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“As you can see, the wolves are not what they appeared.” The image froze on a wolf ripping the dress with its claws. A male anchor filled the screen. His hair perfectly coiffed. “According to Teresa McCaide, werewolves are totally in control when in wolf form. Yet here they are, torturing a child. The public is calling for the police to bring the wolves to justice. The mayor of—”
I groaned as Mr. Dawson hit mute. If I hadn’t seen the demon that looked like me last night, I wouldn’t have known they could look so human. I would’ve thought the Weres were torturing a child, too.
We had to get off campus. Before the cops came. Before the camera crews. Hell, before the mob with their pitchforks…
“If you’re leaving, do it fast,” Mr. Dawson said. “This is going to get ugly.”
“Are you sure??
? I asked. Leaving now felt even worse than before. The pack would have to be extremely lucky to avoid a riot.
“There are more wolves coming in to help,” Donovan said. “They should be here tomorrow at the latest, but I agree. We should be gone in the next hour.”
Donovan’s words set us in motion. We hurried to get ready. Claudia and I grabbed our supplies from the lab, with a few extra ingredients in case one of us got hurt. We needed to be prepared.
Once that was done, I hustled to my room to pack a duffel. I grabbed my cellphone and charger from my nightstand. It seemed like only minutes had passed, but it was already time to go.
Whose car are we taking to the airport? I asked Dastien.
The Cazadores’ SUVs are biggest. We’ll need two. I’m heading that way.
The SUVs came loaded with supplies we might need, which was good because I was terrified we were forgetting something important. I made it to the parking lot and opened the back of the closest car. By the time I finished, the rest of the group was running down the walkway.
Yelling carried from the gates, much louder than before. People banged on the wrought iron, and anxiety gripped my heart. We weren’t the bad guys here, but we sure as hell looked like the bad guys.
I honked the horn at the rest of our group. The faster we got out of here, the better.
Meredith, Donovan, Chris, Cosette, and Dastien threw their stuff in the back, and climbed in. Lucas, Claudia, Raphael, Shane, and Adrian got into the other car.
“We ready? Seat belts buckled?”
A chorus of yeses and yeahs sounded, and I threw the car in reverse. As soon as the gates opened, people swarmed. It was a slow crawl out as people waved hateful signs at us and screamed their faces red. Talking about how evil we were. How we should die. Burn in Hell. The noise was deafening.
I kept steady pressure on the gas. Their options were to move or get run over. I didn’t really care which at this point. We had bigger things to worry about.
Demons to kill.
I thought about calling my FBI friends, but I was sure Mr. Dawson would be in touch. Hopefully they’d take our side in all this madness.
A girl could hope.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I texted my parents to tell them what was going on before we got on the plane. They were worried—hell, I was worried—but they trusted me to do what I thought was necessary. And this was definitely necessary. They swore they were moving to a hotel, and would stay safe.
If I hadn’t been so keyed up, I probably would’ve enjoyed the plane ride. It was a small jet, and it was really nice. The big leather chairs felt more like fancy recliners than airplane seats. A stewardess made sure we had everything we needed during the flight. It was a short trip over to New Mexico, but I spent most of the time talking strategy with Claudia. We weren’t sure how long her spell could keep demon blood from burning the wolves, and that was a huge concern. It was okay last time, but all in all, the fight hadn’t lasted very long. Ten minutes, max. The Weres needed to be able to fight for as long as it took.
But even as we debated whether the Weres should go furry or use weapons like Cosette, I was hopeful. For the first time in a long time, maybe even since I got to Texas, it was as if something was finally in my control. We’d spent so much time reacting—fighting when we had to, but waiting around for fights to start, that this felt like progress.
Donovan had two rental SUVs waiting for us when we landed, each with three rows of seats. I drove one car. Dastien, Chris, Meredith, Donovan, and Cosette were with me. Lucas followed behind with Claudia, Raphael, Adrian, and Shane.
We circled Santa Fe, trying to find a place to stay. Since I’d been on the news, and most of the others had been on the grainy cop cam footage, we didn’t want to stay away anywhere too nice, but some of the Weres had high standards when it came to security. Someone had a reason we couldn’t stay at every hotel and motel we’d passed so far. Too many people. Not enough people. Too accessible. Not accessible enough. Too many cameras…
After just the little bit of driving, it was obvious that a lot of the houses and buildings looked the same—dark tan adobe buildings. Maybe it would get old after a while, but for now it was charming. My favorite part was the busy plaza that the city was built around. It had perfectly even brick streets. Squat adobe buildings surrounded it, all the same shade of tan. People wandered from store to store. A group of Native Americans was selling art and jewelry on the sidewalk.
The sun was setting, and at some point the Weres were going to have to agree on a place to stay.
“There,” Dastien pointed. “What about that one?”
