.
“So.”
“It’s a Friday night on a college campus.” I tried again. “That means the kids – even the dumb ones working for the Academy – are out drinking themselves silly. I know you’re old, but you must remember what it was like on Friday nights when we were here.”
“I remember spending Friday nights with you, and it was the best time of my life,” Aric said.
“There’s no reason to be a suck-up,” I said. “You’re going to get sex tonight as long as my stomach stays strong. Don’t be a party-pooper.”
“What are you suggesting?” Rafael asked.
“If the Academy is back, maybe other things are back,” I said.
“Can you be more specific?”
“Where is the happening place to be on a Friday night on a college campus?”
“But it’s summer, Zoe,” Aric said. “It’s not the same as in the fall or spring.”
“That shows what you know,” I scoffed. “I read an article that says more and more kids are taking summer classes so they can graduate on time. Colleges make it impossible to graduate in four years without summer classes. This campus has been busy compared to when we were here.”
“She has a point,” Aric said, rubbing his chin. “Where do you want to go?”
“The Alpha Chi house.”
“Absolutely not,” Aric said, shaking his head. “You were almost killed there three times that I can recall right off the top of my head. We’re not going there.”
“Come on,” I prodded. “Don’t you want to see the old house?”
“No.”
“Don’t you want to see if it’s full of bitten wolves?”
“No.”
I decided to change my approach. “Don’t you want to see if you’re still the big wolf on campus and whether they know who you are? You’re probably their hero.”
“I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work,” Aric argued. “We are not going to the Alpha Chi house. That’s final.”
“I CAN’T believe I let you talk me into this,” Aric grumbled twenty minutes later, grabbing my hand as he led me up the sidewalk in the direction of the Alpha Chi house. “This is just … stupid.”
“It wasn’t only me,” I reminded him. “Rafael thought it was a good idea, too. He cast the deciding vote.”
“To be fair, I have no interest in going to a college kegger,” Rafael clarified. “I do want to see whether they’re building a wolf army again, though. Going as a group makes the outing safer.”
“I’m not frying a bunch of college kids,” I warned.
“No one is asking you to,” Rafael said. “We merely want to get a feeling for the landscape. It would be nice if we could fly under the radar, though.”
“He’s telling you not to do anything obnoxious, in case that flew under your radar,” Aric supplied.
“I’m never purposely obnoxious,” I said, tilting my head as the unmistakable sound of over-amplified thumping bass pounded the night air. “It just seems to happen.”
“You do have a gift,” Aric agreed, squeezing my hand. “Okay, we need ground rules. The first is that you’re not allowed to drink anything.”
“I can hold my liquor.”
“Your stomach is already iffy, and I don’t want to risk anyone knowing who we are and trying to drug us,” Aric said. “The second rule is that you’re not allowed to go anywhere – including the bathroom – without Rafael or me at your side. I don’t want you separated from the herd. Do you understand?”
“I am not going to the bathroom in front of Rafael,” I shot back. “You know I have bathroom rules. If I won’t go in front of you, what makes you think I’m going to go in front of him?”
“This is really too much information to share,” Rafael said, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows.
“That’s another reason not to drink anything,” Aric said. “Let me do the talking.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” Aric warned. “This wasn’t my idea.”
“You two are … beyond words,” Rafael said. “I’m starting to think I dodged a bullet when you stole her away from me.”
“I didn’t steal her,” Aric clarified. “She was already mine when I asked you to watch out for her. You tried to move in on my turf.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did so.”
“You guys know I can hear you, right?” The squabbling was getting to me. “We’ll just look around and try not to make the kids think we’re creepy adults on the make. That may be hard for you, Rafael, but give it a shot. I don’t intend to stay for a long time.”
“That’s good,” Aric said, pulling up short in front of the driveway. “Look at that. It’s been five years and things are completely the same.”
I glanced to my left as the sound of giggles assailed my ears, frowning when I noticed two girls clutching red plastic cups and smiling at Aric and Rafael. “Are you lost?”
“Are you?” One of the girls shot back. “I don’t think anyone called for a chaperone.”
I scowled. “Excuse me? I am barely older than you.”
“Then you need a new moisturizer,” the girl said. “Who are your friends? I’ve never seen them around before … and that makes me sad.” She jutted out her lower lip in what I’m sure she thought was a coquettish pout.
“That’s because they’re old, too,” I answered. “Especially him.” I jerked a thumb in Rafael’s direction. He looked younger than Aric and me because he doesn’t age. His demeanor, on the other hand, makes him seem old enough to complain about gas prices and wax poetic about “The Great War.”
“We graduated from Covenant College a few years ago,” Aric explained, pasting a flirty grin on his face. “We were feeling nostalgic and thought we would take a gander at the old frat house.”
“Gander? Now they’re really going to think you’re old.”
Aric ignored me. “Do you girls come here often?”
“I feel like puking again,” I muttered under my breath, fighting the urge to yelp when Aric squeezed my hand so tightly my fingers tingled.
“We come here every weekend,” one of the girls said. “I’m Delilah, by the way.”
“I’m Carrie,” the other girl said. “We’d love to show you guys around if you can’t remember where everything is.”
I snorted at the double entendre. “Ha, ha.”
“I’m sure we can find our way around,” Aric said, keeping his smile frozen in place despite my snarky commentary. “Thank you for the offer, though.”
Delilah looked disappointed. “Are you sure? I think you’d be very popular – if you dump the old chick.”
“I think so, too,” I said, jerking my hand free. “Why don’t you two hang around with your new friends while I check out the bonfire? How does that sound?” I was being petulant, but I couldn’t help myself. The environment was getting to me.
“Don’t you even think about it,” Aric hissed, reaching to grab my hand but missing when I slipped to the other side of Rafael.
“I feel like killing myself,” Rafael said. “How can people think you’re old when you do things like this?”
“It’s a gift,” I said. “Let’s go check out the bonfire.”
“What about Aric?”
I glared at Delilah and Carrie as they fawned over Aric. “He’s otherwise engaged. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Rafael and I moved toward the bonfire, pasting phony smiles on our faces as we studied the students. There was a lot of giggling and squealing, and it was obvious there would be a lot of hooking up once the party wore on. It seemed late, but by party standards it was still early.
“It seems weird to think about it now, but we didn’t even leave to go to a party until it was already dark out back in the day,” I mused. “Now Aric and I are in our pajamas by ten.”
“With all the verbal copulating between the two of you I would think the pajamas are unnecessary,” Rafael said.
“You really are a douche when you want to be,” I said, waving a frat boy off as he shoved a drink in my direction. “I’m good. Thank you, though.”
“Oh, come on,” the boy said. “I’ll bet you’re fun when you loosen up. You look like you’d be a lot of fun, in fact.”
“I’m plenty loose.” Wait … that came out wrong. “I mean I’m fine. Thank you.”
“It’s good stuff,” the boy said. “We spent the extra ten bucks to make sure it was lite beer.”
“Are you suggesting I need lite beer?”
“Heck no! You’ve got curves in all the right places.” The boy did a little dance. He was completely toasted.
“That’s possibly very flattering,” I said. “I’m honestly good, though. We’re just looking around.”
“And what are you looking around at?” Another boy, this one wearing an Alpha Chi hat, moved in at my right. His face was open and welcoming, but his eyes suggested something else.
“I used to come to parties at this house all the time when I was a student here,” I replied, forcing a pleasant smile. “We were walking around campus and decided to take a look around. That’s not a problem, is it?”
“Of course not. I’m Rod.” He extended his hand. It seemed a surreal gesture, but I shook it all the same.
“Hello, Rod.”
“What’s your name?”
“Zoe.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Zoe,” Rod said, looking me up and down. “Did you date any of my fraternity brothers when you were a student here?”
“Two of them,” I replied, not missing a beat. “In fact, I’m engaged to one of your brothers now.”
“Is that so?” Rod had a smarmy quality that I didn’t like. I couldn’t decide whether he was a typical college kid on the make or something more nefarious.
“That is so,” I confirmed, opting to test Rod on his frat knowledge. “His name is Aric Winters. Maybe you’re familiar with the name.”
Dark Covenant (Living Covenant Trilogy Book 2) Page 16
