by Bailey, G.
“What the hell is that?” I demand, pointing at the stone on the floor.
Hunter groans. “I’ve seen one of these before. It’s a charm - probably enchanted by a witch, if I had to guess.”
“You would be correct,” says the first man. “It’s a ward, and it’s been charmed to keep the five of you from accessing your shifter abilities.”
“Are you serious?!” Landon demands. “This is insanity!”
“A violent reaction isn’t something the Academy wants to risk,” the second man explains. “We’re sorry, but this is the only way to keep the situation from getting out of hand. Please don’t touch the rune; it will only hurt you if you try to destroy it. As soon as you’ve all been safely brought to the testing facility, we’ll have it deactivated by one of the resident witches.”
“Fuck you!” yells Shade, lunging forward, and I can see he’s trying to access his form, but it’s no use; the stone gives out a pulse of red light, and in spite of his best efforts, nothing happens. The wolf shifter stares down at his hands in disbelief, his grey eyes wide, before leveling an angry, betrayed gaze at the newcomers.
“Someone will be by shortly to bring you your dinner,” the first man says, his tone businesslike and his expression verging on smug. “I would advise you all to save your energy; you’ll probably need it for what’s coming.” He nods at the second man, who shoots us a regretful look over his shoulder, and then the two men make their way down the hall and to the door. I hear the sound of it opening and closing, followed by the muffled noise of their conversation resuming once they’re outside. They’re settling down in the hallway, guards for a dorm room that has now become a jail cell.
“This is fucked up,” Landon mutters, kicking a chair and rubbing a hand across his forehead. “This is so fucked up.”
“You’re telling me,” Silas replies dryly. “I’m only just now getting my dragon form back, and they’re about to ship us off to have our powers drained. Again.”
“They’re sure as hell not,” snaps Shade. “I’m getting out of here. I’m not about to let them turn me into a test subject.”
“Good luck with that,” Hunter replies, snorting. “How are you going to leave, exactly? We’ve got to be more than fifty feet up. You couldn’t make that drop if you tried.”
“It has to be better than getting tortured to death in a lab somewhere,” the wolf shifter fires back.
I slump into a chair, feeling like the world is collapsing around me. Is this how it’s going to end, with us waiting to get carted away to some underground bunker, never to see the light of day again? The thought of it is enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I wipe them feverishly with my sleeve, ashamed of myself. It’s all too much, and some half-mad part of me wonders if maybe Shade has a point, if I shouldn’t just throw myself off the balcony and hope for the best? At least then Hawthorne wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing he got the best of me, got the best of us. At least then they wouldn’t be able to use me to hurt anymore shifters. But even as I think about it, I know I can’t do it; I don’t have it in me, and in spite of his bravado, I’m pretty sure Shade doesn’t have it in him, either.
“I can’t believe the board voted in favour of this,” Hunter mutters, running a hand through his hair. “Why the hell would they do that? I know the politicians are human, but the school board is mostly shifters. Why would they just sign away our rights like that?”
“They probably felt like they didn’t have a choice,” Silas replies, sighing. “If humans were willing to destroy a convention center full of innocent people, then they sure as hell won’t have any qualms with coming after the Academy, if it comes to that. They probably figure this is the only compromise that won’t lead to even more death.”
“That’s such bullshit,” Shade mutters. He has his arms crossed over his chest and is pacing back and forth by the windows. “The whole point of this damn conference in the first place was figuring out a way to put a stop to this without more people getting hurt.”
“Yeah,” Landon agrees, “but that was before a bunch of military types attacked us point-blank. They’re scared—we all are.”
“So what now, then?” Hunter asks, sitting back in his chair. “We can’t just wait for them to come take us, can we?”
“What choice do we have?” Landon demands. I watch as he rolls his shoulders, closes his eyes, and tries desperately to get into his siren form, but nothing happens, even as he strains. The stone on the floor flares a bright red, and when Silas moves to pick it up, he lunges away from it, cradling his hand and letting out a hiss.
“Are you okay?” I ask, eyes wide.
“It burns,” he replies, examining his hand. “It’s like it knows who we are.”
“Damn it,” I mutter, putting my head in my hands. I can feel the tears coming, and I’m hopeless to stop them. As much as I don’t want to look weak in front of the others, I can’t help it. Here I was, finally having found a place—a family—and now the same people who made me what I am are trying to take it all away from me. Slowly, I raise my head and look around at the faces assembled in the dorm room: Silas, Landon, Shade, and Hunter, these guys I’ve come to know so quickly, so honestly, in spite of everything that makes us different. We’re the same, in the end, we’re on the same side, and I…
I love them; I realise with a start. The revelation is so sudden and so strong that it’s nearly enough to knock me out of my seat, my eyes going wide and a warmth flooding my chest. Holy shit, I actually love them. Not like, but love.
It feels so simple, and yet so powerful. Maybe it’s a truth I’ve known for a long time, but been afraid to admit to myself. But now, in the face of torture and death, in the face of losing these guys to Hawthorne’s treachery, it’s become as unavoidable as it is magnificent. It doesn’t matter that I feel this way about all of them. It doesn’t matter that our connection comes from an unethical experiment. It doesn’t matter what the future holds.
I love them, and no matter what Hawthorne might have to say about it, no matter what ugly ways he has of trying to bend us to his will, I’m not going to lose them. Not now.
Chapter 45
I sit in silence, the wheels in my head turning, as the others continue to debate our current situation. I feel strangely calm all of a sudden, like the newfound revelation has brought with it a sense of security I didn’t even know I was missing until just now. I have to remind myself that we’re not out of the woods yet; nothing has actually changed and now isn’t the time to get complacent. It’s one thing to promise yourself you’re going to do something, and it’s another entirely to actually do it.
“So what do we do, then?” Hunter asks, crossing his arms. “I’m not about to just sit here and wait for them to come take me away.” None of the guys seem to have noticed my sudden change in demeanor, which is fine by me; there will be time to talk about our relationship - to talk about everything - but that time isn’t now.
“All right,” Silas says, running a hand through his brown hair, “we need to think. We can’t use our powers to get out, so what can we do?”
“Maybe we should just bite the bullet,” Shade suggests. “We can just pick the damn thing out and chuck it out the window. Hope for the best.”
“Forgive me for not wanting to touch that thing,” Landon replies. “For all we know, holding onto it for that long will kill us.”
“Okay, fine,” Shade says. “Let’s go out on the balcony and pretend we’re going to jump. I say, they want to run tests on us, we might as well make them work for it.”
“And what the hell is that going to accomplish?” Hunter asked, exasperated. “Other than making them more pissed off at us.”
“Listen, I’m open to suggestions here,” Shade snapped. “I don’t hear you guys getting any bright ideas.”
“What about Hazel and the twins?” I ask, lifting my head. The others turn to look at me as if they’ve forgotten that I’m here. “I mean, they’re in the next room over.
Maybe they can get us out of here.”
“I don’t like their odds, even if it would be three against one,” Silas admits. “I don’t like any of our odds against those guards, actually. We’re students, and they’re not. They have the upper hand. Besides, for all we know, the Academy has already moved them out. They’re trying to isolate us, and so far, it’s working.”
“All right,” I say, sighing and putting a hand up. “You have a point. We can’t depend on them breaking us out, so we’re going to have to break ourselves out.” I purse my lips, brow furrowing as I look around the room. There has to be a way out of this, there has to be… And then, in an instant, an idea comes to me. “Wait,” I exclaim, standing up. “We don’t have to use our powers!”
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asks incredulously. “How are we supposed to beat them if we can’t shapeshift?”
“We do it the old-fashioned way,” I reply, giving him a crooked smile. “We fake an emergency, get them to come in here, and then we jump them. If we can hit them with something, knock them out…”
“That’s… not a bad idea, actually,” Landon admits, crossing his arms. “We just need long enough to get out of range of that charm. Then we can find Hazel and the others and high-tail it the hell out of here.”
“Exactly,” I agree, nodding. “It’s not the best plan, but we can’t afford to be picky right now.”
“All right, then,” Silas says, beginning to pace. “Landon and I can wait on either side of the door. Boots, if you can come up with a way to lure them in here…”
“Are you sure Millie should do that?” Hunter asks, glancing at me. “I mean, we can’t afford to let you get hurt.”
“It’s fine,” I tell him, squaring my shoulders. “I’m willing to bet they’re under orders not to let any of us get hurt. They can’t have their prized lab rats getting damaged. So are we doing this, then?” I ask, getting to my feet and putting my hands on my waist.
“It’s not like we have much of a choice,” Shade replies.
The others murmur their agreement, and moments later, the guys are assembled on either side of the door. They’ve grabbed what makeshift weapons they can find - Silas is holding a chair while Shade and Landon have kitchen knives, and Hunter has armed himself with the coffee pot - and are watching me tensely as I steel myself. I give the others one last glance as I move to stand in the front hallway; they nod to me, signaling that they’re ready.
Time to put those improv skills to use, I think dryly, before I let out what I hope is a convincing moan of pain. There’s a long silence, and nothing from the other side of the door, so I do it again, louder this time, stumbling to the ground for added effect. “Hey…” I call weakly. “I don’t feel so good!” Low voices can be heard outside, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. “There’s something wrong with me,” I insist, practically yelling now. “It’s this fucking charm you guys put on the floor! I’m not even touching it!”
There’s another pause as we wait with bated breaths for them to respond. “What the fuck is she talking about?” one of the guards mutters to the other.
“I have no idea,” comes the reply. “She’s probably faking it.”
“I’m serious!” I protest, letting out a choked groan. There’s no such thing as melodrama in a situation like this. “What the hell are you doing to me?! Did Hawthorne put you up to this - torture the hybrid to make sure I’m weak? Is that it?”
“Listen, kid,” begins the first guard, “I don’t know what you’re going on about, but-”
“For fuck’s sake!” Shade yells, sounding surprisingly genuine. “She’s dying in here! Do you really want your prized pet showing up at the lab coughing up blood?”
“Blood?” The second guard sounds concerned. “You never said there would be-”
“There shouldn’t be,” the first guard snaps. “Probably something wrong with her powers. Fucking hybrids, I swear. They never tell me anything around here…”
There’s the sound of movement and then fumbling with the doorknob. I can see the others tensing up, and a bead of sweat runs down the back of my neck. We’ll only get one chance at this. One wrong move and it will all be over. I can hear the lock being undone, can see the knob twisting - we’re seconds away now, split seconds…
But before the door can even open, the sound of a blast echoes down the hallway, sending my heart rate flying. I scramble to my feet, glancing at the others, who haven’t even moved yet. My first reaction is panic—are the humans attacking again? Have they really gotten that bold as to try something at one of the Shifter Academies? How are we supposed to fight them with no powers? I open my mouth to cry out as the sound of grunts and scuffling can be heard from the other side of the door, followed by another blasting sound and a yell of pain. Fuck. We’re in trouble now. I’m on the verge of telling the others to run for it and hope for the best, but then everything goes quiet out in the hallway. It was like an earthquake—intense and loud, but over in seconds. I’m left to exchange a confused glance with Silas, who can only shrug his shoulders in wonderment. Slowly, I straighten up and creep down the hallway, coming to a stop by the door. I can hear heavy breathing, and there’s a shadow under the door; someone is out there. The only question is, who?
A tense moment follows, and then another, the sound of my heartbeat loud to my own ears. And then, as if in a dream, a familiar voice comes from the other side, a voice I was already convinced I wasn’t going to hear again. “Hello? Millie? It’s me, Josie!”
“Josie?” I hiss, hardly daring to believe it. “What the hell? What are you doing here?”
“I came to get you out of here,” she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. “Can I come in?”
“Uh…” I glance over my shoulder at the guys, who are watching me with shocked expressions on their faces.
“Be careful,” Landon warns. “It could be a trap.”
“I say let her in,” Shade counters. “If she tries anything, we’ll kick her ass.”
“I can assure you, that won’t be necessary,” Josie responds. “I’m here to help you. All of you.”
“I… Okay,” I reply at last. “Give me a second. I’m going to open the door.” Moving slowly, as if one wrong move will set off another explosion, I take a step back and pull the door open, bracing myself for some kind of trick - a hostage situation, maybe, or an imposter posing as the deceased school recruiter. It’s more astonishing than I can express when I find myself standing face-to-face with Josie herself. She’s looking decidedly worse for wear; there’s a nasty gash on the side of her face, and she’s battered and bruised, a far cry from the elegant woman who first found me in that abandoned warehouse. But she’s here, and very much alive; before I even realise what I’m doing, I’m rushing forward and flinging my arms around her, pulling her close. “You’re okay!” I cry.
“I am,” she says, grunting a little. “Although I broke a couple ribs back there, so…”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.” I let her go. “It’s just… you’re a sight for sore eyes. That’s all.”
“Well, don’t speak too soon,” she replies as I close the door and she makes her way into the common area. “Gentlemen,” she says, nodding to the assembled guys, who look like they’ve seen a ghost. “It’s good to see you all in one piece.”
“We should be saying that to you,” Silas replies. “We saw you get buried back at the convention center! How the hell did you make it out of that?”
“You of all people should know how sturdy these shifter forms can be, Mr. Aconite,” Josie responds. “You’ve survived a lot worse than a bit of falling rubble. If you must know, though, protection spells are sort of a specialty of mine. More so than teleportation, even.”
“What are you doing here?” Shade asks, crossing his arms, ever suspicious. “It seems awfully convenient that you just happen to show up and take out those guards right when we’re trying to get out of here.”
“I understand your concerns,�
� Josie replies, “but for what it’s worth. It wasn’t a coincidence. I spent the last half hour waiting for those guys to get up and leave. You gave me the perfect opening.”
“Why, though?” Landon asks. “I mean, I’m not complaining, but still… I thought the Academy was on orders to resume the experiments.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Jodie responds. “I’m afraid that the school board has lost control of themselves. Things are going downhill, fast.” Her expression hardens, and she turns to face the rest of us. “I’m not Samantha,” she says, sounding like she’s trying to convince herself as much as the rest of us. “I don’t care what Hawthorne says—I’m not about to just stand by and let him take advantage of the students here. If that means risking the wrath of the board, then so be it. But we can discuss all that later,” she adds, putting her hands on her hips and focusing on me. “We have more important things to worry about right now. Ms. Brix, how would you like to find your friends and leave this place?”
“That would be really nice, Josie,” I tell her, relief washing over me.
“Good,” she says, turning to the charm that still sits on the dorm room floor. “Let’s start with this, then. I’ve always hated these things.”
Chapter 46
It’s eerily quiet in the hallway when we finally creep out of the dorm, one by one, on edge with wide eyes. The first thing I notice is the two guards, seated on either side of the door, and when I see that their eyes are open and staring, I jump. “It’s okay,” Josie murmurs, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I paralysed them. It should wear off in an hour or so, which is plenty of time for us to high-tail it out of here.”
“When can I learn to do that?” I ask dryly, stepping around the two men with the others following closely behind. I come to a stop outside the opposite door, which is closed and locked, turning back to the others. “Hazel and the twins are in here,” I say. “We just need to figure out a way to get their attention, and then-”