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The storage room door is ajar when we reach it and my stomach swoops. That can’t be right. Dropping all pretence of attempting to have the element of surprise, I kick open the door and stride inside, magic at the ready, only to come to an empty room. My eyes dart around the room, panic squeezing my stomach. I can’t be too late. Heavy duty metal shelves line the walls, all stocked to the brim with cleaning products and other mundane things, but no hint of a fight or torture room. I’m not sure if I should be relieved or having an anxiety attack at the fact that Lexi’s not here.My eyes dart back to the guys who stand in the doorway, Corin closest as the others hover behind him, his features tight. With their size they’d crowd the room if they came in, but I’m grateful for their silent support either way. Unicorn paws at my shoulder before leaping to Corin’s, her dainty snout raised as she scents the room.
Just when I’m ready to conjure my laptop to re-check the program I spot it.Lexi’s bracelet. She was here. I dive for it, and scan the wall it was closest to. It’s the only empty section of wall in the room.She must have left this here as a message. A secret room, perhaps?
After feeling over every inch of the wall, even the upper corners thanks to Corin’s help, I come up empty and an aggravated breath puffs from my lips. What am I not seeing? Every second we’re stuck out here, Lexi could be getting hurt, or worse. My breathing speeds up as I re-search the area, including the shelves. When nothing stands out I step back, my eyes fluttering around the room, not really seeing anything and tug at my hair roughly.Come on, get a grip. Lexi needs you.
A sharp pain catches me in the chest and somewhere in the still rational part of my brain I can tell I’m spiralling, but I’m helpless to stop it. My best friend, the only person I have left other than my dads has been taken.Under my watch. I should have tried harder. Goddess, I’m pathetic. What about her mates? How the hell am I going to tell Dan and Layla that I’m the reason Lexi’s gone. I stumble back against a shelf and scrub a hand over my face, vaguely registering a comforting hand shifting to rest on my shoulder. The scent of a bonfire swirls around me and I raise my head to meet Corin’s concerned eyes. Whatever the Mountain Man sees in my expression has him in motion immediately, one arm moving to wrap around my lower back, while the other to cup my nape. “You’re okay. You hear me, Nessa? You are one of the strongest women I’ve met, taking everything in your stride. We’re going to get Lexi back so you can lecture her for letting her get taken in the first place.”
A shaky laugh escapes me. “That’s her thing. I’m just going to hug the shit out of her and possibly sick Unicorn on her.”
Hearing her name, the lazy critter who is still on Corin’s shoulder raises her head and lets out a short hum before laying down with a huff. I shake my head and heave out a breath. Alright time to get my shit together. Drawing my shoulders back, I stand tall and get back to work, reassessing the room. Maybe there isn’t a way in from here? But that doesn’t make sense either. Before I can try to puzzle it more, the air in front of me starts to flicker and the scent of ozone fills the space. It has me relaxing, yet tensing up all at the same time. Ghost Girl, she helped me last time and hopefully will this time around.
Before she can appear fully Corin and Dylan have me pressed behind them, using their bodies like human shields and somehow squeezing into the tiny room. Idiots. Sweet, attractive, idiots.
Chapter Thirty-Five — Corin
Myskintinglesasthe apparition in front of me manifests and my body floods with adrenaline in anticipation of the fight ahead. Surprisingly I don’t sense any worry coming from Nessa, then again, she doesn’t seem to have a normal fear response very often. After a moment there’s a pop and suddenly a few feet in front of me stands a girl—wait, no, a female ghost. She doesn’t appear to have been much older than a teen when she died and her form wavers in and out as though she’s struggling to hold it. My jaw falls open as I stare at her, not expecting this in the least. I’m pulled out of my surprise when Nessa shoves through the wall of protection Dylan and I created and greets the girl eagerly. “Hi, what are you doing here? You know, you really need to tell me your name, because I feel rather rude not knowing it—”
The ghost cuts off Nessa’s rambling after shooting her an exasperated expression. “No time… Find her… She doesn’t have much time… I can open the gateway… But you’re on your own from there…” Her voice is unnaturally deep and croaky, faltering as she speaks, the strain of speaking obvious in her tone.
Saying no more, the woman fades through the wall and a resounding click echoes around the space before a hidden door swings open to a dark hallway. The smell of mildew and stagnant water assaults my senses and I step into the dark without hesitation, nodding my thanks to the ghost at the opening before focusing on my senses to try and locate Lexi. I swallow a snarl when everything comes back muted, I need my other form.
A muscle in my cheek twitches as I glance over my shoulder, assessing the group.Can I trust them with this information? If I had a real option I’d probably decide not to, but this is time sensitive so without saying anything, I let the shift roll over me. Immediately everything is heightened, including the mate bond trying to tug Nessa and I together, but I shove it aside for now.
Need to find Lexi, for my mate.
Surprised expletives and sounds arise behind me, but I ignore all that and focus on detangling the mess of scents down here. After several seconds I realise we must be in some sort of old secret passage, inside the castle walls. By the stink of death and fear, I doubt Lexi is the only victim the killer has brought here. There’s another familiar scent, but I can’t place it. Shaking my head I let out a huff, suppressing the urge to sneeze. Damn mildew always irritates my sensitive nose.
I shift back now that I’ve got a lock on Lexi’s scent and usher the others to follow me without looking at any of their faces. Goddess I don’t know what I’d do if my mate is disgusted by me. If any of them are. The thought has my chest constricting briefly. I’ve grown closer to all of them than I thought I would, hell closer than I’ve let myself get to anyone in years. I bite my cheek hard, and let the bitter taste of blood centre me. I move my pace up to a jog when Lexi’s scent suddenly shifts, pain tainting it. Up until now it was fairly normal. The path has branched off several times, and if I didn’t have enhanced senses I would have struggled to locate her immensely.
As we come around another corner, the air tingles again before writing appears on the wall.A spell. I can read the magic easily enough—it’s a finding spell, so the message was sent to our location using magic, but the sender has no idea where we are. He or she merely attached the message to one of us.
Your friend has such beautiful grey skin. I can’t wait to see it bathed in crimson, it will contrast her pretty gold scales nicely. Better hurry.
Nessa’s face pales and a curse falls from my lips as I speed up, that scent getting stronger, and I grimace. The sharp gunpowder scent of intense pain and fear smothers me as it intermingles with the metallic tang of fresh blood. I hold up a hand when I’m sure we’re only a few metres from the room and force the group to stop. I meet Nessa’s eyes to double check she’s ready, and when she nods I go around the rest of the group, rechecking in with everyone individually to make sure they’re all in. Dylan and Oscar both give me a thumbs up and my senses tingle when they call on their magic. Nessa’s joins theirs and my primal side rises in my mind, practically screamingpack. I shove it down, needing my rational side in control and ignoring the panic that rises alongside the thought of them being Pack. That means they’d have to accept my monster and the fact that Nessa is my mate.
Focus. Right, potentially dying supernatural. I flatten my body to the wall and the others follow suit, Nessa allowing me to take the lead. I peek around the corner and find that the hall opens into a room. A shudder rolls through my body at the sight that greets me. A cloaked figure hovers over a dazed and tied up Lexi, a knife poised over her stomach as though he’s in the middle of slicing her up, but he’s frozen. My eyes widen as I process what that means and my hand starts to lift as I call on my magic, but I’m too late and their head snaps up, their heavily shadowed face aimed right at me, so I know they’ve seen me. In a movement almost too quick for me to register, the figure has Lexi in their arms in an upright position, braced in front of that cloaked body to use the innocent girl as a human shield. With one major catch, a knife from a nearby table flies towards her, hovering at the girl's throat, being held up by magic, precariously close to her carotid artery.
I drop my hand and step away from the wall, dropping any pretence of hiding. My jaw is clenched tight as I gesture for the others to reveal themselves as well. Goddess, this is a shit show. I take measured breaths and focus on maintaining a blank expression when the others join me. Unimaginable pain flickers over Nessa’s face for a split second before she regains control and stands tall, acting as though the sight doesn’t affect her in the least. The barely repressed magic rolling off of her, actually all of us other than Dylan, gives away our true emotions though. Dylan reads as blank for some reason.
“What do you want?” Nessa asks, her voice firm despite the visible tremble to her hands.
A twisted grin spreads across—the person, who from what I can discern is a guy’s—lips before a hoarse cackle rattles from his throat. “What doIwant? I want you, all of you to feel evenhalfof the pain I’ve gone through.”
My eyes connect with Dylan’s over Nessa’s head and he gives the slightest nod, his expression unfaltering from the nonchalant facade it’s set in, even as his eyes dart between Nessa and the guy multiple times. My mind spins as I try to figure out his plan. Before I can, he shifts, a lazy swagger to his movements as he saunters over to the wall opposite the cloaked man and leans against it casually. “Pain?” He asks conversationally, his entire being the epitome of indifference tinged with mild curiosity.
The cloaked figure's spine snaps straight and his posture turns rigid. “Yes, pain. I came to this academy to right a wrong but so far nothing’s been done about it—” the man continues to speak, successfully distracted and aggravated by Dylan’s Devil-May-Care attitude.
Using the distraction to my advantage, I carefully edge closer to Nessa and duck in close to her ear. “Get into his mind, get ready to do your fear thing and give me a signal when you’re ready.”
I dip away and return to my previous position without waiting for a response so I don’t alert the killer, who is still monologuing Dylan’s ear off to the fact that something is up. Nessa’s eyes go distant and I see the moment she enters the killer's head because he flinches and appears like he’s about to focus on her, but Oscar pipes in, redirecting him back to his master plan.*Cue the eyeroll*
This could almost be funny if there wasn’t an innocent girl with a knife to her throat or a serial killer in the room with a body count. I don’t let my eyes drift from Nessa, waiting for the smallest cue to alert me that she’s ready for plan B. I tug my primal side close to the surface so I’m prepared to shift in a moment's notice and let my body go liquid.
Those golden eyes snap to focus and she cocks her head delicately in what I can only pray is her I’m ready signal. I burst into my other form just as both the cloaked figure and Nessa crumple to the ground. I lunge for Lexi, using my magic to put a shield around her, as Dylan uses telekinesis to send the blade into the wall rather than her neck. Oscar catches Nessa’s head before it can hit the ground, just like I trusted him to, and I adjust Lexi in my arms so she’s as comfortable as possible in this situation. Unicorn doesn’t shift but her eyes stay focused on the prone cloaked figure, and trusting her to keep on top of it I allow my focus to shift to Nessa. “Is she alright?”
Oscar clutches Nessa’s cheeks, stroking them with his thumbs as he speaks to her in low tones, trying to wake her up. Dylan’s face is grim as he touches her throat, checking her pulse. “Still going strong, I’m not sure why she passed out this time. She didn’t last time.”
Tension floods my body as I focus on Nessa. With my heightened senses I can tell she’s alright physically, but mentally I have no clue where she is at. “He could be—”
