24. Ryland
TWENTY-FOUR
Istare down at the dead girl lying in the grass at the center of the stadium field. Her eyes are open wide, her lips parted, and there is a gash at the top of her head. Her skin is so pale. If I hadn’t already been told there wasn”t a drop of blood left in her body, I would know.
“What the fuck happened?” I snarl, looking at the team as they shift from foot to foot, unease filtering into the air around us as I stare down at Teagan, who is kneeling next to the Healer as she does an assessment.
“She randomly appeared. No students saw anything. One moment, the girl”s track team was leaving the field, and when the rugby team came in not five minutes later, she was here.” It”s Dimitri who answers—the only one on my team who has enough dominance to meet my eyes when I’m upset. I curse and run my hand through my hair, yanking the hair tie from it as I look around. My team has secured the scene; my three newest recruits standing guard around the girl, while Andrei is taking statements from the members of the rugby team who found her.
“Dismiss classes for the day,” Teagan instructs, using her headmistress voice while looking up at the trembling man who is holding a tablet in his hand, staring at the dead girl like it”s the first time he’s seen a dead body. “Students are to return to their rooms and stay there until dinner. That will give the Balaur Patrol time to search the grounds and ensure their safety.”
I hold back the urge to scoff at her attempts to keep the students safe. If this woman gave two shits about the students here, she would send them home and close the university. Shaking my head, I turn away from her, and my eyes catch on a familiar head of black curly hair.
I can feel my Dragon creep forward, wanting to go over to the boy who thought he could touch Serafina and get away with it. He’s talking to Andrei, nodding to whatever my friend just asked him before looking back this way. His eyes glance over me for a millisecond, and I swear I see a flicker of disdain there before he looks back at the dead girl and frowns. There’s a group of students surrounding him, and a small blonde girl who can’t be more than five feet tall is clinging to his arm, batting her lashes up at him like he’s some kind of hero.
I’ve spent all night diving into everything I could find about this boy while concocting a plan to get Fina to talk to me. She’ll be a challenge on her own, but her willingness to let this boy touch her concerns me more than anything.
“Evans!” I twist on my heel, yanking my gaze away from the boy to look at Boris as he stomps onto the field. I take a step toward him, then frown when I see the damn Angel, Atlas, and Serafina trailing after him. My heart leaps in my throat at seeing her in the light of day, then plummets as I really start looking at her.
There are dark rings under her eyes, which makes them appear darker than I’m used to. I can tell she’s used some make-up to help cover them, but they may as well be bruises with how dark they are. Her long black hair isn’t as shiny as it used to be, which makes me wonder if it’s a hair product problem or a health issue.
My Dragon growls at that thought, immediately wanting to go to her, pick her up, and bring her back to our nest. We can make sure she gets more sleep and feed her, then I can call Covington and force all the information I need out of him in order to fix whatever is wrong. I tilt my head to the side, listening to the Angel as he shakes his head.
“No Demons have crossed my boundaries. I would know,” he snaps at Fina causing her to roll her eyes at him. I can”t stop the smirk gracing my face when she shoots the prick a death glare for talking to her that way. Keeping my eyes on my girl, who is walking by her brother”s side, I wait for Boris to reach me. I shove my hands in my pockets so I don’t do something stupid, you know, like reaching out and kidnapping Fina. I’m pretty sure she’d cut my balls off for that, and I really don”t want that to happen.
“My shields would have picked up on it as well,” Atlas admits, looking up at Fina, winking at her when she huffs under her breath but nods. From the corner of my eye, I watch as the kid watches my girl, his eyes locking on her every move as she glides my way.
“Report,” Boris grinds out, coming to stand at my side. His shoulders are trembling, and his eyes are gold, matching my own as we stare down at the young girl on the grass. Teagan sighs and stands up, brushing off her white slacks that now have grass stains on her knees before she walks over to stand in front of us.
“Female. Eighteen. No blood left in her body with injuries to her head and ankles,” I add, looking at the red, almost burn-like marks showing just above her black sneakers. “No ID on her yet, but we’re working on it.”
“How can you list all that off with no emotion?” the headmistress gasps, looking at me like I’m a monster.
“Easily,” I snap, turning my glare on the short Phoenix shifter in front of me. “With the knowledge that I personally told the headmistress of the school to shut this place down, and she didn’t listen. I sleep well at night knowing her death isn’t on my shoulders,” I lie. Not about the death part, because that’s true. I did tell this woman multiple times not to let the students back here, but I don”t sleep easy at night. Every death hangs on my soul like it”s personally my fault I didn”t get to them in time. I didn”t save them, and they had to die alone.
Teagan stumbles back like I physically struck her, dark brown eyes glistening with unshed tears as she stares at me with her mouth agape.
“I-I tried! I went to the school board and—” she starts to stutter, shaking her head as a tear falls down her golden skin. Boris snarls, barring his sharpened teeth at me as he steps forward, hand outstretched to help comfort her. He’s always had a tender spot for crying women. I, on the other hand, couldn”t care less. Sure, Teagan went to talk to the school board, but she didn’t fight the decision. Girls are dying, and I hold her just as responsible as I do the school board, myself, and my team for failing to save them.
“You can’t go over there,” I hear Andrei snarl, making me twist my head just in time to see him reach out to grab Serafina”s wrist as he attempts to stop her from following Atlas and Ambrose.
“Oh shit!” Dimitri shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth as he yells across the field to Andrei. “Dude! Don’t she’s a—” Dimitri”s warning isn”t soon enough, and I watch as Andrei’s fingers wrap around my Draga Mea’s tiny wrists, yanking her back and away from the field.
I see fucking red as Atlas shouts when he sees Fina move from his side. Ambrose pivots, golden tattoos twisting through the glamour he’s currently wearing, but before anyone can do a thing, Andrei releases a scream that quite literally is made of nightmares. His back arches as Fina slowly turns her gaze upon him, looking him in the eye as she shakes her head and tsks under her breath.
At this moment, I’m not sure if I need to save my best friend from dying at the hand of the woman I love or kick his fucking ass myself for touching her. A growl bursts from my chest, making Boris curse and stumble back as my Dragon releases his full dominance on the group of people gathered on the field. Over half the people here crumple to the ground, leaving only those who are not shifters on their feet.
“The fuck? Ryland!” Andrei bellows, face planted firmly in the dirt as I stalk over to him. Fina brushes her hands off in front of her like she’s removing Andrei’s touch from her skin. Her head snaps up when she hears me coming, and she shakes her head as I close in on her.
“Ryland. I’ll drop you just as fast as I did him if you touch me!” she grits out, making my Dragon growl at the challenge she’s laying in front of us. What my pretty little mate doesn’t realize is I love it when her dark magic wraps around me. The pain her magic can cause is a balm to my shredded soul.
Walking over, I snag her wrist, despite her loud and vocal outbursts, ensuring my fingers encompass the very spot Andrei touched and marking her skin with my scent rather than his. It’s all I can do not to grab and yank her into my arms, to mark her with my scent everywhere. The urge to bury my nose in her hair and breathe her in hits me square in my chest.
I know my possessiveness is not granting me any favors in her books, but it is something I can”t control. The need to ensure every male on this field knows she’s mine is an instinct I can’t suppress, and I almost hope she drops me on my overbearing ass as a result. It’ll help with the guilt later.
A bolt of pain ricochets through me as Fina’s magic wraps around my wrist, mirroring my hold on her, and I chuckle, looking down at the dark magic, hoping it will leave a mark. Nothing would make me happier than having a physical reminder of her with me throughout the day.
I slowly release her wrist, prying my fingers off her one by one despite the anger I feel while doing it. I know I need to earn back her trust and get back into her good graces before I go around scooping her up like I used to when we were kids, but I also know my Dragon’s limits, and there was no way I was going to be able to handle my best friend without hurting him with his scent mark on my mate.
“Ryland,” Andrei groans, still on the ground at my feet, sweat dripping down his reddened face. I sigh and cross my arms over my chest as I slowly lessen the dominance my Dragon is radiating and hear a collected sigh of relief from the people on the field.
“You’re intolerable,” she snaps, pulling her wrist to her chest and rubbing at the spot I just scent-marked. I nod in agreement as I stare at her. She’s so fucking beautiful. It’s been so long since I could just look at her. I think I could stand here all day if she’d let me.
“I am. And you used to be better at carrying through on your threats,” I respond, watching as the magic releases my wrist without leaving a single mark. “I thought I taught you better than to give up without a fight,” I tease just as I feel something cold wrap around my ankle and take it out from underneath me. A second burst of magic strikes me in the chest, shoving my already falling body harder into the ground below and knocking the air from my lungs. I blink up at the blue sky in a daze, trying to remember the last time someone got the better of me like this as I hear Atlas roar with laughter.
I wheeze in a breath as a shadow blocks the bright skies, and Serafina’s face comes into view as she steps over my body, a leg on either side of my hips. She shakes her head, cold eyes raking up and down my body as she bends down, bringing her closer and making me smile.
“The only thing you taught me was never to trust someone so completely that they can ruin you with a handful of words,” she whispers, effectively stabbing me in the heart with a metaphorical blade before standing back up and turning toward her brother, not looking back once as she strides over to where Boris is watching us all. My smile falls from my face as I roll to my side and watch her go, my heart cracking at the pain I saw in her eyes. The pain I put there.
“Dammit,” I groan before flopping back onto the ground, putting a hand over my eyes to block out the sun.
“Dude. I’ve never seen someone put you on your ass like this before,” Andrei groans, rolling to his side next to me and giving me a funny look. I chuckle and nod, letting my hand fall away from my face as I slowly collect myself. My dick is rock hard, and I know I have to be pitching a tent in my pants, but I can’t bring myself to care. When Fina ran from me last night, I was terrified I would never have the chance to apologize to her. The sad and broken girl I had seen wasn”t who I was expecting.
But this feisty woman?
I grin and push myself up to my hands and knees, watching the girl who owns my soul talk with Boris. I can deal with Serafina’s anger. I can tolerate whatever punishment she deems fit as long as she doesn’t retreat into herself and lock me out. I’m more than willing to fight for her, as long as she fights back.
“Serafina has a way of doing that,” I admit, thinking back to all the times she’s taken me off my feet, both physically and emotionally.
“Yeah…” Andrei draws out, side-eyeing me hard as he gets to his feet and offers me a hand up. “You like her?” he asks in a questioning tone.
“She’s mine,” I respond simply, brushing off the grass and dirt from my pants and shirt before repositioning the blades I have strapped at my waist.
“No shit! Well, damn, I wouldn”t have touched her if I knew. Sorry, man,” Andrei says, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Yeah, uh, me too. Just don’t touch her and we’ll be fine. I didn”t hurt you, did I?” I ask, a thread of worry worming its way in, but Andrei only laughs and shakes his head.
“Nah. I’m counting myself a lucky bastard for still breathing,” he teases as Dimitri runs over, dipping his head in a respectful nod.
“Bella!” I watch as fucking Teos Ramadan shakes the blonde clinging to him off and runs past, his too-tight rugby shirt and tiny shorts pissing me off as I track his movement toward my girl.
“Teos!” she complains, mouth agape, as he waves her off without a backward glance.
A growl builds in my throat as I imagine yanking his arms from his sockets and beating him with them until he stops breathing. ‘Kill him,’ my Dragon urges, and I nod in agreement.
“Shit! Fuck!” Andrei says, whacking me on the back of the head as smoke starts to billow from my flared nostrils. “Bad Dragon!” he snaps as he runs after the young boy. “I’ll take care of him. You kill a student, and you”re toast!” he hollers over his shoulder as he runs, then throws himself at Teos just before he can reach my girl. I cross my arms over my chest, watching in part amusement, part anger as the boy goes down with a hard thump, Andrei doing me a solid and pinning him to the ground as he starts to talk to him.
“Ryland!” Atlas snaps, turning to watch the commotion with an unimpressed look my way. “Get him off Teos!”
“Oh my God! Let him go,” the blonde cries, trying to push past some of my team members who actually do their job and keep her on the side of the field. A few of Boris’ team finally start to show up and help clear the students off the field, taking the noisy blonde with them.
“Teos!” Fina shouts, muttering something else under her breath as she steps around Atlas, her long sword materializing in her hand as she stalks toward Andrei, murder burning in her gray eyes.
Oh fuck!
“Fina! Drop the sword!” I bellow, racing toward her as a hand catches her wrist just as she’s about to bring the blade down on my best friend. Don’t get me wrong. By default, I fucking hate that feathered bastard Ambrose who is constantly on my ass about my magic, but I can’t help but be grateful that he stepped in and stopped Fina from dealing that killing blow.
“I think we”ve had enough killing for today,” Ambrose drawls, shooting Fina a disapproving look.
“Andrei! Move now!” I command, adding a whip of dominance to my words, making Andrei flinch as he jumps to his feet and bolts toward Dimitri, who is currently snickering like a school girl watching the show in front of him.
“Jesus!” Teos complains, jumping to his feet and glaring after Andrei as he moves away from him. He steps toward Fina, who shakes the Angel off, her sword falling from her grasp and disappearing, making everyone around her look slightly less terrified.
Before Teos can reach her, I grab him by the collar of his shirt, tug him back and shake my head. “You touch her, and I kill you,” I warn, making him laugh and look up at me, amusement clear on his face.
“Damn, you two are so much alike. It’s kinda crazy. You realize that’s what she was just saying to your Dragon buddy?” Teos laughs, not caring in the least that I have him by the scruff of the neck.
“No one gets to kill him but me,” Fina snarls, stomping over and shoving me in the chest, grabbing Teos and tugging him protectively behind her. My blood boils as the damn kid smirks like a cat who got the cream, his arms winding around Fina’s waist as his chin rests on her shoulder while she glares up at me.
“Awe. That”s so sweet, Babe,” he laughs, squeezing her tight before pecking her on the cheek. “Tell the mean Dragon to leave us alone.” Fina glares over her shoulder at Teos.
“Shut up!” she hisses, shrugging him off her as Boris walks over.
“No students are allowed at an active crime scene. You two need to go back. The headmistress is asking all students to return to their dorms until the campus can be swept for any threats,” he says softly, reaching out to put a comforting hand on Serafina’s shoulder, then thinking better of it when he sees my expression.
“Yeah. Sure,” she agrees much faster than I thought she would, grabbing Teos’ hand and looking at Atlas, who gives her a small shake of the head. When her eyes narrow and she crosses her arms, he sighs and rolls his eyes, giving the smallest of nods.
Fuck, what are they up to now?
“I was just about to go grab some lunch. Teos?” she offers, nodding toward the dining hall. I watch the kid blink a few times, like his head just imploded, and grind my teeth together when he nods dumbly.
“Me?” he asks in a squeaky voice, pointing to his chest. Fina gives him an exasperated look as she nods.
“Yes. Is there anyone else here with the name Teos?” she asks between clenched teeth.
“No! That’s me. Right. Lunch. Cool! Let”s go!” he chirps as he grabs her hand and practically yanks her towards the school.
“I’ll kill him,” I snarl under my breath, moving to follow after them as Boris jumps in front of me.
“Nope. I need you here to help with this,” he says, thumbing over his shoulder at Ambrose and Atlas. “That victim isn’t a student, and we need to figure out what the hell happened.” I clench my fists at my sides as I watch my Draga Mea walk away from me again, holding my breath and waiting... Praying that she looks back at me at least once. When she reaches the gates of the stadium, my shoulders roll in, and I curse, running a hand across the rough facial hair covering my chin. Looking away, I kick the toe of my boot against the ground, hopelessness filling me as I try to figure out what to do. I look up once more, knowing I’m only hurting myself more by watching her disappear. Just as she’s about to turn around the bend of the pathway leading back to the school, Fina peeks over her shoulder, our eyes clashing for a moment, making my heart stall in my chest before she disappears from view. The relief that crashes through my body makes me lightheaded.
“Yeah. Okay,” I tell Boris, taking a deep breath before I turn back to the dead girl, gesturing for Andrei to cover her up. “Dimitri, Kingston. Fly the perimeter of the campus. See if there are any signs of Demonic activity. Lewis, find out the girl”s name so we can find next of kin,” I instruct as I move around the clearing, ensuring everything is done correctly. Once the girl has been moved and the field emptied of everyone but my team, Boris, and Atlas, I set my guys on collecting whatever evidence we can find here before I move to stand at Atlas’ side.
“What are you up to?” I ask under my breath, leaning down and resting my hand on the arm of his wheelchair.
“What do you mean?” he asks, his face the picture of innocence.
“Don’t pull that shit with me,” I grind out, looking back in the direction Fina disappeared. “I’m playing by your rules here, but those twenty-four hours are about up. Then everything is fair game. What is Fina doing? She left way too easily, but she checked in with you before she left,” I accuse.
Atlas studies me a moment, then nods at the dead girl, now respectably covered. “No blood in her body,” he says, and I nod, brow furrowing as I look at him. “Where is it?” he asks, and I shake my head, not understanding. “The girl is dead; there is no blood. Even a Blood Mage would leave a drop or two at a murder scene,” he points out, and I curse, standing to my full height.
“Fina’s going to find the murder scene?” I ask, panic racing through me. “Are you fucking insane?” I mentally start calculating how long it’s been since she left and curse when I realize it’s had to have been at least thirty or more minutes. She’s long off school grounds by now.
“She was going to go whether I said no or not. Trust me. I would rather she didn’t, but now that you know…” He trails off with a smile. “Maybe she can have a little backup.” Atlas smirks, knowing I’m not going to let his sister walk around looking for a Demonic murder scene, and he won’t be the bad guy for ratting her out.
“You should’ve said something before now!” I snarl. He moves to say something, but I’m already sprinting after her, waving off Boris’ shouts as I run toward the school.