Chapter 4
Leave it to Yuri to break the feeling of doom and gloom.
The prissy vampire sauntered up to us covered in black blood. Her fangs looked longer than usual and she grinned, oblivious of her grotesque appearance.
“There you guys are. Don’t tell me. Did you get lost?” She flattened her palm at the top of her head as if to shield her gaze as she searched beyond the barrier. “Did you spot one of the unicorns? I heard that they’re out this way.”
Fucking unicorns?
Now I’ve heard of everything.
“We dealt with a second breach,” Orion informed her. He pointed at her mouth where a black glob of blood dripped. “You’ve got a little… something, there. No, other side.”
She dabbed at her mouth, completely missing the mess, then shrugged and plucked out a blood-cherry lollipop from her pocket. She undid the wrapper, crinkling it slowly as her gaze now swept over us.
She gave Orion a long, deliberate study from the top of his head to his feet, as if noticing the change in him. There was something so…playful about her lascivious look that I found myself grinning despite my mood.
“Sunshine, you are glowing,” she said to Orion. “Positively glowing. I guess you had time to do a bit of rekindling, huh?”
Orion gave her a smug look. “Kindling might have happened.”
Yuri grinned at me. When I blushed, she started to cackle. “Oh, Lily… Please, please give details.”
“How about no?” I countered. Needing a subject change, I gestured at the barrier. “Are these Demonspawn attacks a regular thing now?”
That had both Yuri and Orion sobering.
“Yes.” Orion turned to study the barrier at our back, his voice hardening. “But this is the first time one has happened in stealth. Most Demonspawn aren’t very big on…thinking.”
“No kidding,” Yuri said as she tapped the glossy surface.
The sticky black blood on her knuckles evaporated in a puff of electricity.
“The barrier’s still strong as ever. It’s not failing or compromised, so something with serious power punched a hole through it.
Still, a tribrid like you can kick some serious Demonspawn ass.
I bet they saw your wings and took off running. ”
“Not exactly,” I said grimly.
Orion crossed his arms. “The Demonspawn don’t concern me as much as the leader behind this particular attack,” Orion glowered. “The bastard. I’ll rip his head off.”
“I’ll deal with Cole, Orion,” I said, resting a hand on his bicep. I looked through the barrier again, although I knew neither Dante nor Cole were near.
“Cole…?” Yuri squeaked as she spun to face me.
She moved so swiftly, she almost lost balance—and that was a pretty impressive feat for a vampire.
They were innately graceful and already fast. Eyes so wide, I could see a rim of white all around her irises.
“Are you guys telling me Cole was behind this?”
Nodding, I placed a hand on the barrier, tentatively at first. It responded to my touch, warmth blooming under my hand.
“We need to tell the Dean and alert the faculty,” Orion said.
“Man.” Yuri huffed out a sigh. “I’ll go track everybody down. I guess we should meet at Olivia’s place? It’s the largest—and cleanest—for the time being.” She wrinkled her nose. “Boys are messy. They leave dead bodies everywhere.”
I didn’t even want to know.
“That’s fine with me,” I said after Orion looked at me.
“Okay, great,” Yuri said as she popped her lollipop in her mouth. “I’ll—What the… damn it, not again!” She flinched, smacking a hand over her ear as she cringed.
Orion grimaced and muttered, “Dante’s back.” He sighed when I raised an eyebrow at him. “Cole probably forced him out of the tunnels, so he’s taking his anger out on the Dark Mage.”
Confused, I looked between them. Then I realized what had caught their attention. The sounds of a fight, distant to me, but probably painfully loud to those beings with sensitive hearing—like vamps, demigods, shifters…
“It wasn’t a retreat,” I muttered.
It was an ambush, and based on the anger I’d felt radiating from Dante, Hendrik was in for some serious violence.
“You can handle those two, right?” Yuri gave us a wary look as a shout resounded through the air—this time loud enough that even I didn’t have any trouble hearing it.
“We’ve got them, Yuri,” Orion said, pressing a hand to the small of my back. “Are you up for it?” he asked.
My wings still stung, but being part angel had its perks. When I swiped away blood, the worst of my wounds seemed healed. “I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
“Good.” Yuri looked relieved. “I mean, I can handle a few Demonspawn. I’m glad I’ve got this super-strength and all.
It’s one of the few things about being a vampire that I do like, but that doesn’t mean I like having to be the one to wade into this pissing contests between guys like Dante and Hendrik.
Especially Dante. He’s… scary.” She turned and waved at us over her shoulder before she took off at a run. “See ya!”
If Yuri was running in the opposite direction, I worried what we’d find.
Orion rested a hand on the curve on my neck in that claiming way I liked. “We need to get over there. Dante’s out of control and if we can convince him you’re really back, maybe he’ll snap out of it.”
A cold rock settled in my gut and I nodded. Orion jogged at an easy pace and I followed him. Before I knew it, we were running and the campus streamed by us in a blur of color and noise and wind.
Sometimes, being supernatural was pretty fucking cool.
I had no idea where we were going, but the frayed bond between Dante and I grew stronger. A cool presence infiltrated my body, too, and my nostrils flared at the tell-tale scent of blood and roses.
Hendrik.
We came to a stop outside a dormitory and I wiped the sweat off my brow. My wings dragged at my back, a foreign weight I’d have to adjust to and I looked forward to a long, hot bath.
First, I had to get my Virtues under control.
Orion and I swept inside and I didn’t have time to admire the gothic interior, or inhale the sickly-sweet scent of black magic.
I swept up the stairs and scampered down the velvety carpet, my feet pattering and my wings dragging behind me as I followed the tug on my heart.
Orion grabbed my wrist when I moved to open the door where I knew Dante and Hendrik lay waiting. “Wait,” he said. “Let’s see if Hendrik can get him to calm down, first.”
Based on the argument going on inside, I doubted Hendrik was helping matters, but I lowered my hand as the shouting continued.
“You fucking monster,” Dante snarled. “What kind of bullshit mind games are you playing with me now? It’s bad enough that we lost Lily but now you’ve got me hallucinating her?”
“Don’t accuse me of things you don’t understand,” Hendrik snapped. “Back the fuck off, demon-toy.”
Given the roar that followed, the taunt was probably not helping matters.
“Shut the fuck up and put that down before I choke you with it,” Dante snapped. “Are you working with Cole? Is that why you keep fucking with my head? Everyone knows you get off on misery. Here you are making me think she’s here after all this time. You’re a sick bastard.”
Dante’s pain was too deep. It cut into me and stole my breath, turning the bond between us into a conduit of agony and grief.
Unable to wait any longer, I shoved open the door.
“The demon has you wrapped around his pointy tail,” he continued, his back turned to me while Hendrik’s eyes grew wide at the sight of me.
My heart jumped into my throat and I froze mid-step as the bond between Hendrik and I snapped tight—not like my bond with Dante. No, this was… affirmation.
“We all know you want to be his bitch,” Dante continued, unaware of my presence. The scathing hatred in Dante’s voice turned my blood to ice.
“She’s here,” Hendrik said, disbelief making the hard edge of his voice soften. “She’s behind you.”
Dante growled. “I’m not a moron, you psychopath.”
Hendrik pointed. “Dante. Turn the fuck around.”
Dante’s grief and rage and I felt his power rise up in response. He thought this was all a sick game and he was tired of being the pawn. Dante roared and launched himself for the Dark Mage.
Hendrik might not be a Hunter, but his magic ran slick and metallic through the air, flinging Dante off with ease. He drew power from suffering and no one suffered more than Dante, if the fissure in my heart was any indicator.
A furious howl had me opening my eyes just in time to see Dante lunging for Hendrik once again, his recovery fueled by rage.
Hendrik reacted defensively, but this time he pinned Dante against the wall. “Look, Dante. Fucking look!”
“I don’t want to see more of your lies,” Dante spat.
I started forward, but Orion caught me by the shoulder.
He’s not entirely sane right now, little star. He’s been like this for a year since Cole took him to his oath.
The sound of Orion’s voice in my head made me jolt.
A year had passed since Dante had sacrificed himself to the rage demon in exchange for my life, what little good that had done. Cole hadn’t killed me, but he had allowed my death. Wasn’t that sort of the same thing? Fucking demonic loopholes.
Biting my lower lip, I caught Orion’s hand and twined our fingers.
Hendrik slammed Dante against the wall again—hard. “Just shut up, you muleheaded Hunter.” There was an edge to his voice I’d never heard before. Grief? Misery? I couldn’t tell. “Just look.”
Dante smashed his head forward and slammed it into Hendrik’s beautiful face. Blood sprayed from Hendrik’s broken nose and in the split second the pain distracted him, Dante struck and broke free, taking Hendrik’s legs out from under him.
He had death in his eyes as he looked down at my Dark Mage.
“Dante, no!” I shouted.
Whipping his head up, he stared across the corridor at me, eyes burning a hot, molten orange.
“You’re not real,” he said, voice low and tight, the rage barely contained.