Chapter 7 Kael
SEVEN
KAEL
The sun beats down on my bare shoulders as I maintain my pace. I needed to let off some steam since I could barely sleep last night, which meant only one thing: a run. The rhythm, the pounding of my sneakers on the ground, and the endorphins flooding my veins is exactly what I’m chasing.
Not really.
It’s her, but that isn’t an option. Not even to see if she is okay. Rion declared her off limits last night once he returned and Papa Blackwood was secured in the basement, awaiting our presence again soon, I’m sure.
Rion seems to forget that I’m technically Elodie’s guardian, but apparently I’m also a liability with questionable instincts and I could fuck it all up again for everyone. Every fiber of my being wanted to storm across the hall to her room last night and prove a point, but in reality, he was right.
Who knows what the hell I would do once I got in there.
Wake her?
Yell at her?
Fuck her?
Maybe all of the above.
Swiping a hand down my face, I try my best to rid the visual of her naked body from my mind in an attempt to focus on the pathway ahead of me, but it does nothing.
The mention of her scars last night still has me confused, and my curiosity is wreaking havoc on me, which is likely why I didn’t sleep. I’ll get answers eventually, I just need to show a little patience. Only a little.
Sweat clings to me as I round the bend, following the path at the edge of The Vale, bypassing Institute One, when my cell phone chimes from my pocket. I don’t slow my pace as I dig it out to find a text from Rion flashing across my screen.
Rion: Where are you, man? It’s URGENT!!
I roll my eyes. He’s dramatic. He probably can’t find his moisturizer or something. I’m ready to slip my cell phone away when it starts to vibrate in my hand. This time, it’s not the pleasure of a message, but an incoming call from the wolf.
Considering my options, I sigh, lifting the device to my ear as I click answer and turn down the pathway to Institute Thirteen.
“Where are you?” he blurts before I even get a chance to speak a single word, and it makes my steps falter slightly as I note the actual urgency to his tone.
“Why?”
“Because Elodie is gone.” His gruff tone matches my own.
Anger floods my veins as I pick up my pace, charging toward Thirteen with purpose. “I fucking knew it. You guys should have let me—”
“Not by choice, asshole,” he interjects, making my brows furrow in confusion.
I drop my speed to a walking pace so I can think. “Get to the point, Rion,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose as a million thoughts run through my mind.
“Professor Morton took her,” he explains, but it’s still not enough information.
“Took her where?” I push, and the pause that follows makes my pulse quicken.
“The Sanctum summoned her.”
Raking my fingers through my damp hair, I glance at my watch. I’ve barely been out of the building for forty-five minutes. How can everything go to shit so quickly?
“How do you know this?” I ask, aware of the fact that he barred us all from knocking on her damn door, which is why I’m out here to begin with.
“That’s not relevant right now,” he states, and I curse under my breath.
“You better believe it is,” I bite, irritation rising inside of me. He did precisely what he insisted Thorne and I shouldn’t do. Motherfucker.
“Kael,” he mutters, and I scoff.
“Rion.” I want to hear it from his lips and he knows it.
“I went over there.”
I wipe my hand down my face again. “Of course you did.”
“It’s a good thing, really,” he insists, and I huff as I approach the front steps of Institute Thirteen.
“How do you figure?”
“Because she’d be gone and we wouldn’t know.”
I hate it even more when he actually has a point.
Asshole.
Hurrying inside, I take the steps two at a time, racing to the fourth floor. The second I reach the top step, the door to my shared dorm with Thorne and Rion swings open, only it isn’t the wolf I see, but the shadow fae.
“Elodie’s gone,” I grunt, and he nods, no hint of surprise in his eyes as he takes a step backward into the room. But before I can follow him, the door across the hall swings open and Rion stands in the doorway.
I end the call, tucking my cell phone away as we look at each other.
My lips part, ready to take control of the situation, when footsteps from behind echo around us and I peer over my shoulder to find Ocean hurrying up the steps with two bags and a tray of drinks in her hands from the coffee shop.
One bag is from the bakery, the other from the little hardware store on the opposite side of The Vale.
She takes one quick look at the three of us and her open door before her eyes turn to slits and her mouth twists in anger. “What did you do to her?” She storms toward me, somehow still managing to aim an accusing finger my way, despite the bags and takeaway cups in her hand. “I swear to God, I—”
“We didn’t do anything, you lunatic,” I grumble when the tip of her finger gets within an inch of my nose.
“Professor Morton took her to see The Sanctum,” Rion explains, offering more than I would have liked.
Ocean’s eyes widen in surprise as her shoulders slump. “Shit. I knew I shouldn’t have left this morning,” she mutters, more to herself than anything else, but I still let it fuel my fury.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have,” I bite, towering over her, yet she doesn’t cower like I expect.
Instead, she blinks up at me as it takes a moment for her to process my words before she scoffs, whipping her head from side to side.
“Of course you take the first opportunity to blame someone else,” she mutters, bypassing me as she heads toward Rion, who moves to the side to let her into her room, but my words seem to make her pause and she looks back at me before she steps over the threshold.
“How is this on me?” I grunt, eyebrows furrowed in disbelief as she simply rolls her eyes at me, not bothering to give me an answer.
She hands the tray of two cups to Rion, who wordlessly pulls one out of the holder, chugging it like it was meant for him.
“That was for Elodie,” Ocean mutters, dropping her bags to the floor as she plants her hands on her hips.
“I didn’t take her for a white mocha with blonde roast kind of girl,” he states with a shrug before downing more of the drink.
“I’m more concerned that you know what it is,” Ocean retorts, but quickly waves her hand in the air, cutting off the change in conversation as she turns to face the rest of us. “How do we get to The Sanctum?” she asks, her gaze mainly focused on me. I shrug, but it’s Thorne who answers.
“We can’t.”
“That’s not good enough. She’s been through enough already, don’t you think?”
I don’t like the pointed look she gives everyone, but worse, I don’t like how much I’m starting to agree with that statement.
“Is she safe alone?” Rion asks, tapping the tip of his finger on the takeout lid as he thinks.
“Really, I’d say she’s safe as long as they don’t call for her guardian’s presence, wouldn’t you?” Thorne adds, and I pause, considering his statement before I exhale slowly with a nod.
“Why?” Ocean asks, rubbing her lips together nervously.
“Things are bad if your guardian is called,” I explain, taking a deep breath as I try to calm the panic that threatens to make me do something stupid. If your guardian is called, it means they’re considering death, or they’ve already taken necessary actions in that direction.
Thorne is right. If I’m here and she’s there, it’s not that bad, right?
“So what are we supposed to do? Just sit around and wait?”
“Pretty much,” I admit, hating the way my gut twists at the answer as the sound of footsteps draws closer, making their way up the stairs.
My pulse falls into pace with the sound as my heart rate quickens. I turn toward the person, but it’s as if the world is moving in slow motion when Professor Morton appears with a slight grimace, her eyes crinkling.
“Kael Forrester, The Sanctum will see you now.”
I storm through the double doors at the end of the hallway, Professor Morton long forgotten at this point. She hightailed it the moment our feet touched the ground at The Sanctum, all in fear of the five members who sit around the circular table before me.
My lips purse as I take them in. Something’s not quite right. Usually, I face off with them seated in a row, but in here, it almost feels as though I’m interrupting something, despite my being summoned.
The walls are a deep navy, their chairs a charcoal gray, and only a few spotlights brighten the windowless room.
“Mr. Forrester,” Toman states, announcing my presence as I step a little farther into the room. Not too far, there’s not much space as it is.
“What is this about?” I ask, acutely aware of the fact that both Anya and Cordelia’s eyes are locked on my abs, not my face. I probably should have taken a moment to change, but the second Professor Morton spoke, I rushed at her, desperate to get here as quickly as possible.
“I think we all know what this is about,” Saken states, running a hand through his peppered hair with a heavy sigh.
“Would I ask if I did?” I retort, aware I don’t usually take any kind of tone in their presence, but the effort I usually put into faking respect is wholly gone. I want Elodie’s whereabouts, and I want them now.
Clearing my throat, I try to remain calm, but I’m floundering, out of my depth.
“Elodie left campus last night. When were you made aware of this?” Rikard asks, giving me a tired look, and I shrug.
“I was never aware she left campus, just that she was taken to the medical center,” I state, and Cordelia taps her finger on her chin as she finally brings her eyes to mine.
“So you were present when she returned?” she clarifies, and I nod. ”And how did she return?”
I frown. “By car.”
“You know we need more than that, Kael,” Anya states, running her tongue over her bottom lip, but she doesn’t even have the grace to lift her attention to my face.
I shrug. “I assumed it was something to do with you guys.”