“No!” I gasped, jolting upright. My eyes darted around the dark room.
The door burst open. “What are you doing in here?” Harris shouted at me as he came bristling into the room. His face was swollen and starting to bruise where my fist had made contact. Glancing around, he seemed stumped. “You said something,” he accused, shaking a knowing finger at me.
“I haven’t said a word.”
To my surprise, he didn’t argue the matter. “Well, since you’re up...” Harris started in on me. “Third time’s a charm.”
“I don’t have the necklace and I don’t know where it is,” I told him firmly.
Harris chuckled at my boldness, approaching the foot of the cot. Bending down, he picked up the glass of water from the untouched tray before proceeding to kick the tray across the small space. He studied the glass for a split second before forcibly throwing it at the wall behind my head.
I ducked, protecting my head with my arms as the cup shattered against the wall. Water and shards of glass rained down on me.
“Enough!” Harris bellowed, charging toward me and stopping uncomfortably close to my face.
“You were the last one to have it! The necklace didn’t just vanish!” he fumed. His eyes cut to the wet spot on the wall behind me. “You’ve made your choice then,” Harris jeered, spitting on the ground beside the cot. Yelling for Walsh as he exited the room. “Send a message to the pack. Tell them Rayna is here. Then round up the boys because we’re going hunting!”
I waited until I was sure they were gone before carefully getting to my feet. Shielding my eyes, I bowed my head and shook out the ends of my hair to free any pieces of glass. Pulling the cot away from the wall, I tipped it sideways so that any glass shards that had landed on it fell to the floor. Bending down, I picked up the turned over tray and immediately noticed the plastic lettering:
PROPERTY OF HARBOR GLENN HIGH SCHOOL
My heart skipped a beat at the discovery. Harris lied, he wasn't borrowing this place from a friend, he'd brought me back to the high school—under the school. This room was a fallout shelter. The only thing left to do now was to get back in touch with Ivy, which meant I had to try to fall asleep and hope she was out there waiting for me to reconnect.
I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, hoping for sleep to find me. But the harder I tried to fall asleep, the more impossible it became. It was like waiting for water to boil. My stomach growled with discomfort; I hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours. Soon enough, I became a restless, anxious mess, pacing the room until I was too exhausted to stand. I sat with my back to the door for what seemed like an eternity. Waiting. Listening.
Without any concept of time in the fallout shelter, I had no idea how long it had been since Harris’ last visit when I heard a commotion on the other side of the door. My heart sped up, pounding in my chest. I listened closely to the scuffling sound of footsteps against concrete and murmured voices echoing off the walls. I stood up and backed away from the door, expecting Harris to come bursting through it. After several seconds passed, I realized no one was entering. Approaching the door once more, I listened closely through the barred window.
“Where is she?” someone asked in a hushed tone.
“Ivy?” I whispered back through the window. “Is that you?”
More than one pair of feet pattered faster in my direction. “Rayna? It's Sloan and Dean's with me. We're going to get you out. Just hang tight!” The door handle rattled but didn't unlock.
Relief washed over me as tears sprang to my eyes at the sound of Sloan's voice.
“Rayna, do you know if there's a key?” Dean asked through the door.
“I-I don't know,” I choked out.
Dean's voice became a little distant as I heard him say. “We found her. Yeah, the entrance in the hallway outside of the gym. Looks like a broom closet. You'll see it. We need Ivy now! The door is locked...I can try. Yeah. Bye.” Dean's voice was close when he spoke again. “Rayna, I need you to stand back, as far away from the door as you can get. I'm going to try to kick it in.”
“Okay!” I obeyed, hurrying to the opposite end of the room.
BANG...BANG...BANG.
He tried again and still no luck. “I'm sorry!”
“It's okay!” I cried out.
Minutes passed as I eagerly anticipated my freedom. A ball of nerves. “Rayna!” Harlow's familiar voice called out to me. My heart ached a little at the sound of it.
“Move,” Ivy commanded. “Rayna stand back!” The door started to rattle and with a loud pop, the metal door burst open. Harlow, Ivy, Sloan, and Dean stood just on the other side of the threshold.
Fatigued and dizzy with hunger, I ran right into Harlow's embrace, collapsing into his arms.
“You're safe now,” Harlow breathed into my hair.
“I tried to call you.”
“I know. Ivy told me.” He pulled back, “We had to ditch our phones for burners,” Harlow explained, caressing my face, his expression hardening when he noticed the cut Harris had inflicted.
“Don't worry,” I smiled, “I punched him in the face.” Harlow pressed his forehead to mine with a rueful smile as a happy tear rolled down my cheek. Closing the distance between us, I shut my eyes and leaned in to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck, squeezing tight. An overwhelming sense of relief washed over me as Harlow's arms wrapped around me in response. When the kiss finally ended, the reality of where we were hit me all over again.
Looking up at Harlow, I panicked, “You shouldn’t be here. This whole thing is a set-up!”
“We’re all on the same page, Rayna,” Ivy answered in a disinterested tone from a few feet away. “Now let’s move before we have a real problem.”
Harlow’s expression went apologetic before he turned away to move out of the room ahead of me.
I reached for Harlow's wrist before he made it out of the room, halting him. “Thank you,” I smiled weakly.
“Harlow and Rayna!” Ivy’s voice echoed down the long tunnel. “Let’s go!”
Harlow offered me a soft smile in response before we both broke into a run to catch up with everyone else.
“We need to get a message to Nick and Blake to let them know we’ve got Rayna,” Sloan said as Harlow and I rejoined the group. It surprised me to learn they had aided in my rescue. Neither of them seemed very fond of me. “If I shift I can track them and get the message across.”
“You do that,” Dean agreed, “And when you find them, get yourselves out of here. In the meantime, Ivy, Harlow, and I will get Rayna to safety.”
Without hesitation, Sloan slipped off her shoes and stepped away from the rest of the group.
Harlow slipped his hand casually into mine as Dean called out, “This way!” And we all jogged off after him down the tunnel under the high school.
As we distanced ourselves from her, I glanced back over my shoulder to see Sloan, as a gray wolf, landing on all fours. Our eyes locked for a moment, hers briefly changing from their usual human color of brown to a bright yellow. Her coat was mostly gray, with white covering her chest and underbelly. She snarled at me before bolting down the tunnel in the opposite direction.
In minutes, we were climbing a stone staircase and passing through a door that landed us in the hallway outside the gym—dimly lit by the school’s floodlights. “The exit is over here,” Harlow said, gesturing toward the hallway to our right, which I knew led to the front of the school. Just as we were about to make our escape, Harlow halted us. “Wait!” he whispered, tugging on his earlobe.
We all stopped to listen and it was only then that I realized how fatigued I was. I wanted nothing more than a moment to sit and close my eyes. But the stomping pairs of feet echoing through the empty halls pulled me from the thought, alerting me that we were not alone.
“Nobody move,” Ivy whispered.
Seconds later four men in black jumpsuits tore around the corner and my heart squeezed in my chest as they headed straight toward
us. When they didn’t stop at the sight of us, I thought they might just plow right over the top of us and be done. But to my surprise, they ran right past as if we weren’t even there. I looked to Harlow for an explanation, but he was staring at Ivy.
“Cloaking spell,” she said, wiping a trickle of blood from her nose. “But it won’t hold.”
Not a second later, a gray wolf with its teeth bared—flanked by two others—trampled down the hallway of the high school and I gasped, my heart hammering in my chest and my skin prickling at their ferocity.
Harlow grabbed my hand. “Let's go!” he said, directing the group.
We hadn’t made it more than two strides before the power went out. Stopping dead in our tracks, Harlow stared up at the ceiling while my body ached in protest.
An unfamiliar male voice came through the speakers. “Harlow and Nick Payne please report to the principal's office. We have all night...” Seconds later the floodlights surged back to life.
I whirled back around to face the group, pointing over my shoulder. The principal's office was right around the corner. Right across from our closest exit. I buried my face in my hands feeling defeated.
“Enough with the theatrics,” Ivy complained.
“Rayna, are you sure you’re all right?” Harlow asked, concerned.
I winced, allowing the swimming feeling in my head to pass before responding. “I’m okay. I just want to get out of here.”
“I could just lock him in there,” Ivy offered, getting back to the real problem at hand.
“No!” a female voice objected. “It could be a trap.”
All heads snapped in its direction. Sloan stood at the end of the hallway looking like herself again—aside from her change of clothes. Nick and Blake followed closely behind, skidding to a stop at the sight of us. “Harlow, get Rayna out of here!” Nick urged. “This place is crawling with Venators!”
“We were coming to meet you after Sloan found us and we collided with two guys dressed in all black as they headed for the entrance off the auditorium,” Blake elaborated. “We took them and four others on a little detour and managed to lose them somewhere in the tunnels.” His eyes cut to me. “You’re welcome.”
Ignoring Blake’s contempt, Harlow rubbed my shoulder in an effort to comfort me. “This way,” he instructed, leading us back around the perimeter of the gymnasium.
We made it into the fine arts hallway before the power shut off for the second time. All of this running was starting to take its toll on me. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up.
“Round and round the school they go. Who makes it out? Nobody knows.” The male voice taunted us through the speakers. The power surged on again and the voice repeated, “Harlow and Nick Payne please report to the principal's office.”
“Sloan!” Nick shouted in distress.
Surveying the group, I realized she was gone.
Nick pushed through the group and took off, making his way back the way we had come. And we all followed suit.
Harris stood just outside the door to the principal's office, sporting a smug yet satisfied grin. “Going somewhere?” He taunted. To his right, the Venator I knew as Walsh was restraining Sloan—one hand over her mouth. “The necklace in exchange for the she-wolf,” Harris wagered.
I heard Ivy murmur something indistinguishable from somewhere behind me. At her command, the fluorescent light above their heads burst one beam at a time, sending sparks raining down on Harris and Walsh. They all ducked in reaction to it and Sloan almost got away, but one of the Venators was faster. The man grabbed Sloan by the ankle, yanking her back toward him with so much force that she fell forward, catching herself with her hands so her face didn’t make contact with the floor. And the Venator slid her back into his custody with ease.
Harris chuckled darkly. “Your magic won't work here I'm afraid. So, what do you say?” he asked, holding out his palm, “Do we have a deal?”
“Sloan!” Nick bellowed running toward her. He collided with an invisible wall, unable to take another step.
“Oh! Did I hit a nerve?” Harris mused with a crooked smile, striding toward Sloan as if to prove just how untouchable he was on the other side of that invisible barricade. He pressed his foot into her back and she cringed under his weight. Stepping back, he whistled and more men dressed in black jumpsuits stepped out from the shadows—outnumbering us greatly. “Take her away!” he ordered the Venators. Walsh and two others pulled Sloan to her feet and dragged her out of the building.
“I'll be in touch,” Harris added before he and the rest of his followers retreated.
Nick whirled around to face us, punching a nearby locker with so much force that his fist left a sizeable dent. His eyes locked on mine. “You!” he snapped, advancing on me.
I staggered backward as dizziness wrapped itself around my mind. Harlow and Dean stepped up to intervene just as my vision blurred and my legs gave out.
chapter seventeen
WHEN I CAME TO, I FOUND MYSELF IN THE DARK, staring up at a tile ceiling. Fear gnawed at my insides and I pushed myself upright, adjusting my aching body. Something pulled at my arm as I moved, and I discovered that I was hooked up to an IV. Hospital. Great. I thought to myself. The last thing I remembered was a confrontation with Harris and the Venators in the hallways of the high school. Right before I blacked out… “Sloan!” I gasped out loud in panicked realization.
Someone grumbled nearby in the dark. To my right, Harlow was almost asleep in a chair beside the bed. My random outburst stirring him.
“Rayna?” Harlow mumbled, his voice groggy from sleep as he stretched his legs out.
“Hi,” I greeted him with a weak smile.
“Rayna! You’re awake,” Harlow announced, practically jumping out of the chair. “How are you feeling?” he asked, gently squeezing my hand.
“A little achy, but otherwise fine.”
“I’ll get the doctor.” Before I could object, he was out of the room, calling down the hallway for someone.
My eyes traced the room, trying to determine how long I'd been out. Light tried to peek in from behind the blinds that were drawn against the window beside the door. The room didn’t consist of much. An old, small TV was mounted on the wall opposite the bed and two worn, blue chairs—one to my right, where Harlow had been sitting—the other pushed into a corner. My mother's frantic voice as she spoke to someone on the other side of the door pulled me from my distractions, and a moment later she came bursting in.
“Ah!” I complained, covering my eyes with my hands as someone blinded me by flipping on the lights in the room.
“Oh, Rayna, honey, we were so worried!” my mom sniffled, leaning in to hug me. “I’m so happy to see you awake!” She stepped back, frantically looking me over. “Are you hurt? Does anything—”
“I'm okay, Mom,” I interrupted, uncovering my eyes.
My dad and Dalyn weren’t far behind. “You okay, Ray?” My dad asked, giving me a one-armed hug.
“Better now,” I answered as Dalyn rested her hand on top of mine from beside the bed.
The doctor was the last person to enter the room and he shut the door gently behind him. The room suddenly felt crowded.
“Hello, Rayna. I’m Dr. Patel. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve had worse days,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Seems like you’ve got a nice sense of humor, that’s a good sign,” he smiled reassuringly. “Can you tell me what you remember before you passed out? You have a cut on your cheek. If you were harmed physically—”
“I wasn't,” I cut the doctor off. “This,” I said, touching my cheek where Harris had wounded me with the dagger, “was the extent of it.”
My mother clutched her hand to her chest, visibly relieved.
Dr. Patel scribbled something onto the clipboard he was holding. “And do you remember anything that happened before you fainted?”
“Not much,” I lied, not wanting to give anything away without kn
owing what story Harlow had given him, my parents, and the police.
He nodded. “Do you mind if I check a few things?” I shook my head. Everyone in the room waited quietly as Dr. Patel checked my heartbeat, eyes, and throat. “Everything seems to be almost back to normal. We’ll do a final exam in a few hours. If everything checks out, we should be able to release you tonight. Right now, though, I'm going to have Nurse Flynn bring you some fluids to get you back on track.”
“Oh, thank you, doctor!” my mom practically gushed.
“Yeah, thanks,” I repeated. Once Dr. Patel exited the room, I was left with my family, who all seemed to be a little on edge.
“How long was I out?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence.
My dad checked his watch. “Twelve hours, give or take.”
“Thanks to you the school has been shut down until Thursday,” Dalyn told me brightly. Despite her poor timing, my sister’s voice served as another reminder that I was safe here.
“What day is it?” I asked.
“Sunday.” Dalyn told me.
“What time is it?”
My dad checked his watch again, “Three thirty in the afternoon.”
After a beat, I said, “I’d actually like to get some rest. Would you guys mind coming back later?”
“Sure, honey, whatever you need,” my mom agreed. “Just make sure you try to eat a little something when the nurse comes in.”
I nodded. “And, if it's not too much trouble, will you send Harlow in?” I asked cautiously.
My mom looked a little hurt by my request, exchanging a glance with my dad.
“Rayna, we thanked Harlow and sent him home. He was clearly tired. We told him you'd call,” my dad explained.
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