Fate Hollow Academy: Term 2, page 32
“Get out of my office. We’ll talk in the hall.”
She stumbled backward and left my room.
I sucked in as much of my pheromones back as I could before leaving and shutting the door behind me, locking the rest of my pheromones in. “Tell me what you need to.”
She gathered her hair to one side and ran her fingers through it. “The academy witch came to me a couple of days ago and found something like a bug on my earring.” She laid out a frustrated sigh. “Don’t get me wrong. I never liked Wren. She was too stupid.”
I growled. “Watch how you speak about my mate.”
“My point is that I never actually wanted to hurt her. The witch told me that the bug was a charm placed on me and made me obsessively hate Wren. In turn, it made me obsessive over Grayson. When Tabitha took that charm, I started seeing Grayson for who he really was.” She swallowed hard. “I thought Grayson and I actually had something… but he has been acting really weird with me. I had still been sleeping with him, but he kind of let himself go with hygiene.” She winced. “So I hadn’t wanted to lately, and he told me that he was spying on Wren recently, and that he was going to approach her. I just wanted to warn someone. Wren may have attacked me, but unlike her, I don’t want her dead.”
“You think she wants you dead?” I forced out a dry chuckle. “She doesn’t. She doesn’t have control of her shadow, and she’s too kind-hearted. Have you no memory of the shit you put her through?”
She frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say sorry to me. Tell it to Wren. You caused her a lot of pain since she got here.”
“Yes, well. I’m pretty sure she got me back.” Her hand pressed into her stomach.
“Grayson has already shown himself. He dissolved into black goo before he was neutralized,” I revealed.
She sucked in a gasp. “Are you serious?”
“He told Wren he had feelings for her in a dark way. I think the dark magic done to break their bond really fucked him up.”
Mirella nodded. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened. But… that’s not all.” She clicked her tongue. “Grayson told me he’s been working with the dragons, and that they are actively trying to change him from a wolf shifter to a dragon shifter by injecting him with their DNA. According to Grayson, they plan to do this to every supernatural after they’ve won the war with humans.” Her voice cracked and tears slid down her cheeks. “I didn’t sign up for all of this. I’m scared here. I just want to go home. I don’t feel safe at all. I might not like Wren, but I don’t want her to die if I can say something to prevent it.” She sniffed. “Can you please talk to the headmaster about getting me a letter of approval to leave?”
I rubbed a hand down my face and nodded. “Considering you’re linked with someone who has allied themselves with the dragons, I doubt Rowan will object.” My mind spun with all this new information. New information that Rowan needed to know as soon as possible.
She spun on her heel and left as I made my way to Rowan’s office.
I didn’t even have time to process everything that was thrown at me.
Opening the door, I stepped in to see that all of Wren’s mates were already here. The door was open to Rowan’s room, and Wren was nestled on the bed with everyone surrounding her. A mixture of emotions swirled in her eyes. I didn’t need the bond to tell me how she felt in that moment, and it broke my heart in two knowing that I had to tell her even worse news.
Wren’s eyes lit up as she saw me, and that sent warmth through my chest. “Hey, baby. I hate to bring this up now, but it can’t wait. Mirella just came to see me.”
Everyone stiffened, and she frowned. “It’s about Grayson, isn’t it?”
“She told me that he’s been working with the dragons, and the dragons are actually working towards a dragon utopia for Kalista. They’ve been injecting Grayson with dragon DNA. So that on top of whatever happened with the dark magic, he’s really fucked up anyway. Fucked up enough to where Mirella reached out to me. Oh, and Tabitha did find one of those charms on her. She said she never actually wanted to hurt Wren. Mentioned she didn’t particularly like her, but that she wouldn’t want to cause her harm.”
Wren’s eyes filled with tears, but she smiled. “It’s so good to know people don’t just hate me.”
“No one could really hate you after learning who you are,” Thorn said.
”Especially for no damn reason,” Alister growled.
“Life here is exploding, huh?” She chuckled, but the pain in her eyes shone bright. From the way the guys winced, I could tell that the pain had been flooding down her bonds.
Damien sat behind her, rubbing her head. His eyes were pure silver, so I knew he was feeding off her pain.
I swallowed down the bitter taste in my mouth, wishing I could do more for my mate. Lachlan and I met gazes, and he gave a nod like he knew what I was feeling.
“We’ll figure it out, fledgling. We always do. We’ll keep you safe.”
“To be honest, I think I needed to confront him. And now I know that Alice isn’t with us anymore.” She choked back a sob as Thorn put his hand on hers.
“I am going to check on that. Just to verify.”
“Thank you.” She cried and started to sob as everyone surrounded her, including me.
We had to figure out a better way to protect our mate because we were doing a shit job.
FORTY-FOUR
Wren
My shadow tendril shot out of Damien’s mark and slithered forward in a jerky manner.
“Just try to slice the apple,” Simmons said, holding the apple in his hand.
I tried to focus it, but my shadow veered left and pierced Damien through his shoulder.
“Ah! I’m sorry, Damien!”
He grunted and stumbled forward into the shadow, making it pierce deeper. “Fuck, little bird. Always with the shadow.”
“You’re one to talk,” I muttered, and after verifying that he was fine, I focused on the apple again. The shadow slipped out of Damien and sliced through the apple, almost slicing Simmons, but his shadow blocked mine.
He huffed out a laugh. “You’ll get the hang of it, eventually. How’s your other power coming?”
“Really good, actually.” I took a few steps back as my shadow sank back into my mark. “Believe it or not, but I think I’ve got the hang of it.”
“Really? I haven’t seen you do it before. I’ve never even heard of anyone with that power, but I would love to see it.”
“One day soon, I’ll show you.”
“We will have to schedule a private session for that per Rowan’s request.” Simmons chuckled. Damien’s growl rippled through his throat. “With your mate present, of course,” Simmons added.
“That’s acceptable then.” Damien crossed his arms.
Training was going well for once. I felt like I was finally making progress. The other students were spread across the training yard sparring in groups, and ever since those charms were taken from them, barely anyone whispered when I walked past, and Thorn and Damien’s quota had gone from several names a week to none.
I smiled as Simmons′ gaze caught mine. “You remind me of someone.”
My brows rose. “Really? Of who?”
“An old friend,” he said with a sad voice.
”Is that a good thing?” My heart squeezed, hoping I hadn’t reminded him of a painful memory.
“The best actually.” He hesitated, opening his mouth as if he was going to tell me something else, but a new scent hit my nostrils that smelled kind of like embers, but different.
Simmons stepped in front of Damien and me, turning toward an unknown man walking through the archway of the training hall.
The man had bright red hair, but it was buzzed, so there was only a bit of it sticking out from his head. His eyes had red flames around the irises, and I knew immediately that the man was a firedrake. From the look in his eyes and the way he sniffed the air, it was clear he was sniffing someone out.
His gaze landed on me and darkened. Damien’s demon form took over as he stepped in front of me, and Lachlan jogged over.
“What’s going on?”
“Firedrake,” I squeaked, and our class went silent, watching Simmons and the strange man.
“Who are you?” Simmons approached the man. “What business do you have in my class?”
“I’m here for the arctic fox shifter.” His lips pulled into a sinister smirk. “I’ll just be taking her, and we’ll get on our way.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you, and I’m sure if you ran it by our headmaster, he would have never let you step foot on our academy grounds. So I’ll ask you this, how did you get in here?”
“A nice student opened the gate for me.” He smiled, but his gaze never left mine. “I just told her that I was a friend of Rowan’s, and she let me in.”
“And how do you know Rowan?” Simmons asked as he took a defensive stance.
“Rowan and I are brothers. Maybe not from the same parents, but we are both firedrakes, so what’s his is mine. So his mate…” He trailed off.
“His mate is mine,” Damien finished for him, whipping his tendrils around us as anger flooded his bond.
“And mine,” Lachlan said, wrapping me in his arms as we stood behind Damien.
“Both of you need to step back. This is a firedrake,” Simmons muttered under his breath.
“I am, and none of you are a match for me.” The firedrake blew a breath of fire at Simmons, burning him in the side. The firedrake moved forward and threw a punch into Simmons’ face, knocking him to the ground hard.
I gasped. I hadn’t seen the pure strength of a drake in their human form. At least not at full capacity, and something told me from the sound of Simmons′ bones crushing from that punch that he definitely used the majority of his strength on it.
“That was rude.” Damien tilted his head. “I’m sick and tired of people thinking that they have a shot at taking my mate from me.” He threw his head back with a chuckle, and the firedrake ended up suspended in the air by Damien’s telekinesis before his shadows lurched forward.
His shadows sliced the firedrake’s arms off from the shoulder, and the firedrake roared as his scales started to form on his skin, but Damien’s telekinetic hold on him wouldn’t let him shift, something I never thought was possible.
“I’m going to open you up and choke you with your intestines for thinking you could touch my little bird,” Damien growled, and his shadow tore into his lower belly until his intestines slipped out.
My stomach churned, and a few other students gagged.
Damien’s telekinesis moved the intestines around the firedrake’s neck and tightened. The panic on the firedrake’s face was evident, and Lachlan turned to shield me from witnessing it. I buried my face in his chest as Damien’s horrible growl resounded, followed by a disgusting squish.
I turned around to see that Norman had his hand through the firedrake’s chest, holding his heart that was now a block of ice.
“Why did you kill him?” Damien growled.
Rowan stormed through the archway, and his shoulders relaxed as his burning gaze landed on me. “Students, get out of here.” Our fellow classmates whispered as they rushed out of the training yard, and Rowan marched directly to me. Lachlan let me go as Rowan engulfed me in his arms and breathed my scent. “How did he get in?” he asked as he calmed himself.
“He said a student at the gate let him in because he said that he knew you,” Simmons told him in a pained voice, getting up from the ground and limping toward us. “Bastard caught me off guard.”
“What the fuck is up with our security?” Lachlan muttered.
Thorn phased in with Kian. “What happened?” They came to stand by us, each of them placing a hand on my shoulders.
“A firedrake came for Wren. If Damien hadn’t been here and didn’t act fast enough, I don’t want to think about what could have happened,” Lachlan said as Rowan let out a small whimper.
I wrapped my arms around him tight.
First Grayson, and then this. A nefarious feeling formed in my gut.
FORTY-FIVE
Rowan
“You need Wren.” Blair pinched the bridge of her nose and her glowing white eyes pierced through me. “Now.”
As if on cue, the door to my office opened and Wren stepped in. “I can feel your need for me through the bond,” she whispered, and Blair’s smugness was prominent.
I nodded, clenching my jaw so tight, I cracked a molar, but I could feel the healing taking effect already.
She came over and sat on my lap. As soon as I breathed in her bearberry scent, I calmed. I slid my hands up her shirt and settled on the soft flesh of her stomach. She whimpered and placed her hands over mine. “How are you?”
“Not good,” I grunted.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, fledgling.”
“I know, but I wish that I could do more for you.”
“You are doing everything you can,” Blair said with a light voice, and I held back a snort. I’d never heard her talk so kindly to someone like that. “I’m glad you came in when you did. I had a vision, and it’s not good. Also, Tabitha found this next to the wards.” Blair reached into her robe and pulled out a letter. She handed it to Rowan.
He opened it, and we looked at it at the same time. It was a map of the human territory with red Xs on areas where supernaturals were being held hostage according to the scribble at the bottom. The scent that wafted from it reminded me of Nate.
“I believe it is from that fire fae, and I do not believe that he dropped it on purpose from the vision that I saw. Supernaturals are indeed being held captive by the humans, and they are not being treated right. Some of the supernaturals go by choice, only to be betrayed when they get to the human territory.” She hesitated.
I swallowed a lump in my throat, wondering if maybe Lachlan’s sister could be in one of those places.
“We must wait here,” Blair said, placing her hands on her lap. “Kian will be here shortly, and we will both have an important vision in a few minutes.”
“A vision of what?” Wren’s small voice filtered into the room, and I nuzzled my face into her neck and breathed.
“I don’t know what the vision is yet. All I know is that it will be detrimental. Rowan, you need to keep your head on straight,” she snapped at me, and Wren choked back a giggle. “You need to watch your temper through all of this. Your mate needs you.”
I frowned, continuing to breathe in the scent of my mate. She was right, and from the malice in her tone, I bet she had a vision of me losing my shit again.
“Can I ask you a personal favor?” Wren asked Blair, shifting on my lap. “I know this is probably the worst time to ask… but is there any possible way that you can see if my guardian Alice is actually, um, gone?”
Blair hung her head. “I have seen already, child. When Rowan told us what that mutt had said, I checked. I am so sorry. You have lost so much more than any supernatural should have to lose. I regret to inform you that she is gone from this world, but I think someone you thought was gone is still alive. That vision was not clear, but I do not believe that you are without blood family.”
I furrowed my brows at that. From what Wren told me, all of her family had lost their lives. If that wasn’t true, it would be great for her, but if it was, I didn’t want her to hold on to false hope. Then again, Blair hated false hope more than I did, so she wouldn’t have said that if she wasn’t certain of something.
“What does that mean?” Wren’s voice cracked as tears trickled down her cheeks.
My heart ached. There was so much going on, and I couldn’t comfort my mate the way she needed to be comforted after losing someone so important to her. She couldn’t grieve properly because of everything. It was despicable.
“Calm, Rowan,” Blair snapped as Wren’s fingertips trailed down my cheek.
I sucked in another deep breath.
“I’m okay. I’ll be fine. I have you, and that is the best gift of all,” Wren assured me, pressing her forehead to mine. The hair from her new bangs tickled my brows, and I cracked a smile. She looked beautiful no matter what, but the bangs really suited her.
“He will be here soon,” Blair said. “We just have to wait. But I think this vision might turn the tables in our favor.”
“Let’s hope so. We sure need some luck right about now,” I muttered as Wren pressed a kiss to the corner of my lips.
FORTY-SIX
Kian
‘There’s something wrong with it,’ Nightshade squeaked as he tapped at the wards in the Bestial Forest.
“What do you mean?” I asked, stepping into a puddle of melted snow.
The temperature was rising, and the end of winter was here. It made me worry about Wren and how she would fare with the warmer weather.
‘It’s weaker than usual. And I don’t think it’s the witch. I think something else is affecting it. Maybe trying to break it down.’ Nightshade’s eyes darkened. ‘Trying to break down the whole thing, I think.’
“Let’s hope you’re wrong,” I muttered, staring at the ward flickering blue as Nightshade tapped it.
He let out a chirp in agreement as I turned to Lachlan. “Do you want to talk about the letter?”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants with a scowl on his face. “Yeah, I guess it’s time. Basically, it was just her letting me know that the war was coming and that werewolves were being used as weapons. She told me she was still alive and that she had been waiting for me. And she told me to stop blaming myself.” He let out a dry chuckle, but I could see the pain behind his eyes.
“That’s good news. I’m really happy to hear that she’s made contact, you know? You’ve held onto hope for all this time, and the Fates came through.”
We continued our walk as Nightshade scurried around in the forest. I made sure to take him out here at least every other day.
