by Jen L. Grey
“Why the hell not?” Cole’s voice got louder the closer he came. “More Coles in the world are definitely needed.”
My eyes flickered to the car before cold reality smacked me in the face. “Where’s Angel?”
“She’s fine.” Jess scratched the back of her head. “She stayed hidden in the car the whole time. But she’s had a hell of a night.”
“We all have.” Rage stepped from the tree, wearing a shirt that read ‘Cole is the Best.’ “Really, man?” He pointed at his shirt as he stared the vampire down.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment.” Cole winked at him. “This is the sexiest you’ll ever be.”
“What the hell did you do?” Already over the jokes, Rage rushed over and gently lifted my arm. “Did he do that?”
“Don’t be too rough on her. She’s the only reason why we’re all standing.” Damien hurried out of a section of the woods behind the car. “He’s taken care of.”
I hadn’t even thought about Nate. “Where is he?” How long had I been out of it?
“While you were resting, Cole and Damien took his body a few miles away and buried him.” Jess frowned and shivered. “I’m ready for this night to be over.”
She wasn’t the only one. “We have to do something about his car.”
“I’m going to handle it.” Damien nodded toward the car. “My family has a junkyard that we can hide it in upstate.”
“Do you need someone to go with you?” I didn’t want him to handle this alone. It was all of our pack’s burden.
“No, Cole needs rest. You need to go back to school and visit the healer, and Rage may have a concussion.” Damien sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m the only non-injured one, so it makes sense for it to be me. I’ll be back in the morning. But you guys are going to have to figure out what to do with Angel.” He glanced at his watch and looked around. “I’ve got to get going. The longer it takes, the more people are going to be looking for the car and Nate. We’ll catch up when I get back tomorrow.”
“Be safe.” Rage nodded at him and then gingerly lifted my arm.
Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped, and it was beginning to heal. “Call us if you need anything.”
“Sure will.” He strolled to the black car and climbed into the driver seat.
We all stayed silent as Damien pulled out into the road and began driving north.
“I guess, let’s head back, and Angel can stay in our dorm room for the night.” I wasn’t sure what other options we had since we couldn’t take her to her foster parents. We had to take her somewhere that she was safe from The Elites and from herself.
“That probably is the best decision.” Jess sighed and glanced at the car. “We’ll figure it out tomorrow and go from there.”
Cole handed Jess the keys. “Are you okay to drive? I’m a little dizzy.”
“Yeah, Damien stayed so you didn’t take too much blood. That’s one reason why Raven got hurt.” She gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it all worked out.” I didn’t want her to feel any guilt for protecting the one she loved.
“Because you kicked ass and yanked his little magic voodoo off.” Cole reached over and gave me a hug. “I bow to your awesomeness.”
“Yeah, no.” Knowing him, he was being serious, and I certainly didn’t want that. “Don’t do that.”
“Oh, the necklace.” I ran over to the spot where I had dropped it. Luckily, it was easy to find, and I picked it up.
“Let’s get back.” Rage hurried to the car. “Raven needs her wound cleaned before it heals completely. It can’t become infected.”
As we pulled into the academy, the stress of the night finally caught up to me. Angel was sitting on my right side while Rage was on the left. The entire way, Rage was tense and kept gazing at my arm.
Jess pulled into the parking spot and looked around. “I’ll take Angel to the dorm while the three of you head to the healer’s office.”
“Are you okay with that?” This sweet girl had already been through hell at a tender age. I couldn’t even fathom how she felt about it all.
“Yes, I’m exhausted.” Angel yawned as she said the last word. She opened the passenger door to get out when she paused. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.”
If only she knew the dark future she had, but she’d been through enough today. “Of course. We will always do what we can to help you.” I had to be careful with my words. I couldn’t promise her she’d be okay.
“Hurry.” Jess hissed. “We need to get inside before someone sees. I can only hide you for so long with my spell.”
The girl nodded and ran after her.
By the time we all three got out of the car, the girl and Jess were gone. Luckily, it was a Friday night, and the dorm would be pretty empty.
“We’re a sight to behold.” I snorted as I took in each of our appearances.
Cole had blood trickling from his neck, but it was in the process of healing. I had my arm that still throbbed, and Rage looked like he had a rough night.
The three of us entered the healer’s office. That was one of the nice things about our academy. A healer always had to be available for any alpha shenanigans that may happen.
When the gentleman saw us enter, his jaw dropped.
“All three of you need to go back to your dorm and rest.” The healer tsked as he pushed us through the door.
As I stepped out, I froze in place. Right in front of me was Isadora.
“Good evening, Miss Wright.” Her voice was sharper than normal, and her usual short, well-kept hair was slightly skewed. “I hear you and your crew had another unusual night.”
For all I knew, this lady could have been part of The Elites. We had to be careful. “We had a skating mishap.”
“Skating?” She leaned back against the wall behind her.
“Well, why are you so surprised by that?” Cole appeared next to me and winked at the headmaster. “When I bust my moves, everyone watches. Her and Rage fell while they watched me cut a rug … no, wait … bust a skate.”
“I don’t know if I have the patience for this tonight.” Her green eyes had dark circles underneath them. “Mr. Smith, do you think I buy that story when you’ve had your neck attacked and she has a deep bite on her left arm?”
“See … it was an unfortunate mishap.” Cole was gearing up for a story. “See, I distracted them, and Raven fell on Rage, which caused my teeth to sink into her arm as a pole sliced through mine. It’s rather simple.” He put a hand over the bite so she couldn’t see that it wasn’t a typical vampire bite.
“You are dismissed, Mr. Smith.” She pointed toward the end of the hallway.
“But …”
“Go.” She stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me call your father.”
“It’s okay.” Rage patted him on the back. “I’ll be here with her.”
“Fine, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” Cole turned on his heels and marched down the hall.
I had to try to keep him out of trouble. “He …”
“Don’t worry, Miss Wright. I won’t call. He left.” She glanced both ways and waved us to follow her. “Let’s go to my office.”
We walked in silence and filed into her office. Once Rage and I passed her, she shut her door. “How I feel like we’ve been in a similar position before.”
“Yeah, it does feel a little like déjà vu.” Rage sat next to me, and his hand gingerly touched my injured arm.
“Ever since Raven joined our school, things have gotten strange.” Isadora paced behind her desk, not even bothering to sit down. “Let me just cut to the chase. I think you know something about a secret society that has somehow found a way into this school.”
“What?” I hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, and I wasn’t entirely sure if this wasn’t a test.
“You heard me.” She snarled and placed her hands on her hips.
“Because that would be something I would know, right?”
Oh, crap. She was part of the society and about to expose what we had done. “Let us explain.”
“Before you humor me with a lie. Let me tell you that I know it has something to do with hybrids and racism.” Isadora stopped in her tracks as she looked out the window of her office. “That’s one reason why I’ve made sure the dorms are mixed up instead of segregated, keeping only the same races together as roommates.”
“So you’re not part of this … society.” Rage narrowed his eyes, waiting for her response.
“Of course not.” Isadora slammed her hand on the desk. “This society has been trying to get their claws into this school for years now. We have the best of the best, and they want the same. I need to determine who all here is involved and clean house.”
“They approached me.” I don’t know why, but something told me she was being truthful. “It started the night that I … Ashley was killed.”
“And you joined?” Her face was indifferent. There wasn’t any judgment, at least visibly.
“Of course. I don’t want those kids to die.” That appeared to be an important factor that she was conveniently overlooking.
“Die?” She tilted her head and squinted her eyes.
“Yeah, when their two sides war against one another.” Rage’s voice sounded like a question.
“Is that what they are telling you? That’s why I needed you to find the hybrid they had staged. They were after Raven, but I didn’t realize the propaganda that they used.” She sat in her seat and closed her eyes. “It’s not true. No wonder I’ve been failing.”
“What’s not true?” I must have missed a piece of the puzzle all of a sudden.
“Hybrids.” She raised her head and looked me square in the eye. “They aren’t in danger of their sides fighting against one another. We discourage them because they wind up being more powerful than a full breed.”
“What?” Rage’s voice was barely a whisper.
“But your class …” None of this made sense.
“So that’s what Jonathan’s new class is all about.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I’ve thought for a while he might be part of it. Every time I ask him about his new class, he’s very evasive.”
For some reason, Nate’s pendant in my pocket felt like a weight.
“You didn’t know?” Rage crossed his arms in his seat. “This is all a little too convenient.”
“I wish it were.” She rubbed her hands together and worry lined her face. “I had a feeling tonight that something bad was happening. You went for someone, didn’t you?”
At this point, we’d told her this much. “Yes, and we have her in my dorm, hiding.” However, I wasn’t going to volunteer information about what had happened to Nate.
“A half-breed is here?” Her shoulders sagged a little. “But the society will figure it out.”
“No, we stole her while they were busy inside a gas station.” Rage gently squeezed my fingers. “They didn’t know we were following them. We were supposed to head back after they took her from the skating rink.”
“That’s why Cole gave such a preposterous story that involved skating.” A small grin spread across her face.
I’d never seen this lady come so close to smiling, and it caught me off guard. It showed that Cole could charm anyone. “Yeah, but they aren’t part of it. We had him to help us follow them. Only Rage and I are in it. But obviously, not for much longer.” I wasn’t about to let her know who all was involved.
“I’ll take care of the half-breed in your room. I have a safe place for her to go. You, however, need to stay.” She stood again. “I’ve been wanting a way to figure out who the players are, and now you’ve given it to me.”
“What are they doing to the hybrids they’ve taken?” If this was all about power, the answer probably isn’t a good one.
“I’m not sure.” Isadora began pacing once more. “That’s one thing we need to figure out.”
“I don’t know.” The thought of helping them capture more half-breeds made my stomach turn, especially now that I knew the truth. “I can’t keep up this charade.”
“Yes, you may have to help them catch a few more, but that could lead to us figuring out what they’re doing to all of them.” She looked at me, not even bothering to address Rage. “No matter who is involved, there is at least one person who has high ranking in the overall supernatural council. In all honesty, there are several that are corrupt. They let you in for a reason, so you and Rage are the only ones I can trust. Together we can bring them down.”
“It’s not fair to put that much pressure on us.” Rage’s shoulders tensed, ready to take on the headmaster for the both of us.
“No, she’s right.” She was right. This was only going to get worse if we didn’t try to prevent it. “We need to figure out who all is involved and take them down.”
“Are you sure?” Rage turned toward me and brushed his fingers along my cheek. “This isn’t our fight.”
Except it kind of was. They were painting a picture of hybrids as a bad thing. Making Jess and Cole feel as if their relationship was tainted and wrong. Instead of bringing all races together, the society was hellbent on ripping them apart. That’s not how it was meant to be. With both of their kind hearts, no matter what happened, I knew they would do the right thing. “She’s right. Think of Angel. She didn’t deserve this tonight. We need to help her. We need to help all of them.”
“If it means that much to you, I’m in. I just don’t want you to keep getting hurt.”
“I couldn’t live with myself if I knew there was a chance that we could make a difference and we turned our backs on them.” The more I thought about it, the more confident I became in the decision.
“You’re right.” Rage turned to Isadora. “I’m in.”
“Great, but you guys need to carry on just like before. Act like you believe it.” Isadora straightened her shoulders and grinned. “Now let me get the girl situated before more eyes begin searching for her.”
For the first time in my life, I had a purpose that I fully believed in. A future that I had determined all on my own, and I was ready.
The End
Want more? Buy Year Three Here
About the Author
Jen L. Grey is a USA Today Bestselling Author who writes Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Fantasy genres.
Jen lives in Tennessee with her husband, two daughters, and three miniature Australian Shepherd. Before she began writing, she was an avid reader and enjoyed being involved in the indie community. Her love for books eventually led her to writing. For more information, please visit her website and sign up for her newsletter.
Check out my future projects at my website. www.jenlgrey.com
Also by Jen L. Grey
Bloodshed Academy Trilogy
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
The Half-Breed Prison Duology
Hunted
Cursed
The Artifact Reaper Series
Reaper: The Beginning
Reaper of Earth
Reaper of Wings
Reaper of Flames
Reaper of Water
Stand Alones
Death’s Angel
Rising Alpha
Stones of Amaria (Shared World)
Kingdom of Storms
Kingdom of Shadows
Kingdom of Ruins
Kingdom of Fire
The Pearson Prophecy
Dawning Ascent
Enlightened Ascent
Reigning Ascent
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