Chapter 15 Elodie
FIFTEEN
ELODIE
Sleep engulfs me, wrapping me up tight and snug in a cocoon as the sound of waves crash gently in the distance.
It’s melodic, warm, and safe. I can feel the sun against my eyelids, a soft curl to the corner of my mouth as I drown in the euphoric air.
With every inhale I take, a gentle scent dances over my senses, growing stronger until a rich sandalwood aroma nestles in my soul.
I can’t open my eyes, but I don’t want to.
I want to bask in this moment forever. Rolling onto my side, I feel the shift of what feels like sand beneath me, but I can’t be too sure; I’ve never felt it before to know.
As it moves under me, I feel the warm presence of someone beside me, the essence of sandalwood growing stronger.
Instinctively, I nuzzle into them, draping my arm over their chest as my leg hitches over their thigh. Fingers ghost over the side of my cheek and I hum, preening under the intimacy as I snuggle in deeper.
The sense of calmness that clings to me doesn’t feel real.
I’ve never felt anything like it in my entire life, and I’m already too scared to let it go.
I clench my eyelids together, fighting the curiosity that rattles inside, desperate to see who is beside me, to see who is creating the safest space I’ve ever breathed in.
Silently, I plead to know, but despite my efforts, my eyelids remain closed.
Clenching my fingers into the fabric beneath my palm, I part my lips, but no words escape as a siren blares through the air.
I frown, the sound jarring as the body beside me disappears, taking the rich scent and blanket of safety with them as I plummet further into darkness.
“Elodie, wake up. Elodie!”
Disoriented, I blink through the haze to find Ocean hovering above me. Panic flickers in her eyes as she shakes at my shoulder.
“Ocean?” I rasp, confused as hell, and she grimaces.
“Oh, thank God. I didn’t think you were going to wake up. Hurry, we need to get to our positions,” she rushes, dropping her hand from my arm as she steps back.
“What are you talking about?” I mutter, pushing my hair back off my face before I force myself to shuffle so I’m leaning against the headboard.
“The siren means we need to move,” she explains as she drops to her knees and tugs a black case out from under her bed.
My eyebrows pinch in confusion as I slowly realize that the siren that cut my dream short is wailing in the background.
Damn.
Rubbing at my eyes, I fail to make my vision any clearer as Ocean turns to me with a pointed look. “Positions, Elodie. I’m sorry, hun, but we need to move,” she insists, offering me her hand.
The second my palm touches hers, she launches me to my feet before shoving something against my chest.
“What positions?” I ask, still as confused as the moment she stirred me awake, but now I happen to be holding a sheathed sword. “And why the hell am I holding this?” I add as she gives me a tight smile and a shrug that says she isn’t taking it back.
“Don’t worry, just follow me,” she states, like that’s all that needs to be said, when pounding starts at the bedroom door. “Want to guess if it’s a wolf, a vampire, or a shadow fae?” she asks, cocking a brow at me as she waves toward the sound, and I shake my head.
“None.”
With a dramatic eye roll, she reaches for something on her bed, slinging it over her shoulder before she heads for the exit while I gape at her, spying the bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows at her back.
“What the actual hell is going on?” I blurt at the exact same time she turns the bedroom lock and swings the door open to reveal Rion on the other side.
He fills the doorway with his washboard abs on display and my mouth dries as I take him in. In nothing but a pair of shorts, he wields a small axe in each hand. “Let’s go, Petal,” he states, taking a step back, and Ocean sighs in frustration.
“We’re fine on our own,” she grumbles, and he scoffs.
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Is someone actually going to tell me what’s going on?” I insist, and the hot wolf gives me an apologetic smile as he tilts his head at me.
“It’s okay, Petal. I’ve got you.”
“She’s fine. Stop babying her,” Kael grunts from behind him, offering me a glare from over his shoulder.
What have I done now?
Before I can speak the question out loud, the blond vampire manages to narrow his eyes further. “Now, Elodie,” he orders, and Ocean hurries to my side to grab my arm and tug me along with them.
“What is this?” I ask, hiking the sheathed sword in the air as I step out into the hallway at the exact same time as Thorne.
“A sword,” he mutters, and I give him a pointed look as the five of us fall into step, heading toward the stairs as a unit.
“And why the hell do I need a sword?” I grumble, and he matches my stare with one of his own.
“Because we’re being invaded.”
My eyes widen so far I’m sure they’re going to pop out of my head. The only reason I keep moving is because Ocean tugs me along after her, hurrying down the stairs in a blur.
The bite of the cool night air heightens my focus as we make it outside.
Intuitively, my hold on the sword shifts to the hilt as Rion reaches for the leather protecting the steel, and with one swift move, the glint of death sparkles back at me under the moonlight.
“Fuck, I didn’t think you could get hotter, Petal,” he rasps, tossing the leather aside without care as we continue toward The Vale.
“Now isn’t the time to be thinking with your dick, Rion,” Kael grunts, his knuckles whitening around the daggers in his hands.
I turn to Thorne to see what medieval weapon he’s holding, but to my surprise, his hands are bare. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him about it when he turns to his friends with irritation dancing in his eyes.
“If we’re not down there to defend The Vale, they’ll have us all on solitary training,” he states, a tick flickering at his jaw.
My steps falter, making Ocean stumble too as she keeps ahold of me. “I’m not defending The Vale,” I blurt, and Kael scoffs, glancing back over his shoulder at me.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I’ll defend myself, but fuck them,” I insist, and Rion snickers.
“That’s my girl. Let’s go,” he roars, taking charge as we join the small group of Institute Thirteen students marching toward the peak leading toward The Vale.
Ocean releases me and I know I have no choice but to follow, hurrying beside her with nothing on my feet, wearing a flimsy pair of shorts and t-shirt pajama set I bought. They were supposed to be for sleeping in, not fighting.
“Has this happened before?” I breathe, keeping at my friend’s side, and she grimaces, her blonde hair a little more unruly than usual.
“Yes.”
“Does it happen often?” The look in her eyes tells me it does, despite the fact that no words leave her mouth. “This is insane,” I mutter, adrenaline keeping me on my feet as I try to stay focused, but it’s clear I’m nowhere near as prepared as everyone else.
Despite the charge running through my body, the whispers of my dream cling to the outskirts of my mind, attempting to lure me back.
I’d do anything to recapture the warmth I felt only moments ago, but the chill in the air and the frazzled eeriness of panic that swarms everyone keep me firmly present in a reality I’d rather escape.
My fingers clasp tighter around the sword as I take a shaky breath. “Am I supposed to know what to do with this thing?” I ask, my steps slowing as Kael and Rion continue ahead.
“I thought a sword would be simple enough,” Thorne states, his words so soft the breeze almost sweeps them away.
Glaring at the man in question, I sigh, walking beside him begrudgingly. “Unfortunately, my combat classes have consisted of drama and jogging laps with a weighted vest on. There was no sign of a sword.”
I’m captured in his deep, green eyes as he stares at me intensely, his stare only growing more purposeful with every passing moment.
“Your survival instincts have kicked in once before; they’ll do it again,” Kael hollers from his spot five strides ahead, pulling me from the depths of the shadow fae’s stare-off.
I clear my throat as I turn to the vampire, a knowing glint in his eyes, and I instantly understand what he’s referring to… the reason I’m here.
I’m a murderer.
My gut twists at the stark reality of it, but to my surprise, his words offer me a sense of strength.
Taking a deep breath, I trudge the final few steps to the peak of the pathway that leads to The Vale, but before I can catch a glimpse of anything, a dark shadow casts over me as Thorne steps ahead, blocking my view.
“Hey,” I grumble, poking my finger into his side with a huff, but he doesn’t even bother to acknowledge my existence.
My face heats, embarrassment threatening to rise to the surface as shouts and jeers grow louder in the distance, and I falter under the stark truth that I’m well and truly out of my element.
Inching to the left, fear coating my skin in goosebumps, I glare at the man before me as he shifts to continue to block my view. It’s on the tip of my tongue to berate him when realization washes over me.
He’s not being an ass; he’s blocking me, defending me.
Me.
I almost drop the sword from shock as my face pulses with an array of emotions I’ve never bared witness to before. I can’t bring myself to decipher how I feel right now, especially when my incessant curiosity fights its way to the forefront of my mind like always.
I trick step him to the left before darting to the right, making sure to keep my sword aimed at the ground as I stare at The Vale. The sea of students that fills my vision is overwhelming and dizzying as I look in every direction, realizing that every other institute has reacted the exact same way.
Seeing where all of the noise is coming from only imprints the moment into my memory forever as I wait for the invasion they spoke of.
Bodies of students wave their weapons in the air, beckoning the mayhem to come as I gape in a mixture of horror and disbelief, when an explosion ricochets from the center of The Vale.
I choke on my breath as the sound is quickly followed by a burst of color across the sky. It dances and fizzles in an eruption of shimmers, followed by another, and another, one color leading into the next until thirteen colors brighten the night sky; one for each institute.
My lips part, ready to demand to understand what the hell is going on, because this sure isn’t what it looks like when a gang invades the trailer park.
Far from it. Any battles I’ve borne witness to were blood baths that had me hiding in a closet, not standing outside in the dead of night under an array of fireworks.
“What in the Fourth of July is this?” I blurt, eyebrows raised as my fingers flex around the sword, and Ocean shrugs, just as bewildered as I am, when a voice booms through the air.
“Institute students, neighbors, The Vale, you are cordially invited to your mandatory participation in The Institute Games.”