by Cali Mann
A slow grin spread across his face. “We have a plan for that.”
“You and my father?”
“Yes, he wants you back at school too. But he doesn’t know what we want to do after that.”
I grimaced. How would we save Sciro? How could I turn in my father without implicating myself? And the Oracle—oh, shit. “The Oracle is coming!”
“Yes, but there’s no Professor Ward to turn you in now.”
“But what if he told someone? And Sciro knows.”
Brenton stood and wrapped me in his arms. I leaned against his broad shoulder, inhaling the smoky scent of him. “We’ll face it. One thing at a time.”
“No, you can’t say that. What if I go back and the Oracle recognizes what I am? I can’t help Sciro if they kill me.”
“You know they can’t tell by looking at you, right?”
“The Oracle can!”
He laughed. “When they identify babies, there is a special ceremony that they perform, and the Oracle goes into a trance.”
“Really?” Even after all this time, I knew so little about this world.
“So, she can’t tell you’re one by looking at you, just like any other shifter. We just have to make sure she doesn’t have any reason to check you.”
“But Sciro—”
“Is a suspect in a murder investigation and has no family to defend him. He’s unlikely to be believed.”
I sighed. “And we need to clear him.”
“We will,” Brenton said, kissing my head. “But first we need to get you back to Thornbriar and with your mates again.”
“I am with my mate.”
“All of them. Even this fourth—” He paused, thoughtful. “Sciro’s an air shifter, isn’t he?”
“No way,” I said, shaking my head. “He hates me. I got his mentor killed, and I’m the daughter of a notorious spirit shifter.”
“True.”
“How am I going to go back to campus? Surely they’ve noticed my absence by now?”
“My father’s arranging it. He’s telling them you snuck off campus to be with your boyfriend.”
I raised an eyebrow. “My boyfriend?”
“Hey, it’ll work.” He shrugged. “The passions of youth and all that. We’ll both be reprimanded but as long as I don’t set anything on fire again . . .”
“I don’t know. That was fun,” I said with a grin. Pushing up on my toes, I kissed him, and he yanked me closer. Heat flamed inside me, shoving my worries away. We were here now. This was all that mattered.
His lips left mine, and he trailed kisses along my neck. Fire tripped along my spine. I bemoaned the high collar as my breasts strained for his touch. Then his hand ran up my thighs, slipping under the skirt to cup my ass, and I thought maybe dresses weren’t so bad after all.
My nerve endings sparked as his hands caressed me. Turning me around he pressed me against the cold glass. His fingers trailed up and down my thighs, igniting me. When he cupped my sex from behind, and I groaned at the heat of his hand. Brenton grasped the thin fabric of my underwear and tore it off.
“Hey!” I exclaimed. “That’s the only pair I have.”
He chuckled, driving his fingers into my wetness again and again without remorse. I moaned, pressing back against him, wanting more. His thumb flicked against my clit and I shook. The cold window did little to cool the passions that he flamed. He played and teased until I couldn’t think. All I could do is feel as he set fire to every inch of me, inside and out.
But I needed more. I wanted more. I mewled like a kitten when I heard his zipper open. “Please, Brenton.”
He stepped back, his heat gone, and I whimpered. Then his fingers grasped my hair, and he pressed against my entrance. I wriggled and pushed, but he held me steady, then he thrust hard and long, filling me up. Pressure built, and I scraped my fingers against the smooth glass.
As he thrust and withdrew, flames roaring through us, we rose together toward the peak. Sweat rolled down my back and his hands slipped on my hips. We merged into a single flame, spiking and dipping, until we crested the ridge, shuddering and exploding over and over again as we fell.
34
Hailey
I spent the day with Brenton, and when I headed up the stairs to change for dinner, I froze at the sight of my father in the entryway. He held a suitcase in his hand. “Where are you going?”
“You’re safe and happy, and soon to return to Thornbriar,” he said with a smile. “And I have work to do.”
“Blowing up the Council?” I asked, more bitterly than I intended.
He lifted my chin with his finger and met my eyes. “I’m only trying to protect us. They started this war when they chose to start murdering spirit shifters.”
I frowned. Killing people was wrong, no matter what, but at the same time, I wanted to live. I imagined every spirit shifter did, and it wasn’t right that they didn’t give us that chance.
“You’ll need to be strong,” he said. “To help me win this. To free our people.”
He turned away, and I grabbed his arm. “But there’s so much I don’t know.”
“You have your mates. They’ll keep you sane.”
I shook my head. “What about the phases? Do you still go through them?”
“They’ll settle down as you get older. They’re still turbulent because you’re young.”
Like a second magical puberty. I grimaced. “Can you shift into any form, any time?”
“Yes,” he said with a smirk. “But it takes control.”
“How do I gain this control if you’re not here to teach me?”
“I hear Professor Frank’s quite good at her classes,” he said with a sigh. “And you have your mates. You’ll be okay, Hailey.”
“But—” I stared at him. His voice was charming, laced with encouragement, but his eyes were indifferent, blank. “You really don’t care, do you? You abandoned me because you don’t care.”
He scowled. “You’re my daughter. Of course, I care.”
I shook my head, a hard knot forming in my stomach. “No, you don’t. You want me for something. For some plan against the Council, but that’s it.”
“Nonsense,” he said, his voice gruff. He turned and walked to the door. Glancing back, he frowned.
“Learn what Thornbriar Academy can teach you.” His eyes darkened. “Because when you leave, we’re burning it to the ground.”
The stone in my stomach plummeted. “Why?”
A cold smile cut across his face. “To take back what we are owed.”
With that, he left, and I gazed at the closed door. What did Thornbriar owe him? Or did he mean the whole community of shifters? And what could he possibly want from me? Once I had control and all my mates, what use would I be to him? Because that’s all he saw me as a tool to be used when and where he wanted. I shivered.
I’d found my father, but I wished that I hadn’t. Brian and Margaret Cooper had loved me as their own and that was the memory I wanted to take forward in life. Not this manipulative father who waged war and forced people into doing his bidding. I could see him beating my mother, sending her to her death down the stairs. I leaned against the wall, tears falling.
He’d do anything to get his way. Kill, maim, abduct—I gasped. He’d saved the girls at Hastings House. I’d thought that’d meant there was some good in him. What if he’d been the one to put them there, to put me there? What if he’d been jealous of my happy home-life or, somehow, wanted to make me tougher? A happy well-adjusted child wouldn’t help his war against the Council.
I wrapped my arms around myself, sliding to the floor. My father was a cold-blooded killer. No matter that he had his mates, he was a psychopath. He didn’t kill indiscriminately, madly, as the spirit shifters I’d read about had. He murdered purposefully, intentionally to gain something. Chills ran along my limbs. Had the balance his mates provided fueled his madness? Or helped him gain control? And which was worse? A crazed lunatic killing everyone in their pat
h or an intelligent psychopath plotting revenge? Which would I be?
Biting my lip, I forced myself to my feet. I knew what I had to do. My father had to be stopped, no matter what the cost. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but Kaiden Hartsman was bent on destroying the world.
35
Hailey
After Brenton’s week of suspension, we arrived back on campus to little fanfare. Headmaster Larkin gave us both a stern upbraiding concerning our conduct and warned us both that we were on parole. But she seemed distracted by the upcoming Oracle visit and Sciro’s trial I expected, so we weren’t subject to her keen scrutiny, which I was grateful for.
The Council had decided to hold the trial at Thornbriar which was pretty much unprecedented, but with the Oracle coming and Kaiden’s continued attacks, they needed the extra security of being all in one place. As Brenton had explained to me, the Council might seem mighty but really, they were eight shifters. Powerful certainly, but not invincible.
Brenton and I headed over to Adrian and Terrin’s dorm room immediately. Terrin opened the door, his eyes scanning me for any injury.
“She’s whole and well. Just as I promised,” Brenton said, leaning against the wall.
Terrin nodded. “Come in.”
As soon as we stepped inside, Terrin closed the door and pulled me into a hug. He rubbed his cheek against me like a cat marking territory.
“Oh, stop,” I said, peering over his shoulder.
Adrian stood at the back of the couch, his arms folded across his chest. “You’re ready to accept her, fire shifter. As she is?”
“Yes,” Brenton said, as solemn as if he were making marriage vows.
“We are a package deal,” Adrian continued.
Brenton smiled. “She needs her mates. As we told you when we called, having her mates bonded to her is what will keep her sane.”
“And you’re both willing to help save Sciro?” Adrian’s face was torn, concern for me, concern for his friend. I never wanted to put him in that position.
I squeezed Terrin’s shoulder and then I marched over to Adrian. “Of course. He’s our friend. We can’t abandon him.”
Adrian pulled me into his arms, kissing me fiercely. Then, he said, “I don’t want to lose you either, Hailey.”
Terrin and Brenton came up next to us, and I felt the warmth and love from all of them. I gazed at all my guys, and I knew that I’d been living a false choice. I wasn’t choosing between being free and being captive. Their love lifted me up and supported me, and I was more liberated with them. Their strength balanced me, and if we got through this time at Thornbriar, we really could go anywhere and do anything together.
“Now, we have work to do,” Brenton said.
“Save Sciro,” Terrin said.
“And keep Hailey hidden from the Oracle,” Adrian added.
“And destroy Kaiden Hartsman.” Somehow, my father needed to pay for his crimes.
We all settled onto the couch to figure it out. A warm glow settled on me. Just a few days ago I thought I’d be doing this all alone, and I was glad I’d been wrong.
* * *
With a pack mate on trial for a crime he didn’t commit and a father determined to take down the Council, Hailey is up to her ears in trouble. Can she and her men keep her hidden from the Oracle while vindicating their friend? Will she find her fourth and final mate before it’s too late? Find out in Saved, the third book in the Thornbriar Academy series. Get Saved now!
About the Author
I devoured my mother’s Gothic romance collection as a teen, so dark romance and I go way back. I love sexy paranormal stories with strong heroines and gorgeous men. The only thing better than reading a good book is writing one. Thank you for coming along on Hailey’s adventures, and I hope you pick up Saved, book three in the Thornbriar Academy series.
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