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Yes. You can put me back down.
You sure?
Yes. I was sure. Astaroth could make me feel terrible, but only if I let him. And I wasn’t going to let him. Not again.
And I couldn’t let him take me. Especially since it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since I’d gotten a dose of Samantha’s blood. Her warning ran through my head and my fear grew stronger.
I pictured a brick wall surrounding my mind as I sprinted for the parking lot, but all I could hear was his laughter. It drowned out everything else.
The sound was coming from inside my head. From inside my soul.
But no one owned my soul. No one but me. I had to keep telling myself that or I’d lose.
I built up the wall around my mind even thicker and his laughing cut off. I wasn’t sure if my mental barrier was actually working or if he’d backed off to make me more confident. It didn’t matter either way. We were leaving, and he wasn’t getting us. Not today.
The alarms were still going, but aside from those of us who were in the meeting, no one was doing anything. The Cazadores had come to check what was going on. They stood at the entrances to the buildings, waiting for the threat to show itself. That was the wrong move.
“Everyone get off this land!” I rolled power through campus, hoping the Weres would hear my order and get the hell out of dodge. Even together, we couldn’t fight Astaroth and win. Not until we had some serious magical reinforcement ready to roll.
I stopped on the beginning of the path to the parking lot and Dastien stopped, too, standing just in front of me as if he could stop Astaroth from getting to me.
I can at least slow him down, Dastien said.
No. He’d kill you. I grabbed his hand and pulled him beside me. We stay together.
He squeezed my hand as he glanced down at me. Always. No matter what. His eyes were glowing amber and I could feel his wolf begging to get free.
The rest of the Alphas from the meeting stopped just behind me. Lucas was carrying Claudia on his back. Her eyes were wide as she clung to him.
Raphael trailed behind us, but he didn’t stop. He kept running to the parking lot and a few seconds later I heard tires squeal as he raced away from here. Which was good. He needed to get gone. Fast.
Mr. Dawson stopped next to me in wolf form and let out a series of howls, two short, one long, three short, one long. The last one was still echoing in the night as werewolves continued to pour from the buildings. Campus had seemed so empty when we got back from our honeymoon, but it was suddenly filled with Weres I’d never seen before. Not just Cazadores in all black, but general staff.
There are less people here with the school closed, but since the Cazadores are still around, they still need all the kitchen, cleaning, and some general maintenance staff.
Right. That makes sense. I wished that there weren’t so many here, though. Getting them cleared out of here was going to take some time.
I just didn’t understand what happened. There were rules as to when and how Astaroth could cross over. It didn’t make any sense.
I turned to Claudia, hoping that she’d have at least some answer. “How did he get here? He was still tied to the circle at the compound. Is there another circle here? And it’s not full dark. The sun set maybe thirty minutes ago. How is he strong enough to break through?”
“I don’t know. Luciana didn’t cast a circle here, as far as I know, but her magic is here.” She tucked her face in Lucas’ shoulder for a second before shaking her head. “Something isn’t right. Even if he could’ve broken free of the circle, he should’ve had to wait until the witching hour. That’s when the veil between realms is thinnest. I don’t know how he’s here.”
That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for. If he could come here now, what was stopping him from following us? Why hadn’t he kept following us when we were leaving the compound? I had to know, otherwise running wasn’t going to do any good.
Shit. I wanted to run, but everyone was taking too long to get out of here. My car was right there. I glanced at Dastien’s glowing amber eyes. I’m sorry. With him here, I can’t leave until everyone from the school is gone.
We’re protecting the pack. It’s what Alphas do. It’s why they stayed. He motioned to the wolves—the Cazadores—that were guarding the way for all the school’s employees. And then to all of the Alphas that were standing with us.
The door to the admin building was ripped off of its hinges and thrown into the quad. The Weres running by dodged it easily.
A figure strolled through the doorway, walking slow, even steps.
Astaroth.
Gray dots filled my vision and I realized I was holding my breath. I wasn’t alone. There were others here ready to fight by my side. “Thank you for staying,” I mumbled to the Alphas.
“We’re in this together,” Blaze said. His tone was easy and light. I didn’t know him well, but I suddenly admired him. He sounded so freaking calm, when I was about to shake out of my own skin. “This is the job of Alphas. And no matter how much of a fight they put up—” He looked pointedly at Lisette and Albert. “We all want what’s best for everyone. They’ll come around and support it. Eventually.”
