by Aileen Erin
Cosette would. Even if she might be a little more harsh than I could handle, her brand of truth would be preferable. I had to know how to prepare. Or if we should just give up now.
“Do you think Cosette might know anything about visions? She’s mentioned a few things here and there—and I know she said that she didn’t really know much—but I get the sense that she’s not telling us everything.”
“She’s fey. Of course she knows more than she’s saying.”
“Who do you think the guy is?” If the fey were fighting with us against Luciana, it would definitely make a difference. I’d only seen Cosette and the one dude, but they’d been the only ones who weren’t getting their asses kicked in my horror show of a vision. We needed more of them. We needed every advantage we could gather.
“I don’t know, but the fey have strings. I don’t want to say they’re not welcome, but they’d add another layer of complication.”
I chewed on my lip. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to suggest this. “We should talk to Cosette. Ask her point blank. See if we can get some fey backing, too.”
“We can try. She’s not a bad person. Just very fey.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I’d do anything—anything—to stop that vision from happening.
I started to get up and then realized that I was soaked. “You threw a bucket of water on me?”
Dastien brushed the hair back from my face. “What was I supposed to do? You were screaming. It was tearing me apart. The water’s there in case someone loses it during sparring… I figured it would shock you out of the vision.”
“It was a good try. But now I have to shower again.” And I wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. Not after that vision. Until Luciana was dead and Dastien was safe and sound, that image was going to haunt me.
I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let it come true.
***
After a long, hot shower, we went in search of Cosette. It was still early, but I’d wake her up if I needed to. We walked from my dorm back across the quad to the admin building. Light broke through the trees, sending God-rays down on us. If I could’ve felt peaceful, I would’ve, but I couldn’t. The image of Dastien’s head rolling into the hell mouth was burned into my brain.
I blinked, trying to focus on the trees. On the ground underneath my feet. On Dastien’s hand warm in mine… He’d barely let me out of his sight to shower and change, and I didn’t mind that one bit. I was feeling more than a little clingy.
Stop thinking about it, his voice came through the bond.
I’m trying, but I can’t help it. I’m really scared. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I don’t want to die. And I definitely don’t want you to die.
Your fear is drowning everything else out. You have to let go of it. It’s not going to do us any good.
His determination that things would go well burned through our bond, but he hadn’t seen what I had. Easier said than done.
I know. Just try.
I was trying, but man—I was shaken to the core with this. How could I not be? Everything I had was on the line. Dastien. My friends’ lives. Even my life.
There’d always been risk, but it had never felt more real. Even when I was scared for myself, it’d never occurred to me to be scared for Dastien. He was such a good fighter, and he’d always been so strong. I really thought he was invincible…
But he could die. We could all die. Tonight. Tomorrow.
This could be it for us. It wasn’t a huge leap to understand why I was so scared. The terror gripped me until it was like I was moving through a fog.
Now wasn’t the time to be foggy.
Because giving up seemed like a totally valid option at this point.
Running sounded pretty good, too.
But if I could stop it entirely—stop Luciana before we ended up in some decrepit church with an open portal to hell—then that would be fantastic.
I tasted blood, and let go of my lip. I hadn’t even realized I was biting it.
Cherie. Dastien’s rumble came through the bond. A note of warning lit in his voice.
I know. I was freaking out, and I needed to stop.
We headed straight up the stairs in the main building, which held the admin rooms and offices on the bottom floors. Above that was the infirmary. The guest suites were on the top floor.
They usually housed the parents of students, visiting teachers, or Cazadores. Even though plenty of alphas and Cazadores were staying on campus, they were all in the dorms.
The few witches who’d broken from la Aquelarre had the floor to themselves.
Mr. Dawson had thought giving them their own space would be best. They mostly stuck around there or the library. The only one who didn’t care about the Weres and went where she pleased was Cosette. She’d been spending afternoons sunning in the quad, but she wasn’t an early riser. I’d be shocked to see her anywhere before noon.
I couldn’t help but smirk at the idea of waking her up as we climbed to the third floor. If I had to be awake at this hour, it was only fair that she should feel my pain.
I wasn’t sure which room was hers, but I used my senses to sniff her out. Her scent wasn’t like anything else I’d come across. The best way I could describe it was sugar water in the moonlight.
Which was ridiculous, because moonlight didn’t smell. But if it helped me find her, I wasn’t going to question.
My nose led me to the third room on the right. Of course. That room had one of the tinier windows, but the best view over the quad.
I knocked three times.
No answer.
I knocked two more times.
No answer.
Just as I went to knock a third time, she spoke up. “You want to keep that hand?”
Oh, no. She was not going to take that tone with me. “I need to talk to you.”
“Come back in four hours.”
“I can’t wait that long.” I jiggled the door handle, but it was locked. Not that it would hold against my Were strength. “I’m coming in. You can either let me in or I’ll let myself in.”
“You’re going to regret it.” The faint rustle of sheets carried through the door along with a lot of what I assumed were fey curses.
“I already regret the need for it.” I leaned against the wall as I waited. “Do you think I’d be here this early if it wasn’t important?”
The door swung open. Cosette stood in a sheer white robe that didn’t quite hit her at mid-thigh. Her tiny, pale blue nightgown peeked from underneath and I shot Dastien a look. Don’t even go there.
I wouldn’t dare, he said through the bond as he stared at the ceiling.
I elbowed him and then pushed past Cosette.
The rooms up here were all the same. Small single beds in simple frames made with crisp white sheets and comforters. Each one had a small wooden table with a lamp and a full bathroom. With so little inside, the rooms were usually pretty tidy.
Not Cosette’s. Clothes were strewn all over the floor. I wasn’t sure if they were all dirty or if some were clean. I tried to watch where I was putting my feet, but it was no easy task. “Glad to see you’ve made yourself at home.”
Cosette crossed her arms. God. She’d just rolled out of bed, but her hair fell around her face in perfect blonde-brown ringlets. That had to be something to do with being fey, because it definitely wasn’t human. “If you woke me up to criticize my housekeeping, we’re going to have a problem.”
“No. Sorry. I…” I swallowed as the fear came back two-fold. “I wanted to talk to you about visions.”
Cosette shook her head, making her curls bounce. “Hardly anything I know applies to your type of magic. You’d be better off talking to Yvonne or Elsa.”
I sat down on the edge of her bed. Dastien leaned against the doorway, hands shoved into the pockets of his faded and battered jeans. He gave me the slightest nod.
I met Cosette’s brown gaze with my own. “I don’t know them well enough to know
if they’d lie to me.” I hoped they wouldn’t, but they might try to soften the reality. I needed brutal honesty. Cosette was the girl for that. “I know you’ll tell me the truth, even if it’s seriously sucky.”
“That’s true.” She straightened. “What did you see that’s got you so worked up?”
I told her the basics—leaving out the part about the fey dude for now—and then asked my million-dollar question. “Can I change what I saw? Or is it set in stone? I need to know if there’s hope.” I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice, but failed miserably. Holding my breath, I waited.
Cosette tilted her head from side to side as she thought about it. “I don’t know.”
Not exactly what I wanted to hear. “But it could change?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She twirled the belt of her robe around a finger, her eyes out of focus and distant. “But is that the best question to be asking?”
Was she kidding? “What other question is there?” If I couldn’t change the future…
I didn’t even want to think about that.
“Don’t worry about possible. Worry what to do with the information you have.” Cosette leaned forward, peering at me so intently I almost leaned back. “Knowing what you know, will you still fight Luciana? Even if costs your life?” She gestured toward Dastien. “His life? That’s what I’d be asking.”
Dastien seemed calm enough, leaning against the doorframe, but a trace of fear mixed in with his confidence and determination. Losing him would be awful. If I had to die to defeat Luciana, I at least wanted him to survive and I’d do pretty much anything to make that happen, even if it was selfish.
I knew someone else would stand against her eventually, but could they win? Even if I tried to run, I had a feeling that I’d still end up in that church eventually.
Just with a lot more blood on my hands.
“I don’t know how your visions work,” Cosette said. “The fey teach that the future is changeable, but it’s possible that all paths lead to that church for you. We might all die fighting.” She shrugged, almost oddly unconcerned, but that we had to mean she was including herself. That was something, at least. “We all have some choices to make. I believe those choices will determine whether what you saw comes to pass.”
Choices? I groaned in frustration. I needed something clearer. More definite. What good were these stupid visions if they didn’t help?
“They are helping you, Tess.” Dastien squatted down beside me. “You know what to look for. When we reach that moment, you’ll either change it or you won’t.”
I wanted to wring his neck. “And you’re okay with dying? Getting your head sliced off?”
“No! I don’t want that at all. I have plans. Dreams. For us.” He reached up to cradle my cheek and I leaned into his touch, trying to breathe in some of his calm. “I can only move forward, armed with this knowledge. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the worst doesn’t happen. And if it does…”
I let out a slow breath. “If it does?”
“We’ll be together. In this life and the next.” He pulled me down until our foreheads touched. “You’re stuck with me. No matter what.”
“Can you guys move the snuggling elsewhere?” Cosette gave a wide yawn. “If we’re done, I’m going back to sleep.”
“You okay?” He asked as he leaned away from me.
“No. I’m terrified.”
“You probably should be,” Cosette’s dark tone turned my head, but I couldn’t snap back when I saw the soft concern in her eyes. “Fear’s a great motivator. It might be exactly what you need to keep that vision from happening.”
She sounded sincere enough, but I could never tell if she actually liked me or she was just twisting us all around for her own amusement.
“One more thing before I go. Any chance the fey will join the fight against Luciana? If we don’t beat her, she’s going to be a problem for everyone.” I still couldn’t decide whether telling her about the guy in the vision would help or hurt my case.
“I’d love to say yes, but it’s been made extremely clear to me that it’s not my call.” Cosette gripped her wrist so hard her knuckles cracked. “For now I’ll report what you’ve seen and we’ll both have to hope it’s enough to get the fey off the sidelines.”
The knowledge that the fey existed was so new to me that I couldn’t even try to comprehend what kind of pressure was on Cosette. But I appreciated that she was trying to help in her way. Whatever that was. “Thank—”
“Don’t. If you thank me, you owe me, and I don’t want that temptation any more than you want to be bound to me.”
I pressed my lips together for a second. Cosette was saying I couldn’t trust her? But she still warned me about it?
The more I learned about her, the more confused I was. “Got it,” I said, even though I didn’t really get it. Or her.
“Now get out of my room.” She sat on the bed so hard the mattress shook. “And don’t come knocking again before lunch.”
“Sorry about that.” I stood and tugged Dastien toward the door.
Cosette mumbled something that wasn’t in English as she slipped on an eye mask. She was already under her covers when I shut the door. Apparently the fey took their beauty sleep seriously.
I’d wanted her to have some better news for us. As it was…
“Whatever happens, we’ll get through it. One way or another.”
That was what bothered me—the other way. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
It lit a fire in me. I had to figure out a way to stop Luciana. I had to be able to fight her. I had to be stronger. Much stronger. “Let’s go back to the gym.”
“You don’t have to go back, cherie. You’re exhausted already.”
Cosette was right. Fear was a great motivator. “I do. I can do this. But I need your help.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
I knew he would. Just like I’d do anything for him. If that meant eating mat every day until I was ready for the fight with Luciana, then game on.
Chapter Eight
Four days later, I was hanging by a thread. There hadn’t been any more attacks on the school since Raphael had been bitten by zombie Daniel. That should’ve been a good thing, but I knew it wasn’t. Luciana was building up power. Maybe saving up for the church but I had a feeling we’d see her before then.
Waiting for something to happen was killing me. It was like slow torture.
Adrian had only gotten to Costa Rica before he had to stop. Raphael was too unstable to go farther. All I could do was hope that Claudia would find a way to save her brother while I spent my days training with Dastien and my nights trying to anticipate Luciana’s next move. Sleep was at a premium. I knew I should be resting while I could—it was somewhere past midnight—but I just couldn’t. Maybe when Dastien got back, I could relax a little. Even convince him to not set the alarm. We’d been sleeping maybe three or four hours a night, and I could barely manage that much.
The shitty thing was that I couldn’t do anything else. Fixing the pack bonds had stopped most of the arguing among the alphas in residence, but now they all agreed we should stay put. Dastien said the Cazadores were watching the compound from a safe distance, just in case Luciana made her move, but that left me and most everyone else sitting around, waiting for whatever Luciana threw at us next.
So in the meantime, I was doing the best I could to prepare.
The more I dug into the pile of books surrounding my bed, the more I realized there was no way in hell I was going to be ready. There was too much to know. Too much that these books didn’t talk about. Anxiety had my shoulders in one giant knot. I tilted my head to the side, and my neck gave a satisfying snap. If something didn’t change soon, I was going to take action and it would probably be insane. The ideas I’d come up with tonight were scaring even me. And I could almost swear I felt magic in the air… But maybe I was just being paranoid.
A knock at my door pulled me fro
m my books. I bit my lip as I waited to see if whoever it was would go away. I was in no shape to entertain. And if it was another Were coming by to ask me what I’d come up with, I’d lose it.
The knock came again.
Screw it. “Come in.”
“Hey,” Meredith said. “How are you doing?”
Why wasn’t she just coming in? We were suitemates. We’d passed the whole knock-before-entering thing weeks ago. “I’m… I have no idea how I am. How are you?” Ever since Shannon left, she’d been distant. I’d planned on giving her until tomorrow to deal, and then I was going to talk to her about it. But she’d just beat me to it.
She wrung her hands together and looked anywhere in the room except at me. “I feel like I should apologize again.”
“Why?” She had nothing to be sorry for. Not in the slightest. “You already apologized, and you didn’t need to in the first place. It’s totally fine.”
“No. It’s not fine. I…” She licked her lips and let out a sigh. “I was wrong. About Shannon. You kept telling me that something was up with her, and I kept thinking it was just because she was jealous of you and Dastien. I—I didn’t think she was capable of defecting from our pack. But I was rude to you when you tried to bring it up and I should’ve listened to you.”
I scooted to the end of my bed and stood slowly. “Seriously. There’s nothing to apologize for. I thought it was all about Dastien at first, too, but after what happened with you… It wasn’t right. The way she was acting. She was straight up nasty.”
“I know. I saw it, but I kept making excuses. Seeing her leaving with the others was a rude awakening.”
“Are you okay?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t it feel like these past few weeks have been nuts?”
“Past few weeks? Try past few months. My life has taken a serious turn for the crazy ever since I got to Texas.”
“No kidding, right?” She scrunched up her nose for a second.
With that, I knew that everything was going to be okay. At least with us. “For sure.”
“So what now?”
