Their Shifter Academy 2: Unclaimed, page 17
I couldn’t leave him. No matter what it cost me.
I unbuckled his seat belt and took a deep breath before the car filled with water entirely. Now the water pressure released its hold on the doors, and I could open the car door.
But I hesitated, waiting as my chest began to ache with the pressure of my held breath. I didn’t want them to see when I opened the door. Hopefully they would believe that we had both been knocked unconscious.
Jensen’s face was still, his wild dark hair waving around his face in the water. At least he couldn’t fight me. With a little luck, his Mammalian reflex would take over and he wouldn’t try to breathe underwater.
Wolves don’t drown easy. I had to count on Jensen’s wolfish instincts.
And I had to count on mine.
I eased the door open and kicked out, drawing him behind me. My chest ached and a few bubbles slipped out the corner of my mouth as I held him against my body and kicked out frantically.
The bubbles went up, but I didn’t. I stayed underneath with him, swimming desperately through the murky blue water.
I trusted my senses to guide me even though, despite my wolfish ability to be in tune with the land, I usually relied on Google maps in everyday life.
As I swam with him, my arms and legs turned wooden as lack of oxygen dulled my muscles. My fingers dug into his chest, forcing myself to hold him tighter when my survival instincts screamed to let him go.
I could imagine Jensen floating down to the bottom of this murky water. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Unable to bear it anymore, I kicked forward and up, crawling desperately with my free arm.
I shifted to my left into a survival stroke as my head broke the water, dragging Jensen with me. I made sure his nose cleared the surface, then glanced back at our pursuers, my heart in my throat.
I’d made it further down river than I would have expected. Three men stood at the edge of the water, watching the wreckage of our car. One of them was peeling off his clothes, as if he was getting ready to go in after us.
Once Jensen and I turned the corner behind the low-hanging trees, they would be lost to sight, and us to them.
I took a breath and dove again. Just a little further. They hadn’t seen us. If I swam on the surface, I might accidentally splash and alert them to where we were.
Hang in there, Jensen.
When I surfaced again, I swam my survival stroke, holding him against me. Had he taken in any water? Or was I right about his reflexes? I tried to get a look at his face over his shoulder, but his bowed head and closed eyes told me nothing.
I had to get him onto land and make sure he was okay.
I dragged him on-shore, panting and struggling until he was on his back in the wild growth along the edge of the river.
We were too close to those guys. We had to get moving again.
But I couldn’t carry him forever, and worst of all, I was worried he wasn’t breathing, that he was drowning with every stroke I took. Maybe I was saving myself but killing him.
“Jensen, wake up,” I whispered. I turned him onto his side, slapping his back so he could cough up any water he’d swallowed. His chest rose and fell, slowly, like he was sleeping peacefully. Not the time, buddy.
“Wake up.” I slapped his cheek, lightly, and when he didn’t respond, I put some power into it.
The smack resounded enough to make me look up over my shoulder, hoping no one had heard that. But I had to get Jensen up and moving. I raised my hand to slap him again.
Jensen’s hand flashed out and caught my wrist, his eyes opening. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Saving your life, again,” I said. “You’re welcome. Get moving.”
He glared up at me. “I’m supposed to be grateful you’re slapping me? Something you certainly seem to enjoy?”
His voice was rough, and he coughed, but if Jensen was bitching, he was fine. Relief flooded through me at the sight of his narrowed golden eyes.
I scrambled to my feet. Somehow I still had my sword harness on—it was stiff and uncomfortable, but I was glad to feel the sheath pressing against my spine. I held out my hand to him.
Jensen pressed one hand to his head, wincing as if he was hurt badly, but he nodded and climbed to his feet, ignoring my offer of help.
“You managed to hold onto your weapons?” I whispered.
He still had his sword, but I ran my hand across the waistband of his jeans, looking for the gun. He jerked away, looking at me like I was coming onto him in the middle of a fight for our lives, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
His clip-on holster was empty. Damn.
I said, “We’ve got to get out of here, but those guys are going to be looking for us. If we shift, they’ll be able to track us. But if we stay human and use your spell, we’ll move slow, but they won’t be able to track us.”
“My spell?” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “What happened?”
His golden eyes looked dazed. Fuck.
“I think you’ve got a concussion,” I said. “Not that you needed more brain damage. Jensen, come on, we’ve got to move.”
He glanced at the rune he’d drawn on his arm, which was faded now, blinking as if his eyes couldn’t focus. “Yeah. Ah…dissipati peribunt.”
Relief flooded my chest. “Well, you’re a fucking mess right now but at least your Latin’s still on point.”
“Prep school, baby.” He grabbed my hand in his. His wet t-shirt clung to his body.
Together, the two of us loped into the woods.
Chapter Thirty
Jensen
As Maddie and I wound our way through the trees, her fingers tightly gripped in mine, the world felt blurry and strange.
At first, I hoped my head would clear.
It didn’t. The faster I tried to move, the more the dull ache in my brain spread and grew sharper. My stomach growled as if I was going to puke.
The memory of all the times I’d accused Maddie of slowing us down haunted me. Fucking karma. I was slowing her down, putting her in danger.
I licked my lips, trying to get enough clarity to manipulate her one more time. “You should go ahead. Scout out a place we can defend. I’m moving slow, but I’ll be right behind you.”
She looked at me as though she saw right through me. “I’m not leaving you, Jensen.”
“Why?” The word broke from my lips when I’d meant to think it in my head.
“Because, like you said, I’m spoiled and temperamental and intense. I’m too spoiled to give up on what I want. And what I want right now is for you to owe me for-fucking-ever. I saved your life twice over.”
I hadn’t expected that, and I grinned despite myself. She was still mad about what I said in the library. “That really got to you, huh?”
“I’m feeling very temperamental toward those guys,” she said. “I have an intense desire to kill all three of them.”
“Just three? Why are we running?” I stopped, but she tugged me forward.
“Because you’re useless to me right now,” she said. “You’re damaged.”
“Well, so are you, but I don’t bring it up,” I shot back.
“I meant you’re literally damaged right now.” Her sapphire blue eyes met mine and widened in exasperation. “And really? I didn’t realize anything was off-limits for you.”
Even out here, in dire danger, she was picking a fight with me. Some of my tension eased, and with it, so did the pain vibrating through my skull.
“Oh, there are all kinds of character flaws I see with you that I don’t bring up,” I promised her.
“Wow. Thanks. You’re a real gentleman.”
Usually, I chose my words carefully for the maximum impact, whether I was trying to make someone laugh or putting them on the defense or dropping withering words I knew would burn under their skin all day.
And I was careful when I criticized Maddie, too, but in a different way.
I wanted to piss her off, not break her apart.
“I just like to rile you up,” I said, then frowned. Right now, I didn’t have much of a filter. But the hurt that flashed across her face had dug into my chest, and I couldn’t make myself shut up. “It’s not like being spoiled or temperamental or intense are really bad things.”
She was spoiled by the family who adored her, family who—from everything I’d heard—were really good people.
She was temperamental enough to fight back against an unfair system instead of accepting it, and temperamental enough to entertain the hell out of me as I pushed her buttons.
And her intensity…well… I just wished it wasn’t directed toward me as hate.
“Right.” Disbelief colored her tone. “I’d love to know what you consider my real defects, then. Everyone else seems to think that’s bad enough.”
“What are you talking about? Our whole team adores you. Fuck everyone else.”
Her lips twisted to one side. “Ah, no.”
“You want to know what the real problem is with you?”
“I’m desperately curious.” She glanced over her shoulder at the forest behind us. “It’s such a pleasant distraction from running for our lives.”
“You don’t trust anyone,” I said. “You think you’ve got to be invulnerable. But that’s your weakness. You’re trying so hard to be someone who isn’t even real. Not even telling your sister you’re in trouble. Not asking for help.”
She stopped. “You’re right.”
“Oh?” I hadn’t expected that to be so easy.
“I’d like to point out that you have all the same fucking flaws, Jen. Plus several more I am happy to describe in excruciating detail.” She fumbled in the neck of her shirt with her free hand, pulling the necklace that she always wore up.
Rafe had bitched at her before about wearing it when we were training, but there it was, back around her neck no matter how many times he scolded her for wearing jewelry.
“I know,” I said. “But it’s different for me.”
“Yeah, it’s always different for men.” She gripped the rune-covered pendant in her fist.
“It’s different for me because I don’t have anyone who loves me watching my back,” I said. “You’ve got your family. You’ve got the team.”
“The team barely knows each other,” she said. “And I don’t know why you’re bitching about having no one who loves you when you always act—”
She broke off, stopping herself. Even when she was furious, she was reluctant to lash out.
“Like Jensen McCauley?” I filled in. “Trust me, I’m keenly aware.”
“But why—” she stopped again, shaking her head. “Listen. Give me a second to send out the S.O.S. You’re right, Piper would kill me if she knew I didn’t call for help, no matter what. But I need to concentrate, and you’re distracting me.”
“Fine. Concentrate.”
She closed her eyes, blocking me out. Her wet blond hair was slicked behind her ears, soaked to her head, and her long, blond lashes rested above those sweetly curved cheekbones. She gripped the pendant tightly, and her lips moved with the words of her spell. Familia.
“So now what?” I asked when her eyes opened.
“Now, the cavalry should be coming,” she said.
Chapter Thirty-One
Silas
I paged through the rest of the prophecy book Dani had left Maddie as I sat in the car parked outside the house party. Chase had stormed in there to get his brother. The clock was ticking down to the time he’d need me.
Most of the book was bullshit. The collected wisdom of the nineteen prophets that the Earthside covens believed in—and the Hunters more-or-less did, as well—was a thimble in a sea. But humans were always so convinced by so little.
If Maddie and her men read the prophecy, they would start believing it.
And then they really would die. The book said it, and so they would convince themselves they were supposed to die, the way humans did.
Chase, six bullets in his chest before his adventure even began, before he found his place as a shifter, or as a friend, or as a lover.
Tyson and Penn, finally united like brothers from the same pack, despite their differences, only to die in the flames of Tyson’s own long-denied magic as it turned against him.
Lex, dying like a hero with a sword in his hand, the way he wanted, so he never had to confront what it meant to live as the son of a villain.
Rafe, taking a bullet in the back to save someone else, showing the affection he couldn’t put into words.
Humans were such a fucking mess.
Last of all, Maddie, who’d sacrifice herself if she believed she had to save us all.
She was meant to sacrifice herself, but not like that. Not forever. But I knew she would, if I didn’t protect her.
There was enough truth in this damn book to be dangerous to them, but none of it was inescapable.
I shoved those ridiculous prophecies into the driver’s compartment, then locked it. Dani thought she was being helpful. The Earthside witch was trying, certainly.
Chase stumbled across the porch, flung back from the door. His back caught the railing and he flipped over, head over heels.
I’d like to know how many men it took to throw my big friend out of that house.
I checked my watch. I still had time. I got out of the car and left the door open a crack, slipping the keys into my pocket.
Here we go.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chase
I got to my feet, ignoring the pain that radiated through my shoulder. I’d hit it hard, and my shoulder was already fucked up from football.
All I wanted was to get my brother out of there and go home. None of those guys knew I could take them all out if I had to. If I turned.
What mattered was getting Blake out of this situation peacefully, though. I didn’t want to make things worse for him.
“Get out here,” one of the guys said, grabbing my brother by the shoulders and dragging him onto the porch.
Blake’s scared gaze met mine. He was just a kid, no matter what he thought.
“Come on, Blake,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Nope. Neither of you are just walking away now,” the guy gripping Blake’s shoulder said. “Your brother owes me money.”
“I’ll come back with it.” Somehow. I’d need the McCauleys’ help. I’d owe them even more, if it was the only way to save my brother.
“You sure will,” he nodded. “Your brother will stay with me until then.”
“No, we’re not doing that,” I said. “He doesn’t need to stay. You know where we live.” Unfortunately. I added, “You know I’ll get you the money.”
“I don’t know that, though. I do think you’ll be highly motivated if Blake hangs out with me.” He clapped Blake’s shoulder.
“Let’s all relax.” It was Silas’ quiet, clear voice next to me, and I twisted, wondering where the hell he’d come from. There was an oddly calming, almost hypnotic note, in his voice. “May I ask how much Chase’s brother owes?”
“Five hundred.”
“All this trouble for five hundred dollars?” Silas asked, a note of disbelief in his voice.
It must be nice to have five hundred dollars mean nothing to you.
“Yeah, five hundred dollars I don’t have,” I gritted to Silas under my breath.
“I do,” Silas said, and he didn’t try to be quiet. “I have five hundred dollars. Do you mind if I—”
He indicated that he’d like to reach inside his jacket.
The guy grabbed Blake, pulling a gun out, before forcing Blake down the steps in front of him.
“There’s really no need for that,” Silas said.
This guy waving a gun around my little brother made me tense with anger. Every muscle in my body tightened. My muscles clenched so hard they ached.
Shit. The change. The wolf was trying to take me over.
“Yeah, I’ll take your money.” The guy pressed the muzzle to Blake’s head. “No bullshit.”
“No bullshit,” Silas promised.
He reached inside his jacket and drew out a handful of folded bills. I squinted at them; he’d pulled out five crisp hundred dollar bills. How had he known how much to have?
Silas held the money out, but the guy didn’t take it.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes cagily and demanded, “How much else do you have?”
Silas sighed. “Do we really have to do this?”
“He’s done after this,” I said to the man who still gripped Blake. “Stay away from my brother.”
“Tell your brother not to come looking for me again.”
My idiot brother had sought out the drug-dealer. When my gaze flickered to Blake, shame darkened his face.
The drug dealer gestured with the gun, still not letting go of Blake. “How much you got? I’m not going to ask again.”
I glanced to Silas, who reached into his jacket and pulled out a tan leather wallet, which he held out. “There. Take it. Just let him go.”
If Silas noticed the two guys who’d left the porch and eased behind us, he wasn’t worried. He seemed as relaxed as he did over breakfast at the academy.
“Silas—” I started, afraid he didn’t know they were there.
Silas smiled at me. “It’s all right, Chase. Just stay calm.”
Panic jolted through my chest.
Maddie’s face flashed in front of my eyes: her eyes were closed, her face turned up to the sunlight that fell across her pretty face, and her lips moved in a silent prayer.
She needs our help.
My eyes widened as my adrenaline suddenly spiked even harder, and she was gone. I drew a deep sudden breath in. Beside me, Silas gasped too.
The change took me over so suddenly I couldn’t fight it back.
My teeth began to grow, my claws tore loose from my hands. I screamed as I fell to my knees.
Silas burst into motion. The gun was in his hands, somehow, as Blake stumbled away from the guy who had attacked him. Silas turned to face the men behind us, and I could have sworn I saw blue fire spark in his hands before the change blurred my vision. Blood filled my mouth.
