Chapter 2
Julian De León
“She’s going to drain herself if she keeps doing this,” Ryder murmured. My chest tightened with concern because he was absolutely right.
Still, it didn’t stop me from looking around the cave in awe.
Even Coffin appreciated the sight, the warm pink glow that slowly settled over the unconscious bodies, the rocks, and ourselves, like the faintest membrane.
It seemed to sink beneath the surface of everything it touched, disappearing as it fixed everything it touched.
Not only did Effie’s magic heal, but it returned everything back to the state it had been in before the fight.
From the blood that had coated the cave walls and floors, to the nearly dead shifters laid throughout—all were purged of any signs of the fight.
In seconds, it appeared nothing had happened, that the lycans were simply sleeping instead of on the verge of death.
It blew my fucking mind if we were being honest.
“Plus, the wrong people already know she can heal others,” Tore said in thought, looking around the space as well before continuing, “And it seems that her magic affects those she heals—like that other BBP. They were far too interested in Effie afterwards, and I worry it’ll be the same with these assholes. ”
“Could just get rid of them. Shifted or not, they fucking attacked us,” Dakota spit. Caedmon made a sound of agreement, something that surprised me considering he knew exactly how shifting as a lycan affected one’s thought process and rationale.
While I would never fully experience it or understand it to the extent he did, my understanding was that a lycan became far more beast than man in that state. I may have had my issues with Coffin, but I was sure as fuck glad to not have to handle that duality.
Then again, I more than understood Caedmon’s lack of fucks to give about them since they’d outright attacked Effie—damn near killed her.
That thought had my hands tightening into fists, but I tried to not mull over it too much.
My gaze moved back to Effie in Ryder’s arms, so damn thankful that she was okay.
I wanted her to be better than okay, but I wouldn’t be able to claim she was until she opened her eyes.
“We can’t,” Ryder admitted begrudgingly. “Effie nearly drowned trying to pull this bastard to the surface; we can’t just turn around and kill him.” He huffed a sigh. “It’s not like we’re staying on campus anyway. We’ll probably never see them again.”
And if we did—if for some reason they tracked us down—we’d have the perfect excuse to kill them.
“Then I’m going to move them and cover them in a short-term protective heat ward until they wake,” Ryder said, shifting Effie into my arms since I was the closest to her.
I buried my nose in her damp hair, though it was far more dry than I’d expected.
Something that had to do with her magic, if I had to guess.Even her clothes were only slightly damp.
I was glad she wasn’t covered in ice like I would’ve assumed after that dive she took, but I still wanted to cover her in more than she had on, an irrational anger rising at the icy winds touching her skin.
Even if her skin did seem warm to the touch.
Stepping towards the metal door at the back of the cave, which still hung open after the fourth lycan had busted through it, I paused to listen for Hastain or anyone else that could be waiting for us.
I was relieved when I heard nothing, but we weren’t completely in the clear yet—the door at the end of the corridor that led to the outside world was probably locked.
Call it a hunch, but I didn’t think Hastain would’ve risked his secret weapons escaping and running towards campus.
I turned and watched as the others shifted the students to a corner away from the cliffside, Ryder coating them in gold magic.
My gaze darted to the place Effie had been chained, capturing the image in my mind.
I’d already planned on killing Hastain, but remembering how she looked chained up, the disgust and fear on her face at the bastard’s plan to mate with her…
well, it was all I needed to fuel my fantasies on just how I planned on killing the motherfucker.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dakota said, shooting the lycans one last disgusted look.
He and Ryder led the way out, and Tore and Caedmon followed behind me as I kept Effie as insulated as possible, my ears tuned to her soft rhythmic breathing while still listening for signs of danger ahead.
Not being able to tell what would greet us outside was giving me anxiety, but now that we weren’t chained up, we’d be able to handle anything that fucker tried to pull on us.
My suspicion, though, was that Hastain was hiding on campus or wherever the hell he lived, thinking that we either hadn’t escaped alive or that he didn’t want to be there on the chance that we did make it out.
The sudden sound of a car door slamming echoed through the passage, making us all freeze.
“If that’s Hastain, I’m not holding back,” Dakota warned.
Hell, if Coffin wasn’t so fucking content right now protectively wrapped around our mate’s wolf, I’m sure we would’ve already shifted in preparation to face the potential threat.
As it stood, I much preferred having Effie in my arms, feeling like I had the smallest bit of control over her safety after having had it ripped away from me so many times before.
“It’s not, I recognize the magic signature,” Caedmon said, not bothering to moderate his voice’s volume. “It’s Aaren and the others. We should back up though.”
Nodding, I stepped back with the others as Dakota approached the closed door, a familiar voice calling out from the other side of it. “Caedmon? It’s Aaren. Everything okay in there?”
What kind of question was that? Of course we weren’t fucking okay.
“It’s me, and no.” Dakota chuckled cynically. “Can you get us out of here?”
The sound of a lock clicking preceded the door swinging open, and we filed out of the tunnel along with a wave of voices, questions and half-explanations being thrown around as I pulled my mate tighter against my chest.
Normally I would’ve been the first to explain what happened and the threat we were still under, but the deeper Effie’s breathing became, the more I wanted her to be in a real bed so she could get the rest she desperately needed.
“We saw what happened to the house.” Ruby said, her hands fluttering over Effie as if not knowing how to help. “We followed your scents here—what the hell happened? How did you get here?”
“Hastain,” I spit out, unable to provide more than that. Luckily, Ryder stepped in.
“Hastain trapped the five of us in there with shifted lycans. One plunged off the cliffside with Effie, nearly killing her—she’s fine and everyone is healed, including the four lycan students.
I would prefer we wait to explain more until we get somewhere more private though,” he said, casting suspicious glances all around.
He was right to be cautious—Hastain probably had cameras everywhere.
“We have two cars with us, and we grabbed your bags and some of your other belongings,” Warwick said.
“And her necklace!” Ruby added. “It was tucked into the top of her bag, almost fell out—but we have it.”
Thank fuck Effie hadn’t been wearing it after the meeting with her mom, because Hastain undoubtedly would have taken the opportunity to steal it away from her.
“Thank you for coming to help us,” Tore said solemnly. “Let’s get everyone somewhere safe so we can talk about this more.”
Vox tossed Caedmon a set of keys and nodded towards two dark SUVs.
We moved swiftly and quietly, the forest around us almost too silent.
I got into the warm car with Effie as the rest of the group discussed taking a long detour to avoid being tracked up to Milwaukee.
It would still get us up to the city in under two hours, which was good—Effie needed as much rest as possible after using so much magic.
I felt a serious sense of fucking guilt because of how good her magic healing made me feel.
I knew she wouldn’t have it any other way—our mate was just that damn selfless—but I didn’t like what it did to her.
Now she was the one in need of healing, and I wanted to have the ability to do that for her.
“We can do a lot, but not that.”
“No shit.” Coffin’s mental commentary did not improve my mood. Nor did it stop me from wishing for abilities I didn’t have.
“Where do you think Hastain went?” I asked as we pulled away onto an icy forest road, the other SUV in front of us moving cautiously on the uneven terrain.
I had a feeling we were much farther away from campus than the other time we’d been put in a huler, because Hastain would’ve wanted to hide what he was doing as much as possible.
There was a lot he could get away with on the Silver Falls campus, but tonight had been different.
It wasn’t about punishment, it was about death, and if the other families found out about this…
Let’s just say it would be bad, and he knew it.
Which is why he had gone for a ‘kill’ instead of threatening or punishing us. Too bad he’d fucking failed.
“Probably to fucking hide until he thinks we are all dead,” Dakota snarled.
“He needs to die,” Caedmon stated quietly. “He’s a danger to everyone.”
Coffin perked up at the idea of killing the bastard, and the others continued to talk about his possible next move. Instead of joining in the conversation, I relaxed back into the seat and tried to keep my thoughts from going down that violent path.
My eyes grew heavy as my adrenaline dipped, and I focused on trying to merge with Coffin and enter Effie’s mind like I had before. I didn’t know if it was possible again, but then the world around me turned fuzzy and a warm light filtered over my eyes before everything shifted—
“Julian?” Effie’s soft voice filled my ears in a delicate hum that had my eyes snapping open. I nearly groaned, unable to handle the perfection of my mate as she looked down at me with large star-filled eyes, much like the cosmos above us.
I had no idea where we were, a warm breeze brushing over us, but Effie’s form was coated in silver light, her veil of multicolored hair making her look like some…goddess.
Which was exactly what she was.
“Preciosa,” I murmured, cupping her jaw in a light but firm touch, reminding myself that she was here and safe. Despite being unconscious, her magic was extremely vibrant and alive. Healthy.
“I’m so tired,” she whispered, leaning down to brush her nose against mine.
In an easy move, I rolled us and gently cradled her so the soft ground didn’t hurt her in any way.
I loved having her over me, but right now I wanted to cocoon her in my protection, and there was something so damn secure about having her underneath me.
Assured of her health and safety, I took a quick moment to look around us better. We were in an open field with low, soft grass, and the night sky coated us in a sense of privacy and isolation, like a heavy blanket. It was just us here, wherever that was, and the moon that seemed to warm our skin.
Somewhere in the distance I could hear crashing waves, but it was hard to focus on anything outside of the way that Effie was running her fingers along my chest, as if assuring herself that I was here with her as well.
“You healed everyone,” I said in awe, kissing her gently. “Everyone—even the students who attacked us—so it doesn’t surprise me you’re exhausted. We’re heading up to Milwaukee right now, so you have all the time in the world to sleep, okay?”
Effie nodded before her brow contorted in concern. “What about Ruby and her mates? We said we would wait for them—”
“They found us in the cave. We’re all heading up together,” I explained, relieved to have an answer for her.
Effie relaxed and reached up to touch my bite, an intense hum of desire and contentment vibrating between us from the simple touch alone. “Will you stay here with me? At least until we get up there?”
“You never need to ask for me to stay.” I brushed my lips over her forehead and rolled onto my side, tucking her against my chest. Breathing in her scent, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to float between the conscious world and this dream realm, flashes of Coffin and her wolf curled up together merging with us riding in the car in a weird, trippy effect.
Eventually my breathing evened out and the quiet lull of our travel made me fall into a true deep sleep, only broken by the stop of the car.
Blinking awake, I looked outside to gain my bearings. We were parked in front of a luxury building, a group of attendants helping to unload bags as valets stood by to park the SUVs. Tightening my hold on Effie, I slid out of the car, and Tore dropped a coat over Effie as I rushed to get her inside.
As I waited for the others to join me, snow started to fall outside, casting the city in a peaceful silence that was so different from what we had just experienced.
I hoped it was still snowing when Effie woke up—I wanted her to see the snow globe-like beauty of it. I wanted her to see that not everything was as bleak as Hastian would make it seem.
I already planned on killing him, but I would make it extra painful if he removed the light and hope from her eyes—the hope for her very own snow globe.