Calm. Stay calm. Mr. Johnson will sort this out. Aiden stalked out of the room with Dylan close behind him.
The wardens’ headquarters was in the back of the building across from the courthouse. Aiden went up to the receptionist and took another deep breath. “I’d like to talk to Mr. Johnson. Is he in his office?”
“May I ask what this is concerning?” the man asked.
“Just tell him Aiden and Dylan need to see him right away.”
Dylan gave him an impressed look, and Aiden wondered if that had come out snappy.
Aiden cleared his throat. “Please.”
The receptionist nodded and picked up the phone. Even if he didn’t recognize their faces from the newspaper, he would definitely know their names.
A few moments later, they got permission to go through to Mr. Johnson’s office.
“I like this new you.”
Aiden couldn’t help cracking a smile. “Don’t get used to it.” He didn’t like being angry any more than he liked being afraid.
When they stepped into Mr. Johnson’s office, the warden’s face was guarded. “Aiden, Dylan. If this is about the help from Faery, no, I haven’t gotten an answer from the council yet.”
Aiden was distracted for a second. What were they waiting for? The extremists could attack at any moment, and the council had to know they didn’t stand much of a chance against a dozen dark fae, let alone all the criminals they’d broken out. “It’s not that.”
“It’s Warden Bul— Bradley.” A growl rumbled under Dylan’s tone.
“We want him fired.”
They explained the situation, Mr. Johnson’s expression turning stormy. Still, Aiden expected him to make excuses, tell them they were overreacting, try to placate them by saying he’d have a talk with Bradley.
Instead, Mr. Johnson shook his head. “That’s it. He’s done.”
“Really?” Surprise made Dylan’s voice high.
The knot that had formed in Aiden’s chest loosened a little, but he was still wary.
“I can’t fire him outright…”
Of course not. Here came the excuses.
“But I’m pulling him out of teaching. I’ll send him to guard the prison.” He got up. “Wait here.”
“Where are you going?” Aiden asked.
“To tell him he’s bumped down to guard duty.”
“Right now?” Dylan asked.
“Everyone needs to know this won’t be tolerated.” As he walked out the door, he muttered, “I’ve got enough shit to deal with.”
Aiden and Dylan stared at each other. After a moment Dylan said, “Wow. He’s really doing it.”
Mentally, Aiden was relieved, but his body was still on high alert. He started pacing the office. “Now I’ve got all this energy, and I don’t know what to do with it.”
Dylan smiled. “I know exactly how to handle that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Two weeks after the attack on the prison, the council reopened the schools. There was a lot of rah-rah talk about not letting fear rule their lives and not letting the extremists win. Dylan went back and forth between thinking it was pointless and reluctantly agreeing with the council.
If the town stayed on lockdown, they were letting the extremists run their lives, and that was even worse than having the council and the wardens control them. But if Morgan and his buddies did attack… none of this would matter.
Everyone was nervous and skittish. More people than usual gave Dylan odd looks in the hall that first morning back. At least more than the new normal. It was like old times, and not in a good way.
A lot of kids were whispering to each other when Dylan walked into homeroom, and everything went silent the second they noticed him. They must have been talking about the attacks, but it was weird that they didn’t ask him any questions. Everyone knew he’d been there.
When Dylan got to second period, Toby bounced out of his seat, throwing one of his hands up in an exaggerated wave. “Dylan. Come sit over here.” He was a short, skinny guy and always wore a baseball cap turned around backward. Before Aiden came along, Toby had avoided Dylan, afraid of him like most of the other kids. They weren’t exactly buddies now, but they were friendly.
Tiago already sat at the desk next to Toby, his expression dark. Dylan slid between them, looking between the boys. “What’s going on?”
“They think we had something to do with the prison break,” Tiago said.
“What?”
“There’s a rumor—and I don’t believe it at all,” Toby said. “But people say you and Tiago might be helping the extremists.”
“What?” Dylan shouted, so mad the edges of his vision blurred. How dare they? How fucking dare they!
“Please keep it down,” the teacher said, barely glancing up from her desk.
A surge of rage went through him, and he tensed.
“Dylan.” Tiago put a hand on his arm. “It’s not her fault.”
Dylan considered throwing a fit anyway. If he was going to get blamed for things no matter what, at least he could get in trouble for something he’d actually done. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t been kicked out of class and given detention dozens of times before.
But Cat Boy was right. Dylan wanted to find out who started the rumor and make them pay for it. As soon as his mind turned in that direction, he came up with suspect number one. “Warden Bully,” he growled.
The man had been demoted to guard duty, but he’d found a way to punish Dylan for it.
“Yeah, probably.” Tiago looked more upset than angry.
Dylan let out a string of curses, but he kept his voice low. As more people entered class, they chose seats as far away from the three of them as they could. Even if they weren’t listening to the lies, the look on Dylan’s face probably put them off. “What about Aiden? Are they blaming him too?”
Toby made a face. “From what I’ve heard, it’s more guilt by association. With his best friend and his boyfriend involved—” Toby brought up his hands. “Just relaying info, I don’t believe any of it—but people are making the connection.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Dylan muttered.
“And make people think he was right?” Tiago said.
Toby leaned closer and rubbed his hands, in danger of tipping his desk over. “What you need is a countercampaign. If Warden Bradley is the source of these rumors, then we need to discredit him.”
Tiago arched an eyebrow. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
The kappa’s expression wavered. “I just want to help. I’m not brave enough to go out and fight bad guys, but I can defend your reputations.”
Dylan didn’t know what to say to that, but thankfully Tiago had it handled. “When you put it like that, it’s practically noble.”
Toby’s smile returned. “Okay, so give me all the dirt, and I’ll make sure it spreads through the whole school.” Toby was on the school newspaper staff, so he could make good on that promise. Freshman year the paper wasn’t a big deal, but after all the stuff that had happened the past few years, practically everyone read it. Dylan had given two interviews, mostly so the staff would shut up and stop bothering him.
The bell interrupted them, and Dylan struggled to focus on class. As soon as the period ended, they resumed their conversation.
“Mr. Johnson demoted Warden Bully for what he said about me, so this is about revenge.”
“Ooh, that’s good.” Toby nodded. “And everyone knows about the drama last year and how the principal banned him from school. So it’s not like he’s a reliable source to begin with.”
“Nichols is no fan of Bradley, so you might be able to get some info out of her,” Tiago suggested.
“Good idea.” Toby scribbled something in his little notebook.
“If you need to quote me or something, I’ll swear I didn’t have anything to do with the breakout.” A little worm of guilt twisted inside Dylan. He hadn’t helped them, but Morgan and his buddies were only here becaus
e of Dylan. Indirectly, this whole thing was his fault.
“Me too. You can—” Tiago closed his eyes and blew out a breath. “I’m willing to do an interview about what my parents did to me. Maybe if people understood…” He shrugged.
“Wow, that would be great!” Then Toby sobered. “I mean, it would be great to get your story out there, but only if you’re comfortable. I don’t want to like, exploit you.”
A little smile pulled at Tiago’s mouth. “I spent most of my life hiding. I want to be honest now, even about stuff I’d rather not talk about. But I’ll think about it.”
Once again Dylan had to admire Cat Boy for being so brave.
“Yeah, yeah. Of course. Let me know if you decide to do the interview.” Toby jotted down more notes.
“Thanks for being on our side,” Dylan told him.
“I’m a journalist. I’m on the side of truth.” Toby winked. “Catch you later.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Morfran ap Nos watched with growing annoyance as the lesser creatures bickered. The group was meeting in a large empty building that reeked of human things. Metal and other sharp scents assaulted his nose, and the ground under him was flat and lifeless.
The supernatural creatures stood in a loose cluster near the center of the building. Morgan stood against a support column made of metal and some kind of crushed stone. He was wrapped tightly in a cloaking glamour, observing without their knowledge.
Those they had freed from the warden prison had upset the hierarchy. The werejaguar pair was no longer in control. Now there was a pair of werewolves called Stanley and Kathleen Rhodes who tried to assert their dominance.
There had been some physical fighting, which had amused Morgan for a time. He could not help enjoying chaos even when it delayed his plans.
Now things were quickly becoming tiresome.
Stanley and Kathleen did not want to open the pathways to Faery. They were, wisely, threatened by the idea of the fae having free access to this realm. They wanted to break the alliance, believing they could destroy the wardens on their own now that they had bolstered their numbers.
“But we made a promise,” Rodrigo said. “The dark fae upheld their part of the bargain. Betraying them would—”
Kathleen, the female werewolf, snarled. “We didn’t make this insane deal. What were you thinking? You can’t trust the fae, especially dark fae.”
“We have a common goal.” Rodrigo’s eyes brightened to green-gold.
“But we’re not going to get rid of the wardens just to exchange it for something worse,” Stanley, the male werewolf, said.
“You talk about restoring the world, but you’re too afraid to actually do it.”
Kathleen took a step closer to him, teeth bared. “The fae were never part of the plan.”
“If you’re too afraid of them, then you’re not strong enough to lead us.”
Their growling grew louder, and Morgan edged closer, anticipating a fight.
Someone stepped between them, a man with jinn blood. He was one of the few here who could match a dark fae’s power, though he had shown no inclination to lead the group. “Stop it. We can discuss this without tearing at each other.”
The gathered creatures murmured, some in agreement and others in dissent. Would they all start fighting? That would provide some entertainment at least.
“The voice of reason,” Kathleen said sarcastically.
Annoyance flashed in the jinn’s eyes. “The reason I agreed to follow you”—he looked between Kathleen and Stanley—“is because I believe in intelligent leadership over following whoever is strongest. You have a plan—”
“And these two screwed it up,” Stanley said.
The werejaguars growled at him.
“They made a bargain, and we can’t toss that aside lightly.” The jinn’s voice rose to carry over their protests. “I’m only saying we need to consider the consequences. The dark fae will come after us.”
Morgan couldn’t resist an opening like that. He let his glamour fall away. “Indeed we will.” He grinned in delight at the gasps and looks of shock. Stalking toward the center of the group, he glanced around, letting them know he was marking each and every one of them. “If you betray us, my companions and I will tear you apart. Slowly.”
The werewolves glared, trying to cover their fear. The werejaguars watched him calmly.
Morgan nodded toward them. “These ones made a bargain. That does not change because you have taken their place as leaders.” A light touch of magic swirled around him, chilling the air as he came up close to Stanley and Kathleen. “You will give me the blood of every powerful being in Shadow Valley.”
“We can’t—” Kathleen began.
“You will!” Morgan shouted, his voice like thunder. He wondered if he should kill the werewolf pair and have done with it. The others would either fall into line or flee. He did not need any of them, but it was a matter of getting his due.
“We apologize, Morgan.” Stanley bowed his head. After a moment, his mate smoothed her expression and did the same.
“We should discuss our plan for attacking Shadow Valley,” the jinn said, glancing between them.
“Indeed. I grow impatient. It has already been a full cycle of the moon. I will not wait another.” Winter was ending in this land, and with the coming of spring, Morgan’s power would no longer be at its peak. Morgan conjured a large, high-backed chair and sat with his hands tented. “Do not make me regret this alliance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
As Dylan and Aiden walked through city hall on their way to class, Dylan spotted Sakura and Izume heading toward them. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
Sakura smiled. “Same as you. We just joined the wardens.”
“You… what?” His heart sank.
“After what happened, we needed to do something,” Izume said.
Sakura nodded. “We’ve been talking about it, and we decided the best thing to do was become wardens.” She frowned at him. “You don’t look happy.”
“Please don’t tell me this is some kind of macho protective crap.” Izume stuck out her tongue.
“No.” Dylan couldn’t think of what to say. He and Aiden were stuck with this, but he couldn’t explain that. “Just… surprised. You didn’t mention anything to me.”
The fox sisters exchanged a glance.
“We were still discussing it. We finally made the decision today,” Sakura said.
“Well I think it’s… brave of you,” Aiden said.
My girlfriend wants to be a warden. It was like being punched. Had it been her idea or Izume’s? “You’re joining because you want to protect people from the extremists, right?” That would allow him to feel a little better about it at least.
Sakura tilted her head. “Yeah. That’s why you joined, isn’t it?”
Had his lies helped influence her decision? God. “Yeah.” Well, not complete lies. Dylan did want to fight the extremists and protect everyone, he just didn’t want to be a warden to do it. “After what those bastards did at prom…”
“And now the breakout,” Izume said.
“You could have died.” Sakura put a hand on his chest, gazing up at him.
“We should go or we’ll be late,” Aiden said.
They moved down the hall again. “So are you going to be in the same class as us?” Aiden asked. “We’re almost at the end of training.”
Sakura shook her head. “There’s a new one starting tonight.”
“They’ve had a ton of volunteers in the past few weeks,” Izume said. “I’ve heard people are coming back to Shadow Valley to join. Even kids in college.”
“So are you delaying college for this?” Aiden asked. Dylan knew that was a sore spot for his friend, having to put that off for an unknown amount of time. Dylan had never cared about going. For one, he’d worried he wouldn’t be certified and allowed out of Shadow Valley. But even if he was, it wasn’t like he needed a job. His parents were filthy rich.
Sakura made a face. “Mom and Dad weren’t happy about that, but they understand how important this is.”
Dylan and Aiden stopped at the open door of their class. “Guess I’ll see you after.”
Sakura leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Bye.”
Dylan imagined her and Izume hunting him down if he broke the rules. He shook his head to clear the dark thoughts away.
At least he didn’t have to face Warden Bully anymore. Nichols smiled at them as they entered. She’d taken over after Warden Bully got the boot. She already taught the physical defense and restraint class, so now she was pulling double duty. No, triple duty. That was on top of her being the liaison at school.
She glanced at the clock. “Just in time. Would you mind closing the door?”
Dylan still hated the subject matter, but at least he was now being taught by someone that didn’t treat him like a criminal.
As they took their seats, she said, “We’re starting with a surprise quiz.”
Dylan groaned.
* * *
When they got out of class, Mr. Johnson was waiting for them in the hall. “Mr. Spencer, may I speak with you in my office for a moment?”
Aiden’s heart rate doubled. It had to be something bad. “Okay.” He glanced at Dylan.
“Not both of us?”
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“You better not be talking about me behind my back.” Dylan gave Mr. Johnson a suspicious glare. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he told Aiden.
Mr. Johnson led Aiden through the wardens’ headquarters to his office. Shutting the door behind them, he said, “Please, have a seat.”
“Is it bad?” Was someone in trouble? Was he in trouble?
“The council has denied the offer of help from your birth mother.”
“Oh.” Aiden swallowed as it sank in. Having fae on their side had been their best hope of defeating the extremists. Or at least the best thing Aiden could think of. “Do they have another idea for how to fight the extremists?”
Dragonkin Are from Mars, Changelings Are from Venus Page 12