AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you know what is good for you, you will leave and never look back.”
They couldn’t know it, but everything they said played into thoughts I’d tried so hard to quell. The ones that woke me in the middle of the night, demanding I listen, taunting me.
Every time one of my mates kissed me or held my hand, there was that whisper, whispers that came out of these females’ mouths as screams.
Their voices faded and were soon replaced by abuse of another kind. I heaved out all the air in my lungs as the first foot landed directly in the middle of my abdomen. Another one to my jaw, my chest. Fists flew but I couldn’t see anything, even with my shifter sight. I felt the wind, the movement of them before they hit all parts of my upper body, but after a while, the blows melded together into one huge wave of pain.
“That’s enough,” the first voice said. The voice that I was sure belonged to the hand over my mouth. “Lock her in.”
I tried to chase the voices and the sounds of the footsteps, determined for their called-out destiny not to come true, but as I made a move, aching and throbbing called out for every bit of my attention instead. I lay there on the floor as their cackles filled the hollow, cold space around me.
They shut the door with a slam and I heard a heavy lock click.
I was alone. Didn’t know where the hell my mates were.
And even worse, I had no idea where I was.
Eventually, I was able to drag myself where a faint line of dim light indicated there might be a door. I put my back against the one thing that was keeping me inside this place and screamed as hard and as loud as I could. Let everything, every worry, every doubt, every fear carry itself out of me in a yell that hurt even my ears.
I kicked the air in front of me and decided that they hadn’t hurt my legs too much. Pulling myself to my knees, I found that my legs would not yet carry me to stand. Crawling around, I learned the place they had put me was no bigger than a large closet but half the height. I plopped back down onto the floor by the source of light and decided that if I were to die in here, I would die pounding on this door and screaming my fucking lungs out.
Goddess, hear me.
Chapter Thirteen
Casimir
We’d been looking for what felt like hours, and I was beginning to think someone had spirited her off campus because she was nowhere to be found. Our first stop was, of course, her former room across the hallway.
June answered the door in her bathrobe and slippers. “What’s wrong? Is something the matter with Karelis?”
Before anyone else could respond, I said, “Just checking on you ladies one more time before bed.” Clearly she wasn’t there, and we didn’t need June and Teresa also out hunting for her. We’d have to worry about them, too. “You all right?”
“Yes. Are you? Because it’s very late.”
“You’re right, but Karelis was concerned. She wants to know you’re both fine before she turns in,” Blaze lied.
“Uh-huh. We’re good. Night, boys.” And the door closed in our faces.
“Well, I guess she’s not here,” Blaze said in a Captain Obvious manner.
“No, she’s not.” Adan blew out a breath. “I think we need to split up and look for her.”
We all agreed. He would go toward the classrooms, Blaze to admin—the riskiest area, we believed, but he insisted—and I’d search the areas where nonteaching staff did their jobs or stored their equipment. Kitchens, closets…all those sorts of things, along with any rooms in those places. And we were off.
The school at night could be spooky, something I hadn’t noticed when I was with the others, but on my own, the shadows and sounds were all hints of something bad about to happen. Warriors were supposed to be brave, and I thought we were for the most part, but we were also superstitious. And anything that seemed beyond the pale, even worse. Some might think it odd that shifters would be like that, but there it stood.
I stalked up one hall and down another, opening doors and peeking into corners. I’d never noticed how many closets and alcoves and storage areas we had. Of course, why would I? I’d never even been in most of these places, had no reason to.
Most of the storage and other facilities were close together. I looked in the pantry, the walk-in fridge, although the idea of finding her there was terrifying to me. It was quiet, other than the hum of the refrigerator, and I paused, listening for anything else. Dim nightlights here and there were all I had to see by, even with shifter vision that made it difficult to look for clues.
As I opened and closed more doors, the likelihood of finding Karelis seemed to grow less. I tried not to let thoughts of where she might have ended up, what might have happened to her distract me from the job of finding her.
Suddenly, I heard a rustling and jerked to a stop. Where… I squeezed my eyes closed and listened hard. The rustling was followed by a pounding, and I jerked to the left and followed the sounds, my heart beating almost as loudly as whatever was going on.
“Help me!”
And then there was no question. My mate was crying out, and my wolf growled loudly as we closed the distance and grasped the doorknob from behind which the sounds came. “Karelis?”
