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That seemed to make his shoulders and his tightened jaw relax.
“I will be right here,” he insisted. “I don’t give a shit if it’s blessed. If I sense something wrong, I’m coming in.”
His skin would literally start melting if he did.
But he wouldn’t die.
He couldn’t.
He would just wish he could.
And he’d go through that for me.
Somehow, the knowledge of that had some of the anxiety leaving my body like a wave.
“Thank you,” I said, reaching to pat his hand, only to find myself grabbed by both sides of my neck and pulled in for a long, hard kiss.
“Go tell ‘em all the shit you’ve always wanted to say to them,” he encouraged, then gave me a little shove until I was out of the car.
“You can do this,” I murmured to myself as I rolled my neck.
There were still some aches and pains. I was still pretty hideous shades of green and yellow bruising across a lot of my body and face. But I wasn’t in agony anymore.
In another day, there would likely be no evidence that anything had ever happened to me.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the door.
There was some irrational part of me that expected to be greeted by an angry mob.
But the foyer was almost eerily empty.
The silence as I made my way down the common area had all my hairs starting to stand on end.
There was no one in the common room, no one in the cafeteria, and no one practicing in the gym.
What the hell was going on?
I was just about to turn back around when I heard footsteps.
Turning, I saw Gideon.
Looking rough as hell.
“Shit,” he said, jerking backward at the sight of me. “Dale,” he said, exhaling hard.
“Gideon, what the fuck is going on?”
His face hardened at that.
“Lockdown.”
Lockdown?
I mean, yeah, I’d heard of the principle before, but I was pretty sure the building had never actually done it.
“Lockdown? Why? What the fuck happened? Why is the flag at half-mast?”
“It’s been a rough couple of days, Dale,” he said. And even as the words left his mouth, I could see the weight pressing down on his shoulders.
“What happened?” I insisted, voice getting tighter.
“We got the call from Marsh,” he said, face devoid of all expression.
“Is he okay? Is that why the flag is down?”
“He’s fine. Mostly recovered.”
“Maggie? Is it Maggie?”
Was the guilt of her death weighing on him? Is that why he’d lowered the flag for a student? Because she hadn’t been ready to be in the field?
“In a coma,” he said.
“What?” I hissed.
I’d been sure she’d been killed.
“Doesn’t show any signs of waking up. And that is unfortunate. But that is the tip of the iceberg here, Dale.”
“Okay,” I said, stiffening. “What else?”
“The Council.”
“Did someone die?” It wouldn’t surprise me. They were all ancient. A part of me was sure they were using some sort of magic to keep themselves alive past their normal, human expiration dates.
“Someone,” Gideon scoffed. “Try everyone.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“They were sitting at their desk, listening to Marsh tell the story of the attack.”
“Where he threw me under the bus, I imagine,” I said, wincing.
“Marsh defended you,” Gideon said, shaking his head. “Right up to and through you being Claimed by a demon. Whether you want to believe that or not. Not that it matters. Since in the middle of Marsh speaking, every single Council member reached up to grab their throats in unison. And asphyxiated to death.”
Granted, I hated all those bastards, but the mental picture was horrifying.
“How?”
“No one knows. All I can say was that they didn’t choke on anything. There were no marks on them at all. But the air had a sulfur smell.”
Magic.
That was magic.
The dark kind.
“Who would want to kill the Council? And how? There are wards.”
“Hence the lockdown,” Gideon said, shaking his head. “I called all the demonslayers home. All the ones I could reach, anyway. We’re all just here, keeping an eye on the students. More keep showing up every day,” he added.
“What? We’re full already.”
“Yeah. And the strangest part?” he said, shaking his head like he still couldn’t believe it himself. “They’re not all high school kids.”
“Younger?” I asked, figuring maybe God had gotten the memo about the kids needing more training before they were prepared to go into the field.
“Older,” Gideon said. “Most of them are eighteen to twenty-one.”
“Bigger,” I said, starting to understand. “Stronger.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“You were right, by the way,” I told him. “Arick said the old gods are waking up.”
“Arick. The warlock.”
“Yes. And he’s worried.”
“Yes,” Gideon said, sighing. “It seems like we all should be.”
“Why do you think it stopped at the Council? You and Marsh were standing right there.”
“That’s a good question. And I don’t have answers. All I know is they are gone. And we are on our own.”
“We?” I asked, not wanting there to be as much hope in my voice as there was right then.
