by Helen Scott
I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep until I bolted awake. Poppy was in trouble. Terror leaked through the bond and although I could sense that she was still close by I didn’t know what was upsetting her. Without a second thought, I was up and out of the room, bursting through the door to the room she had been in with Nolan, with Emmett close on my heels.
Nolan was kneeling on the bed, shaking Poppy, pleading with her to wake up, but her form was limp and her eyes remained stubbornly shut. Emmett and I closed the distance between us and the bed in a matter of two strides before we were there on the bed with him, calling out to our queen.
Chapter Six
Poppy
The world around me seemed as if it were on a Tilt-a-Whirl. Nothing made any sense, and images seemed to bleed into one another until I arrived at a school. It was clearly for teenagers. Something in me knew this wasn’t real, but then as I looked around, I started to doubt myself. The smell of cleaner and over-sprayed cologne stung my nose, while I could almost hear the echoes of the school band practicing.
There were no bright colors or exciting cartoons on the walls as there would be for younger kids. Instead, there were signs that said things like “No Cell Phones in Class” and “Hall Passes” with large cards hanging down from each peg. The whole place was empty as I wandered through it, and left me with an eerie feeling. More signs decorated the hallways, reminding the students of prom, not to forget graduation, to order their class rings, and to make sure they complete their summer reading.
A scratching noise sounded behind me, and I spun to find out what it was. Nothing. Not even a piece of paper waving on a wall to indicate that the sound I’d heard was real. When a scream echoed down the hall, I turned on my heel and ran. I should have been running away from the noise. People didn’t scream like that out of joy. Instead, what was I doing? Running toward it like some kind of idiot, but that had always been my problem. I hated seeing people in pain, and yet, I was supposed to be the future queen of the Underworld. Please, tell me how that made any sense.
The woman’s scream echoed down the hall again, and as I skidded around a corner, the scene in front of me would be forever burned into my memory. The metallic scent of blood washed over me. It coated everything. Lockers. Walls. Ceiling. Floor. A whimpering noise sounded in the room on my left. I turned and found the familiar benches of a science classroom. Part of me expected to see Bunsen burners and Erlenmeyer flasks sitting on them, but then, it had seemed as if school weren’t in session, at least from the lack of students. It had to be close to the end of the year, though, judging from the decorations on the walls. The smell of sulfur and burning hair wafted toward me and made me want to gag. I tried to breathe through my mouth as I searched for the source of the whimpering noise, but then I could taste it. Something shifted in the closet behind the teacher’s desk, and I immediately made my way over and yanked the doors open.
A woman was curled into a ball on the floor of the cupboard. Her short dark hair was wet, and half of it was stuck to her face, while her wild blue eyes searched the space behind me. Her long purple maxi skirt was splattered with blood, as was her pale-blue T-shirt that read, “Stand back, I’m going to do science.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, extending my hand to help her out of the cupboard.
“I’ll be fine once the police are here,” she whispered. “Is he still out there?”
“Who?”
“The pale man,” she said as her eyes shimmered with tears.
“I didn’t see anyone. What happened?”
“We were having an end-of-year pizza party. The science club, I mean, and I thought it would be fun to do a couple last experiments for the seniors, send them off on a good note, you know?” I nodded, trying to encourage her. “The man came into the classroom demanding to speak with Shadow, one of the other teachers. When I said I didn’t know where he was, the guy just started grabbing kids. I couldn’t stop him. He dragged them out into the hallway, yelling for Shadow. You saw the hallway, right?”
I swallowed and nodded. It wasn’t something I was ever going to forget. It looked like a blood bath.
“I got some kids out through the windows, and some ran. When I realized I was the last one in the classroom, I hid. I knew if he found me, he’d kill me, but I wanted to be able to tell the police what happened when they got here. I think he was looking for me, but when he heard you, he ran.”
“Were you the one screaming?” I asked.
“Screaming? No. I haven’t heard a sound other than you for the last fifteen minutes.”
That knowledge was unsettling to say the least. I hadn’t been in the school for fifteen minutes, and I had definitely heard someone scream, hadn’t I? Whether I had or hadn’t, there was one person who seemed to be at the center of everything. “Where’s Shadow’s classroom?”
“Five doors down on the right. If you hit the cafeteria, you’ve gone too far.”
I nodded. “You did a good job. I’m going to see if I can find any of the kids who might be hiding, okay?” I said softly. “You stay here until the police come.”
She nodded, and when I was almost out of the classroom, I heard the door to the closet snick closed. I glanced behind me, and just as I had thought, she had shut herself in again. I couldn’t blame her. I just hoped she was able to recover from what had happened. As I went down the hall, I had to be careful not to slip and fall. The last thing I wanted was to be covered in someone’s blood when the police showed up.
Shadow’s classroom was empty, although it was nothing like a classroom I had been in. Skinny all-in-one computers sat on the desks surrounding the room, their screens all black. The computer at the teacher’s desk was another story. It was in sleep mode with some word bouncing around on a blue background as a screensaver. I did a quick circuit of the room, but there was nothing there except a jacket.
A muffled shout drew my attention. As I left the room, the doors to the cafeteria and the doors to an almost patio-looking area were on my right. A flash of white drew my attention even more. When I got to the door, the flash of white was more visible. It could only be the pale man the science teacher had referred to. He was dressed in all white, and when he straightened from being bent over, I could see his colorless hair that shone in the sun, along with his deathly white skin.
What did the guys call them? Agents of Hel?
The man who I could only assume was Shadow was kneeling on the ground in front of him, his face battered and bruised. The pale man had them both pulled back toward a wall so he could see the largest area and not be surprised from behind. In contrast to the agent of Hel, the teacher was wearing dark jeans and a faded blue T-shirt that looked as if it might be a size too small for him. His arms were the size of my head, and he looked as if he’d be able to rip a tree in half. Why he wasn’t fighting the agent of Hel more, I wasn’t sure, but there had to be a reason. The glint of light showed me a blade pressed against his neck, and I suddenly understood. All it would take was one good nick, and he could be bleeding out.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are! I can feel you, little goddess. Hel knew you were getting close, and she sent me to deliver a message, so come on out.”
I knew he was talking to me, but how the hell could he feel me? My powers were supposed to be shielded. Unless the shielding didn’t work? Either way, it didn’t matter. I had to go out there and cause enough of a scene to give Shadow a chance to escape.
The silver bar of the door latch gave easily under my hands, and the heavy metal panel swung open, revealing me to the pale man and Shadow. I looked over them both. The guy had to be an ex-Marine or a bodybuilder or something, and I’d be willing to bet he held all the girls’ attention just fine. Meanwhile, the pale man was tall and lanky, his apparent strength coming from his wiry muscles.
“I’m right here,” I called out, and both their heads swiveled toward me. As I made my way forward with my hands raised to show I wasn’t a threat, I could see why Shadow wasn’t f
ighting. A row of teenagers was kneeling on the ground, and on each end was an agent of Hel with a blade pressed to their respective teenager’s throats.
“Oh, good. So glad you could join the party.” The pale man smirked, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I realized in that moment that these people weren’t some kind of weird albino cult who followed Hel. No, they didn’t even have color in their lips or eyes like albinos. These men looked as if they had been drained of all color. Their eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows, hair, lips, skin, it wasn’t just pale; it was almost ghostly white. Some of their hair even looked clear, as though it was just reflecting light back at whoever was looking. It gave them a weird shimmery, almost angelic look. At least until I saw their faces. The scowls, sneers, and general nasty expressions showed they were no angels.
“What’s the message you have for me?” I asked as I continued to slowly approach. I had to show no fear if I was going to make this work. Fake it till I make it and all that. I was going to fake the hell out of being a goddess if it meant that Shadow and these kids could escape.
“So eager! I like it!” He cackled. “The message is . . .” He raised his blade in the air and trailed off as if he were announcing who was leaving a reality TV show competition. The fake smile on his lips turned feral as he looked me dead in the eye and said, “You lose.”
His hand came down, and with a slash, Shadow’s neck was slit. I wrenched my eyes away from the stunned stare of the teacher as a chorus of screams erupted behind me. I spun and saw the same thing happening to the teenagers. Some tried to run, which spurred my own action as I ran toward the two agents, desperate to save any lives I could. Before I could get there, though, the pale man who had murdered Shadow was in front of me, driving his blade into my chest. “Goodbye, princess. Hel sends her regards.”
Blackness overtook me before I could do so much as scream or curse him. I fell toward the ground but never hit. Instead, I felt as light as a feather, and soft hands were touching me all over.
“Come on, Poppy, wake up.” It was the first thing I really heard.
Emmett’s voice. It was low and soothing in my ears, almost enough to make me forget about what had happened. Had it really all been a dream? I didn’t believe it. It had been too real, too detailed, even down to the smell of the blood. My eyes snapped open, and I knew I was going to throw up. I tried to push my way off the bed, but they were holding me down.
“Don’t get up too fast,” Knox said gently, and I knew one of the hands was his. It was too big and too warm to be anyone else’s.
“I’m going to—” I began, but then it was too late. I was at least able to get my head turned enough to the side so that I didn’t vomit on anyone, just the carpet, which was fairly wretched anyway. The threadbare brown material hardly qualified as carpet anymore. I hadn’t noticed exactly how bad it was until I was staring right at it, trying to breathe again after my stomach expelled its contents.
“Shit, sorry,” Knox said as his weight lifted off the bed, and a moment later, a trashcan appeared in front of my face. “I’ll get you some water and towels.”
Within seconds, the guys all jumped into action, doing what, I wasn’t sure since I couldn’t see much past my trashcan. A towel landed on the floor, covering my mess, while a glass of water was thrust into the hand that wasn’t holding on to the makeshift vomit receptacle for dear life. I could feel them all waiting, watching, but I didn’t trust myself enough yet to even think about what I had seen and not vomit, let alone talk about it. I sipped the ice-cold water, and while it felt good in my mouth, it hit my stomach like a punch. The cold spread through me like the creeping ice of winter.
“Tell me something nice. Distract me,” I said, my voice hoarse. They could literally tell me anything, and it would be better than sitting there in silence.
“We’ve had a nice talk with Cass. He’s on board with everything now, although it took a while. Hunter has decided to sleep in the car, so he’s missing this party, and Knox found a way around the TV block, so we can watch whatever we want.”
I smiled. Of course he had. “Does anyone have any ginger ale?”
“There’s a twenty-four-hour pharmacy just across the street. I can get you some,” Nolan said just behind my shoulder, dropping a soft kiss on my skin.
“Thanks, and I’m sorry,” I said as guilt swamped me.
“Sorry?”
“For vomiting in your room,” I said, slightly incredulous that he didn’t realize what I was talking about right away.
“Not my room. We were just using it for a while.” He shrugged and then grinned at me, and my body flushed. We had been using it, and quite well at that. Before I could respond, he took off at a jog out of the door.
“When you’re ready, I want to know what happened, but take your time. If you want to freshen up, there’s your bag in the bathroom,” Knox said, replacing Nolan by my side and rubbing soothing circles on my back.
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure, angel.”
My heart thudded in my chest as the images from the vision played in my head over and over, except in still frames, highlighting the woman’s terror, the blood-soaked hallway, the large blade cutting through Shadow’s throat. As much as I tried to stop it, someone had put it on repeat. When the scent of that hallway reared its ugly head, I wasn’t surprised my trashcan came in handy a moment later. How was I going to get through explaining what I had seen without getting these crazy sensory flashbacks to something that hadn’t even happened?
Chapter Seven
Poppy
It was almost two hours later, and the first pale rays of sunlight were starting to peek over the roof of the motel, making the snow glitter like diamonds. I’d had two cans of ginger ale and had been able to snack on some crackers, all of which Nolan had brought back with him from the pharmacy. When I thanked him, I just got a shrug of the shoulders and a smile. “Anything for you, princess,” he’d said.
Having the three of them around me had made me feel safe and protected, and eventually helped me feel as if maybe it all had been a dream. Of course, I knew better, but a girl could pretend for a little while, couldn’t she? Or at least until she stopped vomiting.
“How are you doing, angel? Can I get you anything?” Knox asked. After I’d brushed my teeth and used about a half a bottle of mouthwash, we’d started watching TV. He had worked his magic to get us to the paid movie channels, which were way better than any of the early-morning TV on the local stations. An old black-and-white love story had come on, and we had all snuggled down on the bed until I announced that for the most part, I felt better.
I had tried to give them the most detached rundown of events that I could, and although I gagged in a couple parts, I made it through the whole thing without vomiting, so I felt as if I deserved a gold star, or a cookie, when I could eat one again, that is.
“By the gods, no wonder you were sick,” Emmett said.
I sipped on my can of ginger ale, trying not to think about everything I just said and how it was still seared into my mind. “I think we need to figure out where that school was and get there as soon as possible,” I said before taking a deep breath and trying to squash the emotion that came with the next statement. “I can’t let all those kids die. Let alone one of my judges.”
“Or yourself,” Knox growled.
I’d been acutely aware of the anger radiating off him since I started talking. His taut muscles and clenched jaw spoke volumes not only about how far he would go to protect me but how much he truly cared for me. I could have just been his queen, the person he served, but I wasn’t. Our bond was more than that, and when I looked at it in that moment, all I could sense was blinding white-hot fury.
Emmett was angry as well, but nowhere near Knox’s level, and my newly strengthened bond with Nolan showed me his concern, while Hunter’s weaker bond quivered with his worry. It kind of pissed me off that he knew something was wrong, knew I had been in pain, but hadn’t shown up. Or maybe he had,
and I just hadn’t been aware. I hadn’t exactly been paying attention to much outside of the three-foot radius around me for the last couple hours.
I wondered what Cass was up to. Was he sleeping? Did he sense that there had been some kind of commotion? I needed to blood bond with him soon. I needed that connection to him.
“Do you remember anything about the school?” Nolan asked as he pulled out his phone.
“Their colors were blue and gold, and their mascot was a snarling animal of some kind. Maybe a cat? Or wolf? I didn’t really get a good look.”
“That’s enough to start with,” he said as he sat back against the headboard and tapped away on his phone.
“Could someone check on Cass? I don’t want him to wake up alone.”
“Em?” Knox said, clearly unwilling to leave my side.
“On it.” Emmett disappeared out the door and ducked into the room next to us.
So much was happening, and it was all so intense, I wasn’t sure what to do next. Yes, I wanted to find the school and prevent whatever I had seen from happening, but there was also a tug pulling at me again, and it wasn’t to do with Cass. I knew that instinctively.
Knox came up and sat beside me, squishing me between him and Nolan, who moved over to the very edge of the bed to make sure we had enough room. “Come here, angel,” he said softly, opening his arms wide.
I moved to him. He was still in the clothes he’d been wearing yesterday, and looking at the wrinkles, I suspected he’d been sleeping in them, but I didn’t care. I practically threw myself at him and snuggled into his massive chest. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me close so I was completely pressed up against him.