Chapter 15
My heart lurched in my throat as panic pulsed deep. “What?” I croaked.
A muscle in Colt’s jaw ticked. “Chloe works fast, I’ll give her that.”
So much for my revelation getting her to back off. She was going for a full-court press instead.
Colt stood from his seat, picking up my backpack from the floor. “Come on. We need to move.”
A look of concern swept over Connor’s face. “You need backup, man?”
Colt shook his head. “We’ve got it, but I appreciate it.”
I stood, numbly moving closer to Colt.
“Mr. Carrington, Ms. Carmichael, this period isn’t a free-for-all,” Mr. Canton said, as Colt led our way down the aisle.
He flipped his phone around so Mr. Canton could see the screen. The teacher frowned but nodded. “All right. I’ll let the office know.”
Colt took my hand in his and tugged me toward the classroom door. I didn’t miss Mimi’s snicker or Grace’s muttered “lying slut.” But I couldn’t find it in me to care about their words. I had far bigger concerns, like The Assembly sentencing us all to death if they found out we’d bonded.
The moment Colt and I reached the hallway, we were surrounded. The guys all spoke over one another in hushed tones.
“Someone needs to deal with that bitch,” Ronan spat.
“Oh, I’m going to deal with her,” Trace growled as he cracked his knuckles.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “No dead bodies.”
A feral grin spread across his face. “Don’t worry. No one ever finds my handiwork.”
“Hell,” Declan muttered. “That makes him way too happy.”
“We all have our hobbies,” Trace shot back.
Dash squeezed his shoulder. “I think we need to get you into knitting or something.”
Ronan barked out a laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“We need to move,” Colt said, no humor in his voice. “They’re expecting us.”
“That’s your grand plan?” Trace asked, gaping at him. “Just show up because they call? They’re going to fry us.”
Colt’s teeth ground together. “They’ll already have people watching the ways in and out of town. If we bolt, they’ll track us.”
“So, we go by boat,” Trace argued.
“We have to try to bring them around to our side first,” Declan countered. “We have Saoirse and Darius with us. If they make a move, we fight.”
My stomach cramped at his words, at the images filling my mind. The Assembly were some of the most powerful of their kind. It wouldn’t be easy to defeat them. And if the clan leaders were there, too? We’d be outnumbered for sure.
Dash wrapped an arm around me. “It won’t come to that.”
Trace scoffed. “Of course, it will.”
Dash glared at him. “Don’t scare her.”
“I’m preparing her,” Trace shot back.
“Enough,” Colt snapped. “We stick together, and we watch our backs.”
He began moving down the hall, expecting everyone to follow. And we did. Dash kept his arm around me as Declan closed in on my other side.
We were all quiet as we made our way to the SUV and climbed inside. My eyes burned as Colt pulled out of the parking spot. The pressure behind them built until tears spilled over.
Declan cursed and unbuckled my seat belt, pulling me onto his lap. “Leighton.”
“Nothing can happen to you,” I whispered as more tears fell.
“It’s not going to,” he vowed.
Dash rubbed a hand up and down my back. “He’s right. We know how to protect ourselves.”
“There’s a reason we’re all destined to lead our clans, Little Bird. We’re the strongest of our species,” Trace said. His voice was gentle but held an edge of fierceness.
I wanted to believe, to trust that nothing could touch them. But they’d been hurt before. We’d almost lost Colt. They weren’t invincible.
Ronan leaned forward from the back seat. “Keep the faith, Firecracker. We have fate on our side.”
“They haven’t seemed to care much about fate so far,” I hiccupped.
“Fate wasn’t on our side then,” Colt said as he guided the SUV onto the two-lane highway. “They thought you hadn’t received your mark. You have your proof now.”
“And half a dozen other marks that could get us killed,” I muttered.
Declan nuzzled my neck. “We keep the bond marks and phoenix mark hidden. That’ll be easy enough. None of them are on your back.”
That much was true. Maybe seeing my anchor mark would be enough. Maybe that could bring the majority of The Assembly over to our side.
“We’ve got badassery on our side,” Ronan said with a smirk. “Nothing’s going to stand in our way.”
A soft snort escaped me at that. “I’m sure The Assembly will take that into account.”
“Saoirse has been working on them behind the scenes, telling them that your magic is getting stronger,” Declan said. “Most of them will want what destiny had planned for us to take root.”
I so badly wanted him to be right.
Colt flipped on his blinker and turned onto the dirt road that would take us to The Assembly’s meeting place.
My heart picked up speed, and Declan placed a palm over my chest. He stared into my eyes. “Breathe with me.”
I swallowed and followed his inhales and exhales.
“That’s it. We’re with you,” he crooned, pressing his forehead to mine.
I breathed Declan in. His scent of fresh rain and mint swirled around me. It soothed the worst of my panic.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered.
Colt turned into a makeshift parking spot. A dozen or so vehicles littered the parking lot.
“I guess the clan leaders are here,” Ronan said, anger lacing his tone.
“At least that means Darius is here,” Dash pointed out.
Colt nodded as he turned off the vehicle. “We need allies.” He shifted to look at me. “Ready?”
I swallowed hard. “As I’ll ever be.”
Declan kept hold of me as he climbed out of the SUV and then set me on my feet. The guys surrounded me as we made our way to the amphitheater set into the cliffside. This time, the view didn’t distract me. I only had eyes for the people at the front of the arena.
Ten sets of eyes zeroed in on us as we approached. There were a variety of expressions. Everything from anger to suspicion to curiosity.
As we came to a stop in front of the group, the vampire assemblyman’s nostrils flared and his eyes flashed red. “Traitors.”