Page 55 of Cruel Destinies

I packed up my books and notes like that was what I intended to do. And I would. I just needed to know that Arya was still at the Dome first.

“You know, that Ashlyn girl shifted for the first time that night we were attacked,” I said. “She might wanna practice on the sim. Should we go find her and Arya? See if they wanna join?”

Okay, so I knew I was being obvious, but part of me didn’t care.

“Umm...sure?” Brett replied while I carefully stashed the Boarding House book in my bag. “I haven’t seen either of them, but we can go find them.”

I shouldered my bag—I’d definitely need to take a closer look at the book later, now that I knew Claudette was in it—and followed Brett out, trying to hide the building dread that Arya and Ashlyn were some of the students who left the school. According to the science on imprinting, and my own past experiences, I’d know if she was in any kind of danger, right?

“That Ashlyn girl is pretty badass,” Brett said as we exited the library. “She really made Mr. Summers earn his keep yesterday in class. And he’s herdad!”

“Not getting the hots for Niko’s ex, are you?” I teased.

Brett shot an insulted grimace at me. “Of course, not! Bros before hoes, dude. But, I mean, it’s a shame he got to her before I did.”

I rolled my eyes. “You had every opportunity to ask her out before Niko finally got the balls to do it. You only think she’s hot now because she’s a better phoenix than you.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? She wasn’t hot before she washot!”

“You’re an idiot,” I chuckled.

We made a quick stop at my dorm room so I could drop my bags and books before we went searching. I asked a couple of harpies in the common room if they had seen either of them recently.

“Sure, this morning,” one with long white hair said—I couldn’t remember her name. “I remember the dark lipstick Ashlyn was wearing.” She let out a low whistle. “It looked like she might be heading out for a hot date.”

Brett and I looked at each other, but I was certain we weren’t thinking the same thing.

“What about Arya?” I asked. “Dark hair with blue streaks.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know whoAryais,” the other one with more yellow hair said, rolling her eyes. I didn’t remember her name, either. “And no, we haven’t seen her today.”

I nodded a quick thanks, then shoved Brett out the door with more force than I meant to.

“Whoa,what’s up, bro?” he asked, hands raised in mock surrender.

“N—nothing, I just...” I trailed off. I wasn’t in the mood to be mocked for caring.

But Brett surprised me by sobering. “You’re worried they left.”

“Yeah,” I admitted on a grunt, taking long steps toward the stairs.

“Okay, then. We’ll find them. They’re probably just off watching one of those cheesy Christmas chick flicks somewhere. I’m sure they didn’t leave. They know it’s dangerous.”

I stopped to look at him. Brett was acting the way Niko would in the same situation, even though he didn’t have dating history with Ashlyn. Brett was worried because I was worried.

“I’ll check the dining hall,” he said, shrugging off the grateful expression I was giving him. “You check the training room.”

I nodded and rushed off. I checked the training room and pool, catching a few offended mer stares while I was there. I plastered on my go-to stoic expression when asking if any of them had seen Arya, then stalked away like it didn’t matter that none of them had since the day before.

As soon as I was out of the building, I practically sprinted to the greenhouses, but all of them were locked, so she couldn’t be inside.

My heart began to beat furiously with the exertion, coupled with my rising panic.

Arya had left the Dome.

I was almost certain of it, and the memory of the attack in the alley forced itself to the forefront of my mind. Ashlyn hadbeen capable in that fight, but if she and Arya faced something similar, just the two of them, they wouldn’t survive.

Racing to the main part of the school, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Arya. She didn’t answer. Neither did Ashlyn. What the hell happened to them? And how was I going to find them?

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