Bash’s fingers tickled the length of my spine, raking through my fur with an appreciative stroke. I moved into him, leaning against his legs for a moment and wishing we were back out in the forest, running beneath the moonlight, before all of this shit had gone down.
I cocked my head to the side as I realized something. Needing to put my thoughts into words, I threw myself back into the shift and was standing, naked and furless, in moments. Words gushed out of me as I reached for my clothes.
“Holy shit, I just realized the body in the woods and the one at the gate were a set up.” I pulled the scrub top over my head and reached for the pants. “The academy freaked out and brought in more guards…”
Bash groaned. “Which is how these assholes got an entire army of terrorists on campus without anyone questioning it. Donahue practically rolled out the welcome mat for them.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Daniella asked with a long-suffering sigh from her spot on the floor. “How does this help us in any way?”
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to not snap at her. She was in pain and a natural born bitch. I could be the bigger wolf this once.
“Because,” I said in a deliberately patronizing tone, “there are more of them than there are of us and understanding their motives and strategic abilities is an asset.” I chewed my lip for a moment then snapped out, “and maybe shut the fuck up. You’re not in charge here, Daniella. Your bitch squad are writhing in agony out there.” I pointed towards where I’d left Seraphina. “And you’ll die if we don’t get you that antidote. Do you really think your vendetta against me is worth your life?”
Chapter 19
I stared into the darkness and waited for Daniella to either lose her shit or fall in line. Either way, I was moving now. Xavier had been waiting long enough. My stomach twisted, and I refused to give into the worry that he was already dead.
When she didn’t speak, I shook my head and turned toward Bash. “I can’t wait any longer. Are you coming with me or…” I swallowed the lump in my throat at the thought of continuing alone, “staying here?”
Bash stiffened. I could practically feel my question tearing him apart and my heart ached, but we were literally at war and tough decisions had to be made. He could stay and risk me being captured before I could get the antidote back to Daniella or come with me and risk not being there if she was captured or if the poison stopped her heart. I wished I had the right answer, but I didn’t.
Part of me wanted him to stay; the part that had been terrified when I’d seen that guy shot in the head on the quad. The part that had wondered if Bash would be next. Old Ones knew, he’d be safer here, but there were risks both ways.
He was strong, capable, and looked at me with the same emotion in his gaze that I felt when I looked at him. He’d have my back and I’d have his.
I almost sighed when I realized what that meant but I managed to keep it together as I bent forward to grab Daniella’s uninjured arm. She struggled as I pulled her to her feet and cursed with quiet but intense fervor at me.
When she was standing, I let go and hissed. “You wanted to come with us, didn’t you?”
Beside me, Bash’s entire body jerked, relaxed, then tightened again. He must have been running through the same scenarios I had and knew the risks.
“They have gas masks now, so this,” I reached into my pocket to pull out the last vial, which had stayed intact, thankfully, this entire time, “is useless.” Still, I tucked it back into my pocket, knowing there might be some guards without masks. I chewed my lip and brought the layout of the Administration building back to mind. “The nurse’s office is on the second floor, next to counselling center. If we go in these doors, it’s a straight shot up the hallway to the stairs, then,” I closed my eyes to picture it better, “a left, straight, left again and we’re there.”
“It’s probably locked,” Bash said, echoing my exact thoughts. I leaned into him and felt a flood of warmth when his arms moved around me to encircle my waist.
I nodded, even though it was a bit hard to concentrate on the task at hand when Bash’s body was touching mine. Life and death, I reminded myself. There would be time for sex later, if we survived. “Wish I’d brought my axe,” I mumbled.
“We need cover, right?” Bash said, as if thinking aloud, but I nodded and waited for him to finish. “What if we could get one of them alone and knock him out. We could take his uniform and mask so no one would be able to recognize us. We’d be able to move about freely.” Hesitant excitement made his voice rise a bit.
I thought it over carefully, wishing it to be as simple as that but remembering the wide open space outside and the steps that had given the guard a straight line of sight to our hiding spot. What if she was still there?
“It could work,” I said slowly, “but there’s a lot to consider. There was a guard on the steps that can see back here and the yard was packed. How are we going to get just one without alerting the others?”
“If we could just see out of this shed, we’d be able to move when no one was looking.” Bash’s frustration matched mine.
Daniella cleared her throat quietly. “Can you shine your phone light on the floor again?”
My eyebrows shot up and I was glad for the darkness hiding my shock. That was the nicest Daniella had ever been to me. For a second, it had even sounded as if she were going to follow up her request with a “please.” I turned my torch back on and shone it down at the floor.
It was a clean space, well-kept and tidy. Daniella turned slowly with a wince and pointed to the wall just past the wooden countertop. I followed the direction and felt my lips tug up in a grin. A manual drill sat neatly on a board against the wall, its outline drawn around it. Bash reached for it first and slowly rotated the handle. It moved without a squeak. I had no idea why the groundskeepers would need it but, right now, I loved them for having it.
Bash lifted it to the wall that faced the steps and placed the bit against the wood. With measured movements and a look of intense concentration, he began to drill through to the outside.
The hole the drill made wasn’t big but it afforded us a small peek at what was going on outside while keeping us safely hidden. I chewed on my lip and waited impatiently as Bash peered out first then moved aside to make room for me.
“I’m going to make another hole in the front wall,” he murmured, moving off to start the process again.
I nodded absently and pressed my eye up against the small hole. The steps were clear now and I could hear voices filtering through that I hadn’t been able to hear before.
“No luck yet. We’re still looking for her,” a gruff voice said no more than ten feet away from the shed. I held my breath knowing that if I could hear them now, there was the chance they could hear me, too.
Still, it was worth the risk. I waved my hand in the air and signaled for Bash to stop what he was doing then pressed my ear to the hole.
“Maybe the reports were wrong and she’s not even here.” This was said in a female voice that was softly rounded at the edges. I strained to recognize the accent but couldn’t place it any more definitively than European.
I focused on their voices even though my stomach muscles had tightened painfully the moment I’d heard them talk about “her,” the girl the guard in the library had thought was me. They were after someone, a young woman who, apparently, looked something like me, but wasn’t me.
This school was full of the children of important people, rich people, influential people, and I was a scholarship kid from Newfoundland with a simple background. There was nothing that made me special enough for a band of terrorists to attack the academy over.