by Maya Daniels
“I think I’m going to give it a try,” I tell them both as I drop on one of the chairs closest to the window.
They both look at me like they don’t remember I’m here. Leo is sitting gingerly at the edge of his chair holding his upper body straight. I’m guessing his ribs are still smarting. Fenrir, on the other hand, is draped like a throw rug over his, one of his legs swinging over the armrest, his eyes closed, and his face turned up like he is sunbathing like the humans I watch on TV from time to time He turns his head and blinks at me when I speak. I’m glad his glamour is back in place. It unnerves me to look at his white on black eyes.
“To trust you.” Obviously, I wasn’t clear enough. “Neither of you can be that good at lying or manipulating, not when you are stupid enough to almost get yourselves killed while trying to rile me up so I lose control. But none of that matters because I’m giving you a chance. If you blow it, that’s all on you.” Shrugging one shoulder, I look down at the papers on the desk so I don’t have to look at them.
It might be stupid after everything that happened with Roberti and my entire life in general, but no matter how I spin the situation, I know I can’t do it alone. If not for me, I know they’ll do what’s right for Zoltan. It’s the only thing I’ve got right now. Easier said than done but I’m willing to try.
“You have proven that you are loyal, Drake.” My gaze jumps to Leo’s face when the words rumble from his chest. Grinding his teeth, he stabs his arms through the holes of the pajama top. “My animal won’t hesitate to fight by your side, and neither will my human side. That’s not something you can force or buy with empty promises. I like to make jabs to piss you off, but that’s the shifter’s way when we like someone. You’ve earned my respect, which means I’ll always have your back.”
Not knowing what to say and doing everything I can to stop the tears burning the back of my throat from falling, I give him a stiff nod. Emotions are trying to choke me but I manage to push them down. The warmth that spreads through me from hearing that and the content pulse of my power startles me enough to snap me out of it before I make a fool out of myself. Fenrir hasn’t said a word yet, just keeps watching me like I’m a bug under his microscope.
“I make no promises, but as I said, I’m willing to try.” I shrug again, more of a nervous twitch than a conscious movement.
“You will not regret it, Francesca.” When he does speak, Fenrir sends a tremor down my spine with how serious his face is.
“That’s to be seen, Fae.” Shaking off the shivers, I roll my neck to release the tension building at the back of my skull. “What do we do now that you have awakened a beast?”
“The beast was awake, just a little lazy.” Fenrir accepts my change of subject by winking at me. “Now we see what the moles will be stealing from the library.”
“Come again?” All the stiffness is gone from Leo, the predator in him perking up at the idea of a hunt.
“Drake here was exercising the strength of her upper body by climbing the walls from the outside last night.” The Fae chuckles when I narrow my eyes at him. “It was quite entertaining I must say.” Turning to Leo, he grins.
“You really are a jerk, you know that?”
“Trusting me does not make me less of a jerk, Drake.” Fenrir is so serious that Leo is turning red in the face so he doesn’t laugh. “It only makes me a trusted jerk.” Bowing at the waist—which is an amazing thing to do while being draped over a chair—he jerks back. “At your service.”
Leo loses it then. Not even cracked ribs stop him from laughing his ass off at my expense while slapping his thighs again and again. I rub a hand over my face and lean back in the chair.
“This is going to be a disaster,” I tell them both with a sigh, the words muffled from my hand.
5
True to his word, Fenrir doesn’t tell Astara or Azgor about the demons stealing a book from the library. That’s the reason why I’m hugging the top of a bookshelf, breathing dust and inhaling spiderwebs. As soon as we get Zoltan back I’m going to petition the board to assign maintenance here for fuck’s sake. The roof is cleaner than the library.
And they call themselves an Academy. Lazy fuckers.
Someone opens the large doors, footsteps smacking an even rhythm over the wooden floors. Holding my breath, I peek with one eye from above their head to see who walks in. I’ve been rolling in nasty up here for over an hour while the place shows no sign of life. Cemeteries see more action than this library. A female with a cloud of thick chocolate curls strides purposely between the rows of bookshelves. Her muscular build and swaying round hips mark her as a shifter. Anticipating something like this, Fenrir placed an illusion over me to hide my scent. She would’ve known I’m the resident rodent the moment she opened the door without it. Releasing the breath I’m holding, I pull back and press my cheek on my folded arms. If the demons don’t show up soon, I’ll fall asleep. Thanks to the nightmares, I’m lucky to even get an hour of shut eye each night.
The shifter doesn’t linger long, finding what she is looking for within minutes. Then she leaves and closes us in. Leo and Fenrir are somewhere in this humongous place, destroying their lungs with dust too. We spread out so we can have a visual no matter where that important book is placed. It’s a good thing the wide, wooden bookshelves are lined up so close together. It makes jumping from one to the next a lot easier. I just hope they are as sturdy and unmovable as they look. With my track record of causing trouble without trying, I won’t be surprised if they start falling like dominos the second I move.
My mind keeps going back to the night Zoltan was taken. It’s not like I had great dreams before, but I keep thinking the reason I’m seeing it night after night is because I’m missing something important. A headache with its own heartbeat develops at my temples. Filtering the air by using my shirt and breathing into my elbow, I try to center myself, to push the fear for his life and the hatred for Roberti aside. Watching it replay in my mind’s eye by simply observing it makes me wonder why I haven’t done this before, but sitting here in the deathly silent library is as perfect as any place.
Detaching from the situation, I watch the hunters—the white color of their clothing easily recognizable—spread around methodically, which is to be expected since Alex and Cassius will know how the Academy will react to the threat. They strategically separate the shifters and Fae from the vampires, hoarding the mages between them while leaving the demons mixed in with all of them. A lot of demons don’t make it out alive, so I can’t lump them all as traitors. And then there is Myst, weaving through the chaos while dressed as a hunter. I can’t figure out the female no matter how hard I try.
The fight was going well for us until they got their hands on Zoltan. But how? If it was anyone else I would say they blindsided him. But almost as if he has eyes in the back of his head, nothing gets past the Daywalker. So they must’ve tricked him, which tells me I was unwillingly used for it. It’s the only explanation that makes sense, and everyone has pointed out how irrational he has been acting since the day I stormed through their gates. Roberti’s words float in my head about everyone being sick and tired of feeling inferior to the vampires. Seeing their attitude in Azgor’s class, I can kind of see his point, but that’s the only time I’ve seen it. Could it be he has been telling the truth and we have passive moles who secretly support his insanity because they really are tired of feeling like a second fiddle. It’s a ridiculous thought but crazier things have happened. It may carry some weight, so I’ll store it away to think about later.
The door cracks open, jerking me out of my musings. This is the wrong time and place to reflect on things, but I feel like I’m onto something. First: catch the thief. Second: solve the puzzle. Very slowly, I tilt my body sideways, peeking down from my perch. My heart jumps in my throat and lodges there when I see a demon squeezing his broad shoulders through the crack in the door. He could’ve opened it wider, but I guess he is as invested in his role of sneaking around as I am in
mine to lurk and catch him righthanded. I have no idea what time it is or how long we’ve been waiting, but judging by the protesting of my arms and legs, it’s the middle of the day in the human world. A time when most people in the Academy are sleeping.
Glancing over his shoulder, his hair tangles around one of his curling horns before he slides inside. Holding the door so it doesn’t move, he waits for the second demon to slide in, this one taller but also thinner—even though he still looks massive in comparison to say … me. Smirking at each other, they push the door back without closing it. Huh. Maybe it makes noise and they are trying to be subtle. They’ll know more than I do in any case. With barely any noise and while walking mostly on the balls of their feet, they each head a different direction, probably to see if anyone else is here. The fact that they don’t even look up is stupid of them. A few moments later, they meet at the open space near the doors, both of them shaking their heads as if telling each other no one else is in the library.
“You checked everywhere?” the first demon to walk in asks, his voice recognizable from the night before.
“No one else is here.” The second voice confirms that these are the two Fenrir and I heard from the roof.
“Let’s grab it and leave before someone decides they need a night read.” The first one is already walking between two wide rows of bookshelves. I’m stretched out on the fourth one to their left, watching them like a hawk.
“I’m sure there will be wards or some type of protection around it,” the second one mumbles, his head turning left and right. I have no doubt he can feel that he is being watched. His buddy can too if he stops acting tough and being a dick.
“That’s why we have this.” The first demon pulls something from his pocket, waving his closed fist through the air in front of his friend. “It’ll break any protection they’ve placed around it. Now quit stalling and move. The sooner we grab it the sooner we’ll be out of here.”
They pass under me while he is talking, so I flip around and wait for them to get ahead before jumping on top of the next row of shelves. A shadow moves to my right and I see Leo crab crawling like a pro on his side, moving closer to the demons to follow them. Still no sign from Fenrir but I can feel him close by.
“I have a very bad feeling about this,” the second demon—and I decide he is the smart one out of the two—says as he cranes his neck to stare over his shoulder. “Maybe we can come back tomorrow.”
“You are a coward and a disgrace to all demon kind,” the first one spits in anger. “I have no idea how I got saddled with the likes of you.”
“Wanting to keep my head attached to my neck is not being a coward.” The smart demon hisses, but his shoulders hunch up when his buddy is not watching. I make a mental note to be sure to tell Fenrir this guy will be easy to crack and that he will sing like a canary.
As silent as the wind, I move from one row to the next. Leo keeps pace on his other side, throwing glances my way from time to time. Watching him from the corner of my eye, I pick up his trick of stretching between bookshelves before moving to the next. It’s faster than jumping for sure. Clever shifter.
When they reach the end of the library the demons turn right, walking under Leo’s nose. I grind my teeth when I realize I’ll have to jump a lot further to get to that side. The shifter watches me unblinking and nods in encouragement. I don’t need courage; I need the damn shelves to be closer. Without debating it too long, I jump so we don’t lose the demons. There is a split second where I freak out, where I think I push too hard and am about to raise the dead from the amount of noise I’m about to make, but somehow I land in a crouch an inch from the edge of the shelf.
Leo grins at me, his teeth flashing white in the low light.
With a tight smile, I follow his lead and crawl behind him. Unlike any shifter I’ve ever known, Leo, an Alpha, gives me his back to show exactly how trusting he is of me. My hands are shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I’m not used to people getting enjoyment from working with me. My ex-partner Aiden is a prime example, his bad attitude and suspicions what I’m used to dealing with. Until now, that is. My smile grows. Maybe it’s not stupid that I’m giving the whole trusting them thing a shot. I like this team work much, much better.
Leo stops moving and crouches as low as he can, staring intently at the demons. Shuffling closer, my thigh brushes his when I squeeze next to him and peer over the edge. The two traitors are facing a simple wooden door, one I don’t even know exists until this moment. Glancing at Leo, I can tell it isn’t a surprise to him, but I can also see he’s so pissed that if a snake bites him right now the thing will die of poisoning.
“You keep watch. I’ll grab it,” the first demon tells the other, lifting his fist where he is clutching the thing from his pocket.
A crystal the size of my thumbnail twinkles innocently when he catches it between his fingers. Not stepping closer to the door, he stretches his arm and runs circles with it in the air. Sparks burst when the crystal connects with the protection wards, an impressive display of sigils lighting up and coming to life. They flash bright red one second then fizzle out in the next. The twinkling crystal in the demon’s hand crumbles to dust on the floor. I’m too stunned to do anything but watch him disappear through the door, popping out twenty seconds later with a thick leather-bound book under his arm. My blood curdles in my veins when the title stamped in gold catches my eyes.
Barathrum Tartarus.
I may not be very well versed in Latin but even I recognize the book that all the supernatural world thinks is destroyed. The Abyss of the Underworld was burned when they imprisoned the titans, ensuring they could never be summoned again. And here it is, as safe as a babe cradled in the demon’s arms. When I turn my face to Leo, a sharp ping passes from my back through my chest. He doesn’t look surprised at all to see it.
Now that the demons have what they came for, they move as fast as arrows back to the library’s doors. I push my unease aside for later, following the demons behind the shifter. Anger comes off of him in waves. Mine matches his but its mixed with betrayal. We watch the demons bolt through the door before dropping down on the floor. I only have time to bend my knees in hopes to soften the impact before I’m flying after Leo.
The hallway is empty when we exit the doors and panic numbs my skull that they are lost to us. At the end of it and to our left, Fenrir pops out of nowhere to wave us along. I guess he isn’t in the library anymore, which is a good thing since we may have lost the demons otherwise.
Reaching the end of the hallway, we only catch a glimpse of Fenrir’s back before he disappears around another corner. Through twists and turns and down secret stairways we descend, that is until we exit the Academy from the door at the side of the building, which is a well-used hidden entrance if I’ve ever seen one. I don’t have time to think about how many traitors have used it to kill us off one by one, though. Not yet.
In silence, we round the path circling the building, catching a glimpse of Fenrir entering the wooded area on the opposite side of the main entrance to the Academy. Jumping over gnarled roots and fallen trees, we finally catch up with him. The Fae finally stops our sprinting by raising his arm. Hidden in the shadows of the trees are the two demons, and they are standing at a portal I don’t know about until this moment.
A third figure bolts out of the trees so close to us I’m surprised he doesn’t see us, or hasn’t seen us before now. Hunched up and constantly looking over his shoulder, I expect guards to be right on his heels. Leo has made sure the shifters are busy with other things tonight, however, that way they won’t spook our thieves. Whoever this guy is, he must just be paranoid. When the light from the swirling colors of the portal reveals his face, Leo grabs my arm to hold me back.
“I know that weasel,” I hiss under my breath. “He was attached to Cassius’s daughter with a belly cord.”
“Leave him for later,” Fenrir’s body coils up, his power punching me in the face and bucklin
g my knees. My fight or flight instincts flare up at the sound of his voice. “Get the book by any means necessary.”
In the next breath, Leo shifts and the Fae launches at the demons.
6
I stand back for a second and watch the two demons. They are so focused on the guy running for them they have no clue death has written their names at the top of his list. Fenrir might want the book safe more than anything else in this moment, but my feet are glued to the forest floor, my entire being centered on the guy I recognize. Recalling the conversation from the demons, I remember them saying the book will be given to Alex, and by default to Andrius.
That’s the guy I want.
A harsh wind blasts me like a punch to the face when Fenrir’s power sends the two demons flying back, their bodies flipping head over heels until they hit the trees behind them. The demons don’t stay down long, jumping to their feet and doubling in size. I zero in on the book, which has been flung to the side. The force from the power the Fae unleashes snaps it open, making pages flutter before they finally settle. My chest vibrates from the impact of the wolf colliding with one of the demons, their bodies smacking hard when they meet high in the air. Leo’s wolf is magnificent stretched out in flight, and then his body curls around the demon, his claws sinking in and tearing flesh.
Fenrir is not so lucky. His demon is more focused on getting away from the Fae, so he runs through the trees and disappears in the forest. His high-pitched scream tells me he didn’t get too far before the Fae is on him. In the few seconds it takes for everything to happen, my eyes land on the dark-haired guy, who is as frozen in place as I am. The air shimmers and flickers in tune with Fenrir’s target, warning me I have less than I second to get my hands on the guy. My whole body tenses in preparation to pounce on the guy, but he wakes from his shock as well. On instinct, my right shoulder turns to the side because I expect him to bolt the same way he came in. To my surprise, he sprints right for the book, his beefy arms pumping while he is pushing through the dense air drenched in magic.