by May Dawson
I scooped to grab his backpack too, and carrying both, I headed after him.
His shoulders were broad as he leaned over the bike, and the shape of his long legs and his muscular ass in Hunting leathers drew my gaze—as it all too often did. Although I’d barely heard him breathe hard on our mad dash through the woods, and he’d never complained, his shirt was damp with sweat at the small of his back. Even sweaty, Nix was sexy as hell.
“Can I help you with the bike?” I asked, shaking off the rogue pangs of lust—even when we were on the run—as I moved to his side.
“Nah.” The two of us left the safety of the trees, and he glanced down the road ahead of us. He muscled the bike down the ditch at the side of the road, then up again to the pavement. Pulling one of the two helmets off the handlebars, he asked, “How much do you trust me?”
“I also know how to ride a motorcycle,” I informed him.
He plunked the helmet on top of my head. His tousled dark hair and cool blue eyes disappeared behind the dark face shield as he put his own helmet on. When I couldn’t see his gorgeous eyes, the shape of his kissable lips and his chiseled jaw seemed even more pronounced. “Yeah, I’d expect so. I’m still driving.”
“This time,” I shot back.
“Every time.” He swung his leg over the motorcycle.
I rolled my eyes, but climbed on behind him. The bike was lightweight, compact, forcing us close together. My thighs wrapped around his hips as I rested my hands lightly on his shoulders.
“Hang on,” he told me.
“I am.”
He twisted around just enough that I could sense him raising an eyebrow at me, even though I couldn’t see his eyes well through the face shield. “You call that holding on?”
He caught my hands in his and pulled my arms tightly around his waist. My body slid against his until my breasts pressed against the hard muscles of his back. He felt warm, and after the chill of the day, I wanted to press myself against him even tighter. Instead, I settled my hands around his waist, feeling the hard ridges of his abs under my fingers.
The engine roared to life underneath us until the vibrations shook my seat.
As we blasted off down the road, the trees flickered by. The way he’d taken us on the run, fast, no hesitation, left me unsettled.
Malcolm and Nix had worked together to make sure Nix always had an escape route from the academy.
How bad had things been for him as a witch?
How dangerous were Hunters to people like us, people who were supposed to be part of the Hunter society? I hadn’t chosen to be a witch. I couldn’t help where I came from, and neither could Nix.
I couldn’t help where I came from…even if Truby had raped my mother. Even if he was my father.
Unwanted images flickered through my mind, and I bit my lower lip hard as my stomach roiled with nausea. This was no time to wallow in self-pity and misery.
Self-pity and misery are always available. They’re faithful friends who are happy to drop in any time we leave the door open.
“What will the Council do if they catch us?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. I might have thought that Nix just didn’t hear me over the roar of the engine and our two helmets.
But after a few long seconds, he shook his head.
Don’t worry about it.
If there was nothing to worry about, he would have just said so.
Chapter Three
Cade
Nix and Deidra weren’t at dinner.
Tristan and I exchanged a look as I set my tray down. Their absence struck me as weird when I didn’t see them all afternoon. They’d been gone when I got back to the Tank.
But the fact they were M.I.A. for dinner meant something was genuinely off.
Tristan started to rise from the table when I stepped back from my tray, and I shook my head at him.
I didn’t need my little brother tagging along as though there was some kind of emergency.
Maybe Deidra and Nix were in trouble. Maybe not.
For all I knew, the two of them had slipped off to get to know each other better. Jealousy tightened my chest at the thought. I’d seen the way Nix looked at Deidra. Nix was cool, unreadable unless you knew him well. But I did.
I headed back to Coville house, checking their rooms, then the dojo and the gym. Then I headed to the academic building. The Tank was empty. It was eerie being down here when it was unoccupied, from the rune marked in red on the door that reminded me of blood to the fluorescent lights in cages above.
God damn it. I was more and more worried about them. Maybe Malcolm would know where they were.
When I came around the corner to the long wooden hallway that led down to Malcolm’s office, I glimpsed dark coats and swords. I pushed my back into the wall, my heart beating faster in my throat. Council.
They’d almost killed Nix, a long time ago.
And Deidra’s power was even more terrifying.
Maybe they’d come for her.
The escape hatch. It had been a while since I’d thought about the escape plan that Nix and I had formed years ago. First, there was the enchantment to get through the fence. Then, there were weapons, IDs, money and a motorcycle stockpiled in case Nix needed them. Hopefully, Nix and Deidra were already gone.
The sound of boots on the hardwood floors was coming closer. Fuck. I headed back the way I’d come toward the stairwell, taking quick but measured steps. If they saw me running, I’d attract attention.
And depending on if my least-favorite woman in the universe was here, the Council might remember me.
Nix and I had each other’s backs since day one. I’d been willing to defy them to protect my friend. Hadn’t made such a great impression.
I was headed down the stairs when I heard footsteps coming too quickly up the stairs ahead of me. My stomach tightened. It felt like a trap.
Then curly, sandy-colored hair and big shoulders came into view, coming up the stairs. Not another member of the Council. My idiot brother.
I glanced past him down the rest of the stairs to the lobby. The Council was close on my heels. We wouldn’t make it back to the doorway without being noticed, and the academic building was a ghost town. Everyone was at dinner. It was suspicious that we were in the building now.
And besides, I still wanted to get to Malcolm.
“Play along,” I mouthed at Tristan.
“So I’m not in trouble for once?” he muttered under his breath as the two of us started up the stairs together, retracing my steps.
“Ohh, I wouldn’t say that,” I shot back.
The two of us were headed up when a woman in a long leather coat, with dark hair and a sword, appeared at the top of the stairs. Calla. She was flanked by her men a second later, four of them, all equally muscled and heavily-armed.
“Oh, look at that,” Calla said, her voice light and mocking. “It’s the Dane boys.”
Tristan frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at me. “You’ve got another fan?”
“Shut up,” I warned him, pushing his shoulder forward. He kept moving up the stairs.
It didn’t take much for me to pretend that Tristan was in trouble and I was pissed off, marching him up to face the dean.
As we reached the top, the five of them blocked our way, arms across their chests. Her face looked mocking; the four of them looked blank.
“If you’ll excuse us,” I said.
She shook her head instead of answering. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
I met her gaze. “You know I don’t have one. I’m still waiting on you to realize you prefer younger men.”
“Don’t you dare disrespect her.” One of her men moved down the stairs toward me, his mouth tight with intent.
“Relax,” she told him, her expression amused. “It’s the right of young Hunters to be mouthy and brash and stupid. So very stupid.”
“Cade, Tristan,” Malcolm said from behind the wall of bodies at the top of the stairs. “What are y
ou doing here?”
“This idiot broke curfew.” I shoved my brother forward. “Again.”
“I’ll just be a minute,” Malcolm said to her. “This won’t take long.”
“I don’t need you anyway, Malcolm,” she said, and there was a threat in her voice.
The five of them moved down the stairs as one, and Tristan and I had to press ourselves against the banister to avoid them. I rolled my eyes as they finally passed, and we headed up the rest of the steps to Malcolm.
“My office,” he said. “Now.”
The three of us entered Malcolm’s office, which smelled of whiskey and old books and wood smoke from the fireplace. Malcolm closed the door behind us.
“The Council came to examine Deidra,” he said.
“Like they came to examine Nix?” I asked, my voice tight. What they did to Nix was unforgivable.
Somehow, Nix had forgiven them. He wanted to be a Hunter more than anything, to have the Academy and the family we’d made at the school. But I wasn’t so convinced.
Malcolm raised his hands. “They are more…dangerous…than usual right now. Truby has everyone up in arms.”
“That’s a reason to keep the witches we have on our side,” I muttered.
“You don’t have to convince me, Cade,” Malcolm said. “Not anymore.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
Tristan glanced back and forth between us, his jaw tightening as he realized that Deidra was in danger.
“I don’t know,” Malcolm said. “And that’s how it needs to stay.”
Chapter Four
Deidra
“Nix,” I said into his ear, my face shield bumping his. “Can we stop?”
I didn’t want to tell the gorgeous man that I had to pee, but oh my god. We’d been rocketing along over country roads for hours now. The vibration of the bike between my legs had changed from a turn-on to a constant reminder that my bladder ached.
He nodded and a few minutes later, we coasted into the gravel driveway of a truck stop.
I hopped off the bike before it even stopped and headed up the wooden ramp toward the front door. Nix stayed behind me, locking up our gear and the bike, as I burst through the door, searching for the Ladies sign like I was on a mission.
When I came back out, I really noticed the place for the first time; there were a handful of guys sitting around inside. The only other woman was wiping down the counter.
As the front door opened, bells chimed. Nix walked in, his jaw tight.
She said, without really looking up at me, “You might want to head on out of here. We don’t usually serve your kind.”
“No, it’s all right.” One of the men sat forward. “I don’t mind letting the pretty little Hunter eat with us…as long as she comes and sits on my lap.”
My chest tightened. This was not a friendly place; we’d walked trouble into by accident. How the hell did they recognize we were Hunters?
When Nix’s gaze met mine, his grim expression told me he’d knew we’d made a poor call too.
“Restrooms are for customers only,” the man who’d spoken before said.
Nix dropped a twenty on the counter. “Thanks for your hospitality. We’ll be on our way.”
The man who’d spoken before crooked his finger at me. “No, stay a while.” There was a thread of steel in his voice.
He went on, “I always wondered about Hunter girls. We don’t let our women run around like sluts.”
Nix sighed, rubbing his hand across his face. He didn’t seem particularly concerned about the rapidly escalating tensions. He seemed exasperated.
“Like what now?” I asked. “What the fuck are you people, anyway?”
The man stood slowly from the table. “And we definitely don’t let our women run their mouths like that. It’s not pretty to curse, girl.”
“It’s not a good look to be a misogynist pig, either, but here we are,” I said.
“Misogynistic dogs, actually,” Nix corrected, his voice dry. “They’re shifters.”
The woman disappeared into the kitchen. The men at the table stood. There were only four of them. They were all bigger than Nix and me, older but ropy with muscle. They were probably slower, but I knew from fighting with my uncle that old-man-strength, coupled with experience, shouldn’t be underestimated.
“Sorry,” Nix said to me. “I didn’t see the signs outside that mark this as shifter territory.”
“It sounds like you both could use a lesson in manners,” the man said, pulling his belt buckle open. His belt whispered out of the loops as he wrapped it around his fist once, the rest of the belt hanging loose from his hand.
“You don’t want to start with her,” Nix warned him.
The diner exploded into commotion.
The guy with the belt in his hand started toward me.
Two of the guys went after Nix. The fourth hesitated as if he didn’t have anything to do. He stood, then paused to take a drink from his beer.
Sure. Underestimate the Hunters. See how that works for you.
Fools like this always underestimate the girl.
When the guy with the belt came at me, I slid inside his reach. He tried to grab me, but I caught his arm as he extended and slammed the edge of my boot into his knee.
He buckled backwards.
His friend tackled me from the side, grabbing me around the waist. My toes lifted off the ground.
I leveraged my foot just above his knee and propelled myself up, my hands catching around his shoulders. When I slammed my head into his nose, pain exploded along my forehead, but his nose shattered. I jumped free of his arms as he went to his knees.
Across from me, Nix whirled as he fought the first two shifters with deadly competence. There was a grin on his face that I hadn’t seen before.
The boy was broken.
But hot.
The first guy almost caught me with his belt, and I took a quick step to the side as it whistled past me, the tip flicking painfully against my side. That’d leave a bruise. But that was what I got for being distracted by the beautiful man.
I caught the belt and yanked him toward me, pulling him off-balance. Before he could catch himself, I launched myself off the ground to slam my boots into his chest.
He fell heavily, catching the edge of one of the tables. His head slammed into the ground, and he didn’t get up. I edged up to him warily, then checked him for weapons and a pulse. He was alive but unconscious.
When I turned, Nix watched me with his arms crossed over his chest. There was a glint of approval in his eyes.
“I told them not to mess with you,” he said.
“I didn’t really see you de-escalating tensions there.” Nix didn’t seem one to back down from a fight…if we even could have avoided that one. “What would we have done if they shifted?”
“We would have fought wolves instead of men.” He leaned over one of the unconscious men, pulling open his jacket and taking his weapons. “Another good lesson.”
“Are we really going to pretend this fight was for educational purposes and not because you love to punch people?”
Nix flashed me a dizzying grin, although his icy blue eyes were cold as ever. It was the kind of grin a girl could lose herself in.
“I’m still starving,” Nix said, stepping over the bodies on the ground as he headed toward the kitchen. “Want to see what there is in the back?”
“Shouldn’t we get out of here?” I asked.
“That would be the smart answer,” he said.
“Smarter than calling shifters dogs.” I hadn’t met any wolf shifters before, but even I could guess they wouldn’t like that much.
“Smarter than asking some mysterious supernatural creature what the fuck are you?” He shot back. “Oh, maybe there’s peanut butter. I could really go for a PB&J.”
I followed him through the kitchen doors.
At least I’d gotten the chance to pee.
Chapter Five
Trista
n
I stayed quiet while Cade and I crossed campus back to the house. I didn’t want anyone to overhear us. But I was full of questions. Cade was full of restless tension and frustration; I could feel it in his too-straight posture and the tightness of his shoulders.
He headed into his room, and just as I reached the door, he turned to close it in my face.
He might be an instructor, but he had lost his damn mind if he thought that was going to work for him.
I caught the door with my forearm and shoved in. He threw his weight against the door, but he was too late. I’d already slipped past him.
I whirled to face him in the center of the room. He leaned against the door, looking nonchalant as if he hadn’t just tried to lock me out of his room.
“What are we, kids?” I demanded.
He shrugged. “What do you want, Tris?”
“I want to know what the hell you’ve been keeping from me,” I said hotly. “What did the Council do to Nix before?”
Cade shook his head, his mouth tight. My big brother hated to talk about anything emotional.
“When did the Council come here before?” I asked. I’d been in high school when our parents died. Cade was already here. “And do you really have a thing for—”
“No.” Cade broke in, sounding scandalized. “I just wanted to throw Calla off-balance.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “She did not seem thrown.”
“She never does,” he muttered. “That’s why she leads the Council.”
“Tell me everything,” I said. “Come on.”
“Why?” Cade perched on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms impatiently. “You’re just another first year. Why do you think you need to know?”
“Are you really going to do this? Pull rank when—”
“Nix is my friend, not yours.”
“That’s a little mean.”
“And Deidra is my cadet that I’m trying to help.”
“Oh, fuck off, Cade. We both know she’s more than that.”
His eyebrows rose. “Ah, no.”
“She makes you flustered.”