by Maya Daniels
It takes a long moment, and the silence is so oppressive my shoulders ache from the density of it before Silas gasps, gulping air while trying not to cough out a lung. A look passes between the shifter and the mage warning me that the game has changed. Zoltan stiffens next to me, his shoulders pulling back just a bit, and that tells me he catches it, too. The fact that I notice these tiny details about him and know what they mean is something I’ll think on later, like when I’m alone and can hit my head off a wall for being stupid enough to allow him to get under my skin.
“You were looking for me like I’m some wanted criminal, or a fugitive.” Turning from one to the other, I make sure the Board member’s attention shifts to me. “Instead of waiting for me to come back so we can discuss whatever has you riled up, you thought it would be better to get people to start attacking each other. The same people you harbor here to protect, the ones who protect you in return. Well, here I am.” A tired sigh escapes me and I glare at all three of them. “Let’s hear my crimes.” Silas sucks in a breath and opens his mouth, but I cut him off before he begins. “And don’t start with being a half blood because that’s old news.”
Astara chuckles.
“Don’t you see them thumping their fists over their hearts? Swearing loyalty to you like some savior that will lead them to glory? Rules have been put in place and obeyed for centuries for a reason, Ms. Drake.” It’s the shifter that speaks, his voice rumbling deep in his chest like rolling rocks. I need to ask what their names are eventually or I’ll start calling them jerk one and jerk two. “They are there not just to protect us, but to protect the humans as well. Yet here you are, turning everything on its head that we have fought so hard to build with our blood, sweat, and tears. Destroying everything we stand for. Your misguided heroics by rushing into unknown battles placed the Academy in a very difficult place. You divided us, and the Board will not stand for it.”
“Last time I checked it was you who bound me to this damn place without asking permission. Meanwhile, while I was out there trying to bring one of your strongest back because he was taken from right under your noses, you decided I was breaking your stupid rules?” The shifter hunches forward, his narrow gaze turning his eyes into slits. “I did nothing but my best to protect Sienna, and by default everyone on this side of the portal. Where were you while the rest of us where fighting for our lives?”
“Do not make this some self-sacrificing quest to save us all, Ms. Drake.” The mage slashes his hand through the air with finality. “Whatever it is between you and Roberti does not matter. You dragged the Academy in the middle of it. Some of us can see right through your innocent act.”
“Do you listen to the crap that comes out of your mouth?” My body trembles from the anger churning inside me. The skin on my arm and the right side of my face stings from the power blasting at me from Zoltan and Fenrir, their rage as strong as my own. “My act? Innocents were dying in Sienna while you were sitting cozy on your chairs pretending to see nothing. If you are accusing me of doing everything I can to put an end to it, then I’m guilty as charged. But don’t you dare pin what has been happening under your watch while you were looking the other way on me. Aren’t you the almighty Daywalkers? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting us all? Where were you when Sienna needed you?” I scream the last words in their faces, my throat raw from the injustice of their accusations.
“No!” I whirl on Zoltan when he takes a step forward, his fangs bared at the Board. “I don’t need you to fight my battles. Let them sling their facts at me. Let them tell me what I have done wrong without some made up bullshit.”
“You divided the Academy,” Silas snarls, spittle flying from his mouth. “They will follow you to their doom and give the hunters the chance to finally put an end to us all. Is that what you want?”
“Listen asshole.”—The colors shift in front of my eyes, rage bringing my magic to the surface no matter how hard I try to push it back. All three old males take a step back before catching themselves. “I had a very long week. I haven’t slept without seeing the blade under Zoltan’s throat or Roberti’s gloating face when he threatened to expose us all. I haven’t eaten, and I was fighting for my life as well as Zoltan’s until a few hours ago almost destroying those hunters you claim I’m somehow helping to destroy you. So unless you can tell me what you did to help, or exactly what you want from me, I’m done fucking talking.”
The air is whistling through my nostrils as I pant clenching my fists so hard I can feel blood trickling in rivulets from my palms. We stare at each other, them watching me like some ticking bomb that’s about to go off, and me debating the pros and cons of snapping their necks. It won’t kill them but it’ll give me some satisfaction at least. The panther bristles beside me, shrieking a vicious cry, and my heart jerks in my chest before hammering my ribs.
“This got a bit out of control.” The mage changes gears like I change socks and it leaves me gaping at him. I blink dumbly at his serene face.
“You think?” Astara chirps dryly from behind me, and she gets three matching glares in response.
“What we are saying is you cannot divide us if we are to protect Sienna, Ms. Drake.” The shifter startles at Zoltan’s growl. With all the sounds around me, it’s like animal kingdom in here. “Zoltan, hear me out. We have a solution to all this.” The burly male opens his arms palms up, placating us as if we are making the problems.
“Let me guess.” Breathing through my nose so I can calm down, I crack my neck but it doesn’t help to relieve the pressure building behind my eyeballs. “It involves me bleeding to death or being chained up somewhere. Am I getting close?”
“Preposterous.” The mage even looks taken aback, and I almost laugh in his face.
Almost.
“No one can undo what Soren did by binding you to him, and by default to the Academy.” I have to give it to Silas, he tries really hard not to show how much it pains him to say this. The grimace on his face is a dead giveaway on how he feels, however. “So we came up with a solution where we can all work together for the same goal.” I open my mouth but his scowl makes the words die on my tongue. “It doesn’t involve you bleeding to death”—I swear he licks his lips, the creep—“or being chained anywhere. It’s much simpler than that.”
“And less messy,” the mage pipes in with a leer.
“No.” Zoltan and Fenrir bellow at once, and I jump out of my skin at the sudden shout.
“It’ll solve everything, and we can focus on the hunters. She will have our full support.” Silas is smiling like he just won the lotto and was proclaimed the king of the world.
My stomach drops to my feet, bile burning the back of my throat.
“No,” Zoltan hisses, taking a menacing step towards the Board members.
“Let her decide, Zoltan. Let everyone that followed her to the human realm and is willing to fight for her hear what she will choose. Let them see who they pledge loyalty to.” Silas turns to me smugly, and I know before he even speaks that no matter what I answer I’ll just be stepping deeper into my freshly-dug grave. “All this can be avoided if you take the oath and get initiated in the Daywalker’s guild, Ms. Drake.”
Something deep inside me shrinks back at his words.
“Show that you will pledge your life to protect them like they are placing theirs in your hands.” The asshole looks eager as he leans forward. “Everything you have said is just words. But taking the oath will prove those words aren’t empty promises.”
The pressure behind my eyes intensifies. Everyone around me is shouting, trying to be heard over all the voices in the room. My gaze locks on Silas’s, his soulless eyes boring into mine like he wants to see my soul. The corners of his thin lips lift in a smug smile, telling me he thinks he won by giving me this ultimatum. He expects me to decline.
My gaze roams the room meeting worried glances all around, but the panther’s eyes make me freeze. The feline is watching me with a calm and level gaze, and the knot in my sto
mach loosens. I’m not sure why, but I know deep inside that no matter what they want me to do, everything will be okay at the end. I might not come out the same on the other side but if that will get the Board off my back so I can get to Roberti, it’ll be worth it. If it’ll protect my friends and prevent more deaths, no matter what they want from me will be worth it. I know I should ask what giving an oath entails, but at this point there’s no reason. I can’t see a way around it without causing more harm than necessary.
“I’ll do it.”
You can hear a pin drop.
It’s almost like the Academy itself is holding its breath at my murmured words. When the yelling resumes with more intensity, Astara joins Zoltan and Fenrir and slings threats at the three old jerks. A rock drops in my gut. What the hell did I just agreed to?
Chapter 4
A soft breeze follows the cracking of the wood when the door to my room opens. Every nerve ending in my body tunes in to Zoltan even before he steps foot inside, the metal of the door handle groaning under his tight grip. As if I don’t know he is pissed at me for playing along with the stupid games the Board is shoving down my throat. I rushed out of the grand hall while they were still arguing, unwilling to watch them rip each other’s throat’s out. My adrenaline rush limit has been reached, that’s for sure. It was either stay there and faint like some weakling, or leave and crawl in my room like a wounded puppy.
I chose the latter.
Fingers absently tracing patterns over the panther’s fur, I stare at the ceiling. My entire body protests when I fling myself on the bed, and now the purr coming from the shifter, who has crawled on my side, is soothing like the constant rumble of an idling engine. I can feel it in the center of my chest and it keeps me calm for whatever reason.
But all my Zen disappears when Zoltan snarls, and every bit of calm I feel dissipates as Fenrir shoulders his way inside. Astara and Leo are right behind him.
“The meeting room is down the hall to your left, in case you all got lost on your way there,” I tell the ceiling, sounding tired even to my own ears.
“You know he is not an animal.” Zoltan glares at the giant cat stretched out next to me.
“If you can get him out of here, be my guest.” The purr kicks up a notch, vibrating my insides. “I didn’t have the will or the strength today to wrestle with him at the door.”
With a shriek, I flail when Zoltan plucks me off the bed before situating himself over it, his back pressed on the headboard and plopping me in his lap. The panther grumbles but his head stays down, his paws tucked under his chin. Only his ear flicks left and right, his intent gaze not straying from me.
“At least I don’t get the urge to put the shifter on a leash so he behaves.” I huff squirming in a futile attempt to free myself of the frustrating Daywalker.
“You want to put a leash on me?” Zoltan’s hot breath tickles my skin, his low words meant just for me melting my insides. Emotions clog my throat and prevent me from breathing. Wetting my parched mouth with my tongue, I avoid looking at the others in fear of what I’ll see.
“You are not going through with the initiation,” Fenrir says, his words cutting through my thoughts like a blade. Astara is already shaking her head, yet none of it helps me forget the fact that Zoltan’s is wrapped around me like a boa.
“I need to leave the Academy.” I change the subject before my hormones make me do something stupid, like rub all over Zoltan as if I’m a bitch in heat for example.
All the oxygen in the room is sucked out.
“Hear me out.” I silence whatever protests coming my way with a hand when I hear the collective intake of air. “I don’t mean leave as in walk out and never return. I need to go to Sienna.” Twisting around and doing my best to ignore the rock hard erection poking my hip, I lock eyes with Zoltan.
“You know what happened when you tried to leave.” His blue gaze is searching but I can see his unwillingness to let me go, too.
“How can I ever forget.” If my words were any dryer ash would spew from my lips.
I shiver in Zoltan’s arms when the sound of whistling wind through the forest while I run faster than I’ve ever done before deafens me. The memory of that night claws its way to the surface, the humidity of the air choking me even now as moisture fills my lungs. The stench of rotting roots and moist soil fills my nostrils and I gasp for air to remind myself I’m not sprawled face down on the forest floor slowly dying while staring at the iron gates so close yet too far to reach.
“Francesca.” Zoltan’s arms tighten around me. “Look at me.” When I don’t comply fast enough for his tastes, he shakes me so hard it rattles my bones, but it snaps me out of the panic. “Ms. Drake, breathe!”
“Seriously, you need to stop”—Gulping air, I push on his chest to get up but my attempts don’t even register with him—“calling me … Ms. Drake. Or get the hell out of my bed, and room while you’re at it.”
“If you push your luck you can announce your celibacy starting now.” Fenrir guffaws, which in turn makes Leo belt out a laugh that startles the panther.
“I need to go to Sienna,” I repeat, not letting them sidetrack me.
“What is this desire to go to Sienna all of a sudden, Hellion?” Fenrir crosses one ankle over the other and leans back on the wall next to my door while I listen to Zoltan’s teeth grinding from behind me. “We have enough problems to deal with here.”
“I need to see Daren.” Ignoring the vamp turning into granite under me, I keep my gaze level with the Fae. “I must talk to him … alone.”
After I sneaked out from the hall, I couldn’t shake the idea that I should speak to Daren. Everyone here has shared details of what is going on and clued me in on many things, but they all have given an oath preventing them from sharing too much. I still feel like I’m on a need to know basis, and with the Board cornering me into this initiation, I have to be prepared for whatever they throw at me. I trust Zoltan, Astara, and Fenrir, as well as Leo, but I don’t trust them not to be biased. They are Daywalkers after all. Fighting Roberti, Cassius, and Alex is one thing, but the Academy as a whole is a totally different matter. Will they be willing to stand against what they are if it comes down to it? Will they pick my side, the side of a half blood—dragon blood or not—when everything they’ve known for centuries is this? My mage friend, however, has no qualms about exposing all their dirty secrets, especially if he knows my life might depend on it. Before I get myself in a deeper hole, I have to hear what he says.
“You can’t leave.” Zoltan sounds too casual with his words, but I can feel him coiled up like a snake ready to bite. “We can get the mage here if you wish to speak with him.”
“Right, because he will be thrilled to come to the one place he hates more than anything in the worlds.” Glancing at Astara, I judge her reaction to see if I’ll get any help from her in this. “They took the love of his life from him, and you honestly think anything can convince him to cross those gates?”
“If he is your friend he will do it for you.” A strange look crosses Fenrir’s face, leaving me wondering if he is implying that he is a better friend than Daren. Who knows, though? Maybe it just bothers him that he isn’t.
“Even the trees have ears here, so I need to speak with him on his terms. Otherwise he won’t tell me anything. Bringing him here is not an option. I need to go to him.” My mind is already spinning with a plan to get my ass to Daren’s pub. If it comes to it, I’ll wake Soren up because the ancient Fae will have a way. I know that much.
“You don’t trust us.” Lifting me off him, Zoltan stands up and sets me on the bed, not meeting my eyes. “Not fully.”
“I don’t think that’s what—” Astara frowns at her brother’s back when he yanks the door open.
“I know what she’s saying,” he cuts her off. “I just thought …” My insides twist into a knot when his shoulders snap back. The Zoltan I met the first day I arrived at the Academy makes an appearance. The air around him shifts, clos
ing him off from me. “You cannot leave the grounds, Ms. Drake. For your sake, of course, but also for everyone else’s you need to stay away from those gates.”
My chest hollows, numbness spreading through me like a wave. He doesn’t say Ms. Drake in a teasing matter like he normally does just to irk me. This is more like shutting a door in my face, making it loud and clear what will happen if I disobey his orders. Anger festers in my stomach, more at myself than at Zoltan. What did I think? That just because I allowed him inside my body he would follow my wishes and think of me before anything else? Tears prick my eyes, the room and everyone in it blurring for a second. I blink them away and clench my jaw. It’s good to put this distance between us from the start. My stupid heart might confuse lust for love and that will be the end of me. Ancient oaths, death threats, and old males on a power trip I can live with.
But loving Zoltan will kill me without a doubt.
“As much as I hate him right now for being a typical stubborn male, I have to agree with my brother, Franky.” Astara implores me with her eyes as she wrings her fingers. “After what we did to Roberti, even if you could go down to Sienna, I’d rather you didn’t. He has spies everywhere, not just at the Academy. If he gets you alone he will jump at the chance.”
The headache I’ve been fighting intensifies. It’s not that I want to put myself in a peculiar position by seeking to see Daren. I need to speak with him without worrying if we will be overheard. Plus, I don’t have it in me to ask him to step foot here after everything he’s told me about the woman he loved and how much he still suffers from losing her. Do I have the right to disturb his life? Remembering the look on Silas’s face like a vulture about to get a feast, I have to admit the three jerks got one thing right …
I am selfish.
Maybe even Zoltan is right in thinking I’m cunning. At the end of the day, I don’t want to die, and I’m willing to go to great lengths to prevent it from happening. I can feel the weight of Fenrir’s gaze drilling a whole on the side of my face, but I don’t look at him. Instead, my attention goes to Leo. The Alpha is usually very chatty, making fun of everyone just to lighten things. Yet, he has barely said a word this whole time.