Burning (17 page)

I stared into her eyes so I could be sure she heard every word I was about to say.  "
When we first started seeing each other, I knew you could give yourself to me without feeling it.  After I knew you loved me, I still believed you would hold yourself back.  I needed you to take that step, to give me your heart completely and trust me with your future.  I knew, once you had, that you were mine.  I didn't want only your body, so I forced us both to wait until I had all of you."

She pursed her lips and her eyes narrowed.  I braced mysel
f for the impact of her wrath, but instead, she smiled.  "For a nice boy, you're pretty calculating.  I'm impressed.  I guess I should have known you were a bit naughty after our make-out session in the library." 

I playfully tugged on her hair. 
"I was playing for keeps.  Now that we've established I'm not the goody-goody you all seem to believe I am, I have a question for you.  How do you feel about sex outside?" 

Her eyes started to glow, a sure sign
that she was interested in my suggestion.  "I really, really like your bad boy side." 

I
grabbed her hands and started walking backwards into the trees.  "Follow me deeper into the woods and I will show you more of it."

Chapter Nine

Now You See Me

Grey

Carlos came by my place the next day before he taught his first class.  I knew he wanted to talk without the rest of the coven.  Even Cooper was too young and inexperienced to reveal too much to. 

"How did you manage to become the new Spanish professor after the quarter had already begun?" I asked Carlos. 

"It is more of a professorial exchange.  The regular Spanish professor was given an all-expenses
-paid plus salary position at a private European university for this academic year," he answered conspiratorially. 

"He's teaching the
Aware
at the
Council
's university," I said, stating the obvious. 

It was brilliant
, really.  We needed to place a
Watcher
on the staff to investigate Dr. Tuttle.  Cooper was too young to teach.  I couldn't exactly teach classes during the day.  I don't think students would respond well to their teacher developing a mysterious burn and bleeding out of every visible orifice.  We still couldn't reach Hans and Eliana, Finn's parents, due to the elf gathering.  Carlos was the obvious choice. 

"A member of the
Aware
with enhanced computer skills accessed the school’s server and changed Finn and Chloë's schedules.  They now have Spanish I with me instead of biology.  We have to use all of our resources on this, Grey, because until we can find someone to perform the bonding ceremony, I don't think they are going to be too much help.  I'm looking at ways to fix it quickly," Carlos explained.

"
Without them, this coven is vulnerable,” he continued, “and Marguerite is too stubborn to allow another coven to assist them.  She feels the Du Lac position is weak after her daughter's betrayal and her brother's scheming for control.  Now that Nik has disappeared, her brother is more vocal about resuming supernatural control over the entire world."

He
exhaled forcefully.  "This is a political nightmare.  As much as I disagree with Marguerite's parenting decisions, I can see her overall agenda.  If Gustavo were to gain control over the
Council
, not only would our existence be exposed to humans, but also everyone in the Du Lac camp would be persecuted.  That includes every current member of the
Council
, the
Watchers
, and all of our children." 

He pinched the bridge of
his nose.  "I believe exposure to humans would result in a global war.  Humans now possess technology they didn't have during the Inquisition, and look how much damage they did without it.  Not only would we have to fight humans, but also every supernatural race would turn against each other."

I slumped down in my chair.
  "This is worse than I thought.  Doesn't it feel like it's always coming at us from all sides?  When do you think this will be over?"  Suddenly, I felt each of my one thousand and some odd years.  Until recently, I hadn't had anyone besides myself to worry about.  Now, I had Anita, who was like a little sister.  Dean, Cooper, and even Finn were becoming good friends.  Chloë would always be special to me in an indefinable way.  And Leah was fast becoming an important part of not just my life, but of me.  Worrying about other people was tiring.

"I think we have a few battles before we can ride off into the sunset," Carlos predicted.
 

I hung my head.  "I was afraid you were going to say something like that." 

"I'm sorry, Grey.  I shouldn't have dropped all of this on you during the daytime.  You need rest.  This situation is wearing on all of us.  Another teenager was murdered in Nevada in a small town near the Idaho border.  They weren't even a member of the
aware
, only a practicing Wiccan."

"
The hysteria is spreading.  It's the return of the witch hunts," I stated disappointedly. 

Society was supposed to be advanced now.  It was supposed to be past the time when paranoia reigned and logic was discarded.
 

"We need to stop the
Auto-da-fé
before we have another Salem situation," Carlos agreed.  "I called Finn and told him about the schedule change.  If I can't locate any elves that can help with the ritual by the end of the day, I am going to call Eli Soaring Eagle for advice.  The man is older than, well, everything. He must have some idea," he said.  Then he grabbed his messenger bag and teleported to the university.

I fell into a fitful sleep.  My
adrenaline was pumping, but I couldn't see an immediate threat.  My body refused to agree and remained ready to fight.  A few hours later, just as the sun was setting, I was awoken by a loud banging on my door. 

I opened the front door and was slightly nauseated by the thin l
ine of crimson on the horizon, but I wasn't given much time to adjust.  Cooper stood on the porch, bent over, with his hands resting on his thighs.  He was frantic and out of breath. 

"Grab weapons
. We have an emergency."

Anita

I ran to the Student Union to meet with Dean and hopefully Chloë too. 
If anyone saw me, I would have some serious damage control to do, because I was running so fast that I was barely even a blur.  "Please be there, please, please," I chanted in my head.  I made it to the building in about a second, but even that amount of time felt too long. 

Dean sat at our usual table.  I could tell by his posture
that he was on alert, and he was staring at his phone.  I walked over to him and dropped Chloë's bag on the table.  A grave look passed over his face. 

"Finn isn't answering his phone or responding to any texts," he said with a clenched jaw. 

I nodded to the bag.  "I was supposed to meet Chloë and Finn by the language and lit building to find out how Spanish went with my dad.  She wasn't there.  I picked up her scent and followed it towards the science building.  I found her bag lying in the grass like it was dropped suddenly.  Stuff was spilling out of it, and it has a rip in the strap like someone tried to pull it off of her."

"Was Finn's bag anywhere near by?" Dean asked. 

I shook my head.  If someone had grabbed Chloë and not Finn, they might as well kill them because they will die if they are apart for too long.  As much as I hated to hope that they were both missing, I would rather that whoever had taken her had taken them both.  There was no way Chloë would have left her bag and failed to meet up with me.

"We need to get back to the house.  Before we panic
, let's make sure one of them didn't get sick and rush home.  Chloë has been fainting lately," Dean theorized. 

I
had started to gather the things still spilling out of Chloë's bag just before an obnoxious voice stopped me. 

"Hey
, Dean," Cynthia purred. 

I swear that girl
was clueless.  Dean was no more interested in her than he was in a potted plant, and he showed it too.  Yet she continued to flirt shamelessly.  We both ignored her and continued gathering our things. 

"Wow, you two are rude. 
I was just telling my advisor today about how weird you are," she prattled on. 

Something about what she
’d said raised my alarm.  "Why were you talking to a professor about us?" 

"He was worried about some people dropping his class.  Heard we used to live in the same dorm.  Chloë and Finn never showed up the first day and then dropped off his roster.  He thought something might have happened.  I told him you are just a bunch of freaks."

Her forehead scrunched together.  Obviously thinking wasn't something she did often.  "Come to think of it, it was strange.  I mean, how did he even know what dorm we lived in last year?  That isn't normal information for a professor to have, is it?" 

"Did he ask you anything else?" I asked in a tight voice.
 

She shook her head. 

Dean's head lifted and he focused on Cynthia with an intensity I'd never seen from him before.  The muscles in his jaw jumped around, and I could hear his heart beating rapidly.  I realized that Dean was struggling to control his temper. 

"What is your advisor's name
?" he growled.

"Dr. Tuttle
. Why?" Cynthia answered confused. 

"No reason," I answered quickly. 
I grabbed Dean's arm, shoved some of the bags into his other hand, and pulled him away. 

"Call your dad," Dean ordered ominously.
 

Chloë

"Did you grab my phone?" Finn asked, searching through his bag. 

I shook my head.  I
knew he’d had it before we had been put in groups.  I’d seen him drop it into the front pocket of his backpack. 

"Wait here
. I'm just going to run and see if I dropped it on the floor by my desk."  He turned around and ran back into the building.  We really shouldn't have separated, but I didn’t think a few seconds would kill us. 

Suddenly
, someone bumped into me hard from behind.  I felt my bag being ripped from my shoulder.  I dropped it because my instincts told me to run.  Without Finn next to me, I didn't have enough strength to use any magic. 

I ignored my bag and scattered supplies and started to run.  The pounding thud of feet behind me urged me to run faster. 
The main passage was full of students, but everyone was in a hurry and no one seemed to notice my distress.  It was straight from a nightmare.  I felt like I was screaming, but no sound was coming out.  Really, I was breathing so hard from running that I wasn't able to scream. 

A large hand grabbed my upper arm and pulled hard.  I could feel bruises forming under the skin from the
vise grip of the meaty fingers.  His other hand covered my face with a sweet-smelling rag.  I struggled against his hold, but my body started to feel heavy.  Dark spots danced in my vision and started to grow.  Before my vision went black, I saw a man with a receding hairline sneering at me.

Dean

I banged my head against the wall in the hallway.  I hadn’t really expected to find Finn and Chloë at home, but I had hoped.  Now what?  I tried to force myself to breathe slowly because I could feel rage boiling in my gut. 

My incisors were lengthening, and the rest of my teeth
were becoming sharper.  It had been almost two years since I had last lost control over transforming.  I felt a rumbling growl forming in my chest right before I was slammed hard against the wall. 

My eyes changed immediately, and I tried to identify the threat.  I realized it was Cooper who
had checked me against the wall, and I started to relax. 

"We will find them," he
swore.  "Chloë and Finn saved me and the rest of the
Watchers
from being used in a demonic ritual.  I owe them.  I promise you, Dean. I will personally tear apart anyone who tries to hurt them." 

"You'll have to stand in line," I snarled. 

He nodded in agreement.  "You and I together, we will dismember the entire
auto-da-fé
if it means protecting our own.  I don't agree with the idea of subjugating humans, but I'm not going to be victimized by them either.  I know most of them aren't like this group of terrorists, but even sane people can get caught up in hysteria."

I began to pace back and forth.  I needed to act, but how? 
"What do we do now?  I can't sit here and wait.  I need to do something." 

Cooper's eyes had a determined gleam.  I realized he was formulating a plan.  Maybe not a good one, but it involved doing something.  It was better than sitting here
, waiting to find a funeral pyre for two of my best friends.

"Go into the basement. 
There is a gun safe in the back corner.  Without Chloë, we are going to need an alternate means of firepower.  Make sure whatever you grab you can conceal.  We can't transform while we are out, and we don't want to go scaring people with weapons either.  We are going to act fast but keep a low profile.  Understand?  I can't have you losing your temper and turning into a giant cat in front of a crowd."

"What are you going to do?" I asked him. 

"It's getting dark outside. I'm going to get Grey.  If we can't shift, we need someone with a strong sense of smell.  Anita is good, but he is better." 

I ran down the stairs and turned to go down the basement. 
I nearly ran straight into Carlos as he was on his way up.  He was carrying a large duffle bag. 

"I've got what we need.
  Go back upstairs and change." 

I looked him over.  He was dressed in head
-to-toe black fatigues.  Anita came out of the living room wearing the same thing. 

Anita reached into the bag and pulled out a really big knife.  She had a black sheath strapped to the inside of her thigh, and she placed the knife inside. 
Next, she grabbed a set of throwing knives and put those inside a special built-in pocket on the outside of her pants.  Last, she retrieved a black compact bow and a small quiver of arrows.  She strapped both on her back and handed me the bag.