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I’m unshackled at least, and as my eyesight clears I find Nessa standing over me, her head cocked, confusion and interest twisting her features. “What is wrong with you? Your…your fears are my fears, whenever I try to access them it’s like looking into a mirror…” she trails off, face paler than before.
“I’m an empath,” I whisper. It’s only fair, she revealed her power to me and her emotions have done a complete three-sixty. All the murderous vibes have disappeared, replaced by a weighty mental exhaustion and vague curiosity. I’m not going to fault her—a barely manifested, supernatural literally learning how to deal with being supernatural—for losing control for a minute. The important thing is that she got control of herself. I can also understand her distrust in me, knowing my position of power. With how corrupt the Academy’s professors are, it's not unusual at all.
She slow-blinks at me before she offers me a hand. I take it and let her help me to my feet, a grin tugging at my lips. “So about that conversation,” she mutters, still studying me. It’s a little unnerving, like I’m a bug under a microscope, but I act unbothered, still trying to puzzle this curious creature out.
“I’ve been observing you for a while now.” Not a lie. “And I’d like to offer you and your mates a position with the SFBI when you graduate from the Academy.” I internally grimace when her eyes narrow.
“Why did you start watching us in the first place? Why would you do the reconnaissance personally? And finally, why are you telling me this now, when I’m still a year and a half away from graduating. What’s the catch? Before you answer, I’d like to make you aware that I’ll know if you lie and Ihateliars,” she says, and I believe her. Her mottled gold and red eye’d glare is intense.
I grit my teeth. Corin is going to kill me, so let’s just hope I don’t screw this up too much for him, but she clearly knows too much about the SFBI and Drákon group to pull out now. Plus she would clearly be a huge asset to our team.
When I don’t respond immediately, Nessa’s cheeks flush with irritation and she crosses her arms. “You have a plant here, don’t you? Several, probably.” I open my mouth ready to explain, but she puts it together in her mind too quickly. “One of the guys works for you.”
The intense emotional pain that lashes into me from Nessa at the betrayal pulls a gasp from me and I groan, rubbing at my chest. The betrayal quickly morphs into understanding, then acceptance then a tentative curiosity. It’s times like this that I despise being an empath. It’s like permanently being stuck on a roller coaster with no exit in sight. She somehow manages to stay completely calm on the outside through all that, though I have absolutely no clue as to how.
“Answer the rest of my questions right now, then tell me whose ass I need to kick, please potential boss of mine,” she says with a sigh.
Nessa
The man blinks at me, seemingly stupefied for a few seconds. Yeah, knowing that he’s an empath, I can understand that. I’m not exactly the most emotionally stable person in the world. He shakes it off fairly quickly though and rattles everything off, answering my demands in order. “Because my informant drew my attention to you. Let’s just say that I am invested in the outcome of what we’re looking into when it comes to the Academy. I’m telling you this now, and will be telling your mates this in a few minutes because although I can’t fully hire you until you graduate, you can still work for me under the guise of an internship and help me with investigating. Before you ask, no, I’m not saying anymore on that until you decide whether you want to work with the SFBI or not. There is only one potential catch.” Ezra grimaces, eyes sliding away from mine. My shoulders stiffen.
“Spit it out,” I grumble after thirty seconds without an answer and his expression hardens, but my brain is partially stuck on his words. Hisinformant.
“If you do agree to intern with us, then you will need to hand over any and all research and information you have gathered on the Drákon group. You will regain access to it the second you have graduated from the Academy and officially work for the SFBI. I’d also like to mention that I’m going to offer Lexi a job as well…” Ezra keeps speaking, but it’s all static. I’ve intentionally ignored some of the things he said like, cough, cough, that the guys are my mates, but this offer and the clause if I were to accept is… I don’t even know how to react.
Since I was old enough to actually do something about what happened to Anna, I’ve been worming my way into the Supernatural Realm’s dark side and digging up as much information on the Drákon group as I can. Without that, what am I supposed to do? How can I avenge Anna? I swallow, my throat is suddenly dry, and my breathing speeds up. Curiously, the urge to find one of the guys slams into me and alongside that, the need to see them and know they’re all okay.Goddess, I’m selfish.I got lost in pouring my pain and anger into Ethan, and now Ezra is here.
I force myself back into the present and it’s as though my ears have popped with how loud the silence is. Ezra is no longer speaking, instead he’s watching me with concern and I swallow again. “Are they okay?” Maintaining eye contact, Ezra gives a firm nod. “Yes. Corin took a fairly hard hit to the head, but I stood by while the healers checked him, Dylan and Oscar over. One of Dylan’s arm’s had a small break, but the healers have already mended it. They are all okay, now.”
I still need to see them, and my eyes flit over Ezra’s shoulder to the spot they were when I created the barrier.
“Come on, I’m sure they’re fretting over your whereabouts and want to make sure you’re okay. My offer isn’t about to disappear, here is my number.” Ezra hands me a card then continues. “Call me anytime. I’ll speak to the guys and Lexi about the offer, and you guys can talk it over.”
He turns away, but my voice has him stopping. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” he asks, not looking over his shoulder at me.
I swallow and shake my head a little. “It was you who gave Lexi’s informant the information about Ethan’s whereabouts. This was all some fucking test wasn’t it?” I snarl the last part at him, my respect for the man dropping by the second. They could have fuckingdied.
He finally turns to look at me over his shoulder, expression grim. “I know you think I’m some heartless monster right now, but I just used the tools at my disposal to speed up a scenario that was already going to happen. You were searching for Ethan’s hideout, were you not? I merely helped you find it faster while gauging you and your group's skills at the same time,” he says, voice even and my shoulders sag as his reasoning sinks in. His reasoning makes perfect sense and that doesn’t help with my already sour mood.
Satisfied that I understand, he heads towards the barrier and I follow him, about to let go of the magic holding up my barrier, when I realise something.
“Ezra, who is the plant?” I ask, my voice soft.
He pauses, purple eyes meeting mine over his shoulder. “Corin.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek until I taste blood, then nod and give him a close-mouthed smile. He doesn’t say anything, merely searches my expression for a second, eyebrows furrowing as I’m sure he’s puzzling over my warring emotions before he faces forwards again. I drop the barrier and am pleasantly surprised to find that there is no chaos for once. Ezra steps aside so he’s not in the way and stays where he is, giving me space.
The guys are all sitting on the ground with a single healer keeping an eye on them from a distance. Unicorn is lying a few feet away from them, but other than that the graveyard is empty. I take note of the way that Corin stiffens almost imperceptibly when his eyes land on Ezra before focusing on me.
I head straight for the guys and check them over with my eyes, needing to see for myself that they’re actually okay. I make sure Dylan’s arm really is healed and catching my eye as I look them over, Dylan and Oscar send me reassuring smiles. When I get to Corin though, I suck in an unsteady breath. He looks like utter shit. He was closest to the blast and the swelling on his face is awful. His dark hair is tangled and dark bags shadow his eyes. He looks exhausted. As I reach them, that hunger I’ve been ignoring pangs in my gut, reminding me that I still haven’t fed. I shove the pain aside though and focus on the guys.
They get to their feet and pepper me with questions, checking if I’m alright, what happened with Ethan and who the guy behind me is. I answer them as best as I can, then the man in question is approaching us and shocking Oscar and Dylan with his offer. By this point, I’m running on my last reserves and am past ready to go home.
As Ezra goes into more detail about his offer, I tune out everyone, and tug my phone out of my pocket to send Lexi a brief message, letting her know that we’re all alive and that Ethan has been captured. I also promise her that I’ll give her a call first thing tomorrow. I send a similar one to my fathers. Before we came out today I let them know about the plan, including them more like I said I would try to. After that, I’m done and I get to my feet, telling the guys and Ezra as much before walking away. I’m at my limit for the day and I have his card. They’re silent, and thankfully let me go without any fuss.
With the cacophony of turmoil that’s currently swirling around my head and the magic buzzing beneath my skin, I knew I couldn’t just go back to my dorm. So I ended up here instead.
