Page 28 of Ava: Part Three

That had to be the worst plan ever. They were going to die straight away.

“With the help of some witches, yes,” Zeke answered with a grin.

“And what does Mr Patrick think of your plan?”

“I haven’t told him. I don’t think he can help us, Ava. Not when he’s stuck in here like us,” Zeke said, coming forward to take her face between his hands. “We will do this ourselves. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

The rest of their lives. All one day’s worth of it.

“Trust me, Ava. We need to do something. Waiting for them here where they have us trapped is not an option,” Zeke said as he kissed her lips.

That kiss shot a spark through her body that she tried to ignore. She didn’t have enough time, not when the guards already knew where she was.

“Meet me here after your detention tomorrow, and I’ll tell you the whole plan before we leave at midnight,” Zeke said.

She nodded and started going back up the stairs. Mr Patrick had warned them what would happen if they managed to escape. But Zeke was also right. Seeing the Head of Council was something no one ever wanted to do.

“Ava, wait,” Zeke said from behind her.

When she turned back, he kissed her again, but he released her before she lost her head.

“Do you still feel the bond between us?” he asked.

“Of course,” she answered with a frown. Why did he even have to ask? He was the one who’d marked her.

She felt drawn to him now more than ever.

Zeke kissed her again before he opened the door.

“I’ll drive you back. It’s too late for you to walk alone when Claire is around.”

Just the mention of that name brought the burning need to see Claire's blood all over her hands again. It was so intense that she clenched her fists and sat in the back of the car without arguing.

“This is bullshit,” Zeke growled when he stopped outside her dorm and saw the guards posted outside it.

Zeke turned back to her and noted her clenched fists.

“Focus on me,” he whispered. “Control it.”

She nodded and left the car without a word. Focus on Zeke. Yes, she would try that. But by the time she had showered and changed, both thoughts were running through her mind again. Kill Claire. Have her way with Zeke.

It felt like a compulsion. Would she last through a day of this without giving in?

Chapter 16

"Focus,Ava."

Ava dragged her eyes from Claire as she sparred at the other end of the training room.

“What’s going on,” Max asked as he faced her from across the mat.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, dropping into a fighting stance again.

Focus on Max. Focus on Max.

But her eyes found their way to Claire again, and the wolf was staring right at her this time. Fury, white-hot fury, shot through her when she saw the smug look on the wolf’s face. It occurred to her that maybe this was another of the Council’s tests. Perhaps they wanted to see what she would do to the wolf she had already ripped apart and thrown into their forest. Maybe their spies were in this room, reporting her every move back to them. But she was beyond thinking clearly now.

After another sleepless night, she knew she was about to snap.

---