Page 7 of Deadly Alliances

“No,” I insisted. “I’ve got all the help I can handle. Caesar and Kai are with me. Besides, we need you to remain as our eyes and ears at the Dome. The leadership there obviously needs an overhaul.”

“Okay,” she reluctantly acquiesced. “I don’t really know what Ican do about that, but I’ll think of something. Shea, please be careful. I fear that Caesar is the only hope this school—this war—has.”

“I know,” I agreed sadly.

So much was riding on all of this. I had entered this world with the singular intention of expanding my skills and knowledge, and now I found myself in the center of a supernatural war that threatened the lives of everyone I loved, as well as the safety of the entire world. The weight of it all seemed too much for me to bear for a bleak instant.

“Keep me posted, if you can,” I said. “I’ll do the same. Don’t worry. Iwillget her back.” I’d get both of them back, even if it killed me.

“Will do. Good luck, Shea.”

“You, too,” I said before she hung up.

We were all going to need all the luck we could get.

“Hadrian has Arya?” Caesar asked the instant I pulled my phone from my ear.

I looked up to see that every pair of eyes around the table was fixed unblinkingly on me, and that weight pressed down on me once more.

“Yes,” I said. “Ashlyn said that Hadrian attacked the Dome and demanded Arya in exchange for a cease-fire.”

Murderous fury blazed in his chestnut eyes, and his fists clenched around his utensils. “Dracul handed Arya over to Hadrian?”

I shook my head, answering quickly before Caesar could bend his knife and fork beyond repair. “No, Arya snuck out and surrendered herself to save everyone else.”

“Goddammit!” He slammed one of his fists against the table, making the plates on it rattle loudly.

“Fucking Dracul,” Kai seethed. “Is there nothing that pompous, incompetent idiot can’t screw up?”

“It’ll be okay,” I said, to convince myself as much as them. “We’re going to get her back, given that Hadrian doesn’t just kill her.”

Caesar shook his head as he clenched his jaw. “I don’t believe he will do that. She’s his daughter, not that I think that means all that much to him. And if he was going to kill her, he would’ve just destroyed the Dome without getting her out. No, whatever he wants with her, it’s something else, and he at least won’t kill her until he gets it.”

I slapped my hands a bit too forcefully on the table, making the dishes rattle again. “I think our timeline just got pushed up. We have to take action now. And I don’t think a stealth mission is going to cut it.”

Kai cocked his head curiously. “What do you propose?”

I took a deep, steadying breath to prepare myself for what might be a really terrible idea. “I’m going to enroll as an Initiate at Heritage Prep.”

Chapter 4

Tobias

My snout ground through the wet-compacted sand, filling my nose and mouth on impact. A wave washed in a second later, adding salt water to the mix and burning my nostrils and eyes. The deep laceration where my wing connected to my body stung. The damned creature had nearly ripped it clean off.

Krakens didn’t fight fair.

And besides, it was tricky to fight one when I was more comfortable in the air. I imagined Arya would have a better chance.

Arya...

The image of her blue eyes glaring angrily at me before shewillinglyleft with that wretched vampire burned into my retinas. It taunted me. But it also challenged me to do better, tobebetter. Just like everything about her had since I met her.

Even if she did hate me forever because of this hellish curse.

The burning in my chest was suddenly more than the actual fire within, but I didn’t care. I finally knew why my mother stayed with Arthur all these years, despite loving and not being loved in return. Because love made a person do crazy things, even if it meant a lifetime of torture.

I was in love with Arya. And I’d go through Hell and back to protect her from our enemies.

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