No one says a word as we wait for her to come out with it. “Their plan was to kidnap Bianca and have The Guard slaughtered when they came after her, however, being the careful planners they are, they have a plan B.”
“And that is?”
She takes a nervous breath. “The Fairies are in league with the vampires. They’ll come together to invade The Guard. It’ll be a massacre. And now that Rylan has murdered the Queen, there’s no doubt in my mind that this plan will be put in motion a lot sooner than originally planned.”
I hear Trey and Daniel both cursing under their breath. “How do I know I can trust you?” Rylan demands her.
“I’m going to be killed on sight when the fey find me. It was my plan that ultimately led to our Queen’s death, therefore, it’s on my shoulders,” she says then fixes Rylan with a look. “Giving you this information is the least I can do for you, after everything I’ve put you through, hopefully, you can use this information to be prepared and save your people.”
Rylan turns and heads for the door in urgency with the boys following behind. “Where are they attacking?” I ask, halting Rylan’s movements as he listens in for an answer.
“They plan to take down the Academy.”
“We’ve got to move,” Rylan orders.
“We have to take her with us.” Jacinta suddenly says.
“What? Are you nuts?” Daniel replies, saying what everyone was thinking.
Jacinta looks back at Kaylee then turns to Rylan. “She’s part-fey. She’s connected with them. I think, if she’s with us, she’ll be able to warn us when they decide to make their move.”
“I like it,” Trey says. “Besides, they’re going to kill her anyway, we may as well get some useful information first.”
Rylan looks to be deep in thought before turning to Daniel. “Grab her,” he orders.
Daniel immediately strides over to Kaylee and flings her over his shoulder, making her squeal in protest and bang against his back. We all follow them out to the car and I cringe as Daniel tosses her into the back of Rylan’s SUV like a ragdoll.
We pile into the big car and Rylan hardly waits for all our doors to close before he’s peeling out of the parking lot. I sit up front with Rylan and glance over to him to find his jaw clenched in anger. I reach over the center console and place my hand in his, demanding his attention. He glances towards me with pain in his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he says quietly, only for me to hear. “This is my fault. If I’d never taken you to meet her, this would never have happened.”
I squeeze his hand in reassurance. “No, I was the one who insisted that you mend the bride with your sister. I was the one who jumped at the opportunity to meet her. I was the one with a big mouth who told her all about the midterms and I was the one who agreed to a girls’ day at the mall,” I say. “You didn’t do anything wrong. This is on me and me alone. You’ve been nothing short of amazing, sweeping in and saving my life when I had all but given up. You’re my hero and I am so desperately in love with you, it hurts.”
He cuts his attention from the road and looks deep into my eyes. He reaches across and runs his knuckles down the side of my face. “I love you so much, Bianca. I’ll never let anything like this happen to you again,” he vows.
“I know,” I respond, gently removing my hand from his and subtly placing it on his thigh. He glances over at me in curiosity and I lick my lips seductively. “I need to thank you properly for swooping in and saving my life,” I whisper, slowly sliding my hand up his thigh.
He raises his brow at me as a cheeky grin takes over his face. “Oh? And how do you plan on doing that?” he questions, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
I send him a wicked grin as I turn to face the back seat. “Jacinta?” I call. “Whatever happened to all our shopping bags?”
“I don’t know,” she responds in confusion, unsure why I’d possibly be worried about my shopping at a time like this. “Why?”
“Oh, you know,” I smirk. “I bought that little red outfit, I’d really like to try it on.”
She grins at me, knowing exactly what ‘little red outfit’ I want to try on and why.
Rylan groans beside me, clearly remembering the image of me holding up the little red lacy items or maybe he’s picturing me in them. He squeezes my hand which sits dangerously high on his thigh. He makes a note of focusing solely on the road in front of him rather than the sultry wink I send in his direction.
Twenty minutes later, Rylan screeches into the Academy parking lot with no sign of the playful Rylan anywhere in sight. It’s all business now. I hop out of the SUV and meet him around the back. He takes both my hands in his and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “I have no idea what’s going to happen when we get in there, but there’ll be a lot of questions thrown your way. A lot at me for taking students off school grounds and allowing them into such a dangerous situation. There may even be some about why I went after you. If it comes to a point where you have no choice but to tell the truth of our relationship, then do it. We’ll sort it out later, we will make this work,” he says, pulling me into him once again.
I give him the smallest nod of understanding, completely freaked out over what could come of this, but all I know is we have to get in there and warn The Guard about our impending doom.
“Let’s go,” he says reaching into the back of the SUV and helping Kaylee to her feet with her hands bound behind her back.
Trey, Daniel, and Jacinta all swarm around us as Rylan leads Kaylee towards Ms. Peterson's office. Students gawk at us as we pass, obviously knowing I was not long ago held prisoner in the Fairy Kingdom and if they’re not looking at me, then it would be the woman who looks a lot like Rylan and is currently being escorted around by her binds.
Rylan barges his way into Ms. Peterson’s office and she jumps in shock as she registers the crowd who have suddenly gathered around.
“Bianca,” she cries getting up from her seat and throwing her arms around me. If I wasn’t in so much shock I’d probably find this quite awkward. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I thought we’d lost you.”
“Okay…” I say, pulling her off me and ducking out of her grasp.
She takes a further look around and her eyes narrow on Kaylee followed by the expression on Rylan’s face. She takes a seat, indicating for the rest of us to join, which of course, none of us do. There’s simply no time.
“What’s going on?” she demands using her serious principal voice.
Rylan fixes her with a look that demands her full attention. “We need a meeting with The Guard and every member of the Front Lines needs to be called in. We’re going to war.”
Chapter 21
Five hours.
Five hours is what it took for The Guard to arrive at the Academy and even less time for every member of the Front Lines to show up. Well, every member in this state, that is. We sit in the Great Hall surrounded by The Guard who sit right up front then The Council Members behind followed by the Front Line and all the faculty and senior students at the back. There must be at least three hundred people crammed into this very room, with at least another hundred expected to arrive within the next few hours.
Ms. Peterson stands at the podium getting the room’s attention as some technician fiddles with her microphone so she can be heard over the crowd. “We thank you all for making the effort to be here on such short notice,” she starts. “Now, I will not waste any of your time and get straight to the reason this meeting has been called. I would like to introduce my Head of Combat, Rylan Neill.”
Rylan stands immediately as I watch from the side with Jacinta, Trey, and Daniel. Rylan doesn’t muck around with ridiculous introductions and gets straight into it. “Saturday afternoon, I chaperoned the weekend shopping trip. Some of you may recall my top-ranking student, Bianca Moore. She attended the shopping trip with her friend Jacinta Cooper. The girls met up with a friend and spent the day together. At roughly 1 pm, Jacinta excused herself from the trio, in her absence, Kaylee a
nd Bianca were approached by two Fairy Knights. The girls were abducted and taken to the Fairy Kingdom where they were held prisoner and tortured,” he stops for a short while as the room is filled with gasps and outraged cries. Once the room has settled down he gets right back to it.
“Due to the severity of the situation, a private rescue mission was launched,” he says, skipping over the part of who was involved in the rescue mission. “The Fairy Kingdom was infiltrated and the girls were rescued. It has since come to our attention that the fey had hoped the complete Front Line would have infiltrated the Fairy Kingdom, where they would have then proceed to slaughter every last one of us,” more outraged cries are heard around the room.
Hands start raising as questions are shouted out. “Please, keep your questions to the end, the reason you are here is still to be discussed,” he says, shutting them all up.
“It has come to light that Kaylee Neill,” he continues, indicating towards the woman in question. “Is part-fey and was behind the kidnapping and put the events in motion. Some of you will remember her. She is my half-sister and was dismissed from The Guard nearly ten years ago.”
“Following the rescue, she spoke of the feys plan B, had the initial plan failed,” he says, glancing around the room to ensure he has every single person’s attention. “The fey have built an alliance with the vampires who have, over the last year, been creating an army in order to take out The Guard. Their plan is to start with The Academy. They plan on a mass murder then will move on to our communities and eventually headquarters,” he says. “We believe, due to recent events they plan to move soon. We must be prepared.”
At this, he allows for questions to be asked. One man in a dark suit and silver hair stands as Rylan directs his attention to him. “You mentioned that they have been building this army for a year. Why is it believed they will make a move soon?”
Rylan straightens himself out, looking directly at the front row of suits. “Because last night, I shot and killed the Fairy Queen.”
The room erupts. Some in shock while others cry out in glee. Questions are thrown all over the room and it becomes impossible to make out just one voice. People stand from their seats and the room turns into a flurry of activity. The fighters from the Front Lines immediately get up and leave the room as a few linger behind, hovering near any exits and windows.
“What’s going on with the Front Line?” I ask Daniel.
“I’d say they’re putting the Academy into Lockdown,” he says. “It’s standard procedure when our people are under threat.”
Damn it. I should have known that. “Right,” I answer. “It was pretty impressive that they just got up and acted, nobody needed to say a word or even give an order. They just knew,” I say in awe.
“Yep,” he agrees. “That will be us in six months.”
It takes at least ten minutes for the noise to die down and for the crowd to begin taking their seats once again. Rylan lets out an ear-shattering whistle that has the last of the crowd paying attention.
“We don’t have time for all your bullshit arguing and mindless chatter. A plan needs to be put in place as to how we’re going to protect the children of this Academy and our communities. Now, does anybody have any further questions that will actually be helpful?” he asks as I stare at him in shock for the way he’s just spoken in front of The Guard, even more shocked that they haven’t called him out for it, though, this is the Rylan Neill.
“Yes,” one man responds, standing up to be seen amongst the crowd. “I’m curious why the part-fey was brought along?” A few murmurs are heard around the room, all in agreeance and all wanting to know why Rylan hasn’t disposed of Kaylee yet.
“Good question,” he starts. “As part-fey, Kaylee possesses the gift to sense when her Fairy relatives make decisions. As such, when the fey have decided to move against us, they will call for their brothers and sisters to join them. Kaylee will feel this call and I believe we should keep her around and exploit this gift to give us an advantage.”
“How do you know she won’t lie to us or send a message back to the Fairies about our plans. I mean, after all, she seems like some kind of criminal mastermind,” another person asks.
“We don’t know that,” Rylan responds coldly. “But at this moment, it’s all we’ve got. As the kidnapping was Kaylee’s idea and I, being her brother, was the one who infiltrated the Fairy Kingdom and killed their Queen, she’s currently on their radar and has been ‘missing’ since the rescue mission. It is more than likely she will be labeled a traitor by the fey and killed upon sight. She cannot leave this academy without her life being under threat, by us or by the fey. I believe she has nothing to lose by remaining honest with us.”
Rylan gets a few nods of agreement from the crowd as he continues. “I believe there’s not much for us to do at this moment until The Guard, The Council Members and the Front Line make a decision on how to proceed,” he says dismissively. He gives a nod and begins to clear away from the podium.
A tall man with broad shoulders and dark hair, sitting directly in the very center of the front row stands. The most impeccable suit covers his body and I know immediately that this man is extremely important, every eye in the room follows his movements. “Rylan Neill,” he calls out.
Rylan stops mid-step with his back straightening as he turns his sharp gaze on the man. I notice a slight tightening in Rylan’s body, the only clue that whoever this man is, it’s not okay for him to be addressing Rylan. A desperate need to rush onto the stage and stand by Rylan’s side to offer my support and any kind of assistance fills me, but a nagging voice in my head tells me that probably isn’t the best idea.
Rylan’s eyes narrow at the well-dressed man. “You have led the very first successful rescue mission into the Fairy Kingdom, taken out one of The Guard’s biggest threats, managed to save the girl, and come out alive to tell us about it. I would be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on how to proceed.”
Rylan turns his body to directly face the man and takes the few steps back to the podium. He lets out a breath then quickly glances at me. I give him the quickest nod, letting him know he has my support and love. I watch on as he addresses the crowd.
“I believe our smartest course of action would be to take the fight to them. We wait until they have made the decision to attack. It will take a while for them to gather their vampire army, but as soon as they do that, we make our move. They believe they have the element of surprise, but they’re wrong, that lays in our hands. We draw them out. The vampires cannot teleport the way the fey can, so they will need to travel here. We will meet them at the time and place of our choosing with a great show of force and take out the threat before they know what’s coming.” Rylan nods to show he has finished his explanation and murmurs fill the crowd once again.
The very man who had asked the question steps up to the stage and takes the podium as Rylan subtly makes his exit. He comes and stands by me, not touching or acknowledging my presence as any professional instructor of The Guard would.
“Thank you for calling this meeting and bringing this matter to our attention,” the man nods to Rylan, who studiously ignores him. The man takes his dismissal in stride and faces the crowd. “Rylan has given us all a lot to think about and discuss. I would like to now excuse you all to have a closed meeting with The Guard, Council, and Front Line to discuss our options. Please exit the Great Hall in a timely and appropriate manner, making your way towards the guest housing. All students please go immediately to your dorm rooms as the Academy is now on lockdown. Thank you.”
The room immediately erupts into loud buzzing noise as people begin to scatter around me. “Who is that?” I ask Rylan who hasn’t yet moved.
“That’s Brett Norrington,” he scowls.
“Woah…as in current Leader of The Guard, Brett Norrington?” I ask, picking my mouth up off the floor, again feeling stupid for not knowing such basic things about my own people.
“Yep,” he answers, s
taring straight ahead at the very man in question.
“Okay…” I say cautiously. “What’s with all the grouchiness and death glares you’ve been sending his way?”
His eyes finally focus on mine as he lets out a breath. He attempts to remove the scowl from his face, but it just doesn’t work. “You should get back to your dorm before you get yourself in trouble. I’m going to stick around for the meeting,” he says dismissively.
“Rylan,” I say, sending him a look a mother would send a naughty child. “What’s going on?”
He stands up and takes a step into my personal space, towering over me. I look up into the dark, gold speckled eyes I’ve so desperately fallen in love with. His eyes soften as he gazes down at me and I watch as his lips press into a tight line. “Brett Norrington is my father,” he says ever so quietly.
For the second time in just as many minutes, I’m picking my jaw up off the ground. What the hell? His father? Who would have ever known? I spin on my heel and take in the man still standing behind the podium, who I find is currently gazing at me with the same curious eyes. Eyes that I now notice, seem quite familiar, as does the striking jawline and beautiful dark hair. Holy cow. This man is 100 percent Rylan’s father.
Brett’s eyes flick between me and Rylan, clearly coming to some sort of conclusion about our relationship. I give him a tight smile and a quick nod, hoping he understands that on a personal level and then turn to face my still brooding man. “Can you come and let me know how the meeting goes?” I ask, hoping I’m not crossing some sort of imaginary line.
“Yeah,” he whispers with a quick nod. “Now get out of here before I have to get you out of yet another detention,” he says with a small smile returning to his lips.
“Okay,” I say with a wink as I turn and leave the Great Hall.
----------
As I make my way out of the Great Hall, I take a quick look around for Jacinta and realize she must have taken off without me. I make my way across campus and head straight for my dorm. I push through the door to find Trey and Jacinta making out on her bed. “Ugh…you guys, I don’t want to see that,” I groan as Jacinta breaks into a fit of giggles.
Heart and Revenge: Slayer Academy (Book 2) Page 19