Page 17 of Savage Sacrifice
P.S, just in case the affirmations do work, let’s add an extra one to the mix.
I am asleep.
7
ASHER
“What do you mean we can’t leave?” My nostrils flare as I glare at the guards protecting the exit. The portal isn’t being generated at all. Not a smidge.
“Not at this time of night,” the guard on the left states, shrugging like we’re not all desperately trying to get the hell out of here.
There’s not much room in here, it’s a passing point at best. But since they’re not letting us through, we’re practically huddled together in the hexagonal room. The guards stand on either side of the wall where the exit portal usually is, and the door leading into the academy is behind us. There’s no other way out this late. A protective dome encloses the academy, so attempting to take the road is futile.
The dark mahogany walls are driving me insane. I’ve never paid this much attention to them before. Each nook, every chip and crack, it’s all visible.
“We’ve left at this time before,” Minnie states, her voice remaining calm and delicate, but the sharpness to her jaw tells me it’s taking a lot for her to contain it.
“We have urgent matters to attend to,” Blaze snarls, the thunder on his face revealing his rage, but the guard on the right shrugs along with his co-worker.
“I’m sorry, Sir, but?—”
Blaze is on him instantly, cutting the words from his lips as he wraps a hand around his throat and pins him to the wall. “Unless the next words out of your mouth grant us leave, I’d highly recommend keeping your lips sealed shut.”
It’s a promise. One that makes evenmyeyes widen.
“Release him, right this minute,” the other guard demands, but Blaze doesn’t look away from the man in his grasp.
This is all going to Hell.
We barreled out of the wolf dorms with purpose, only to get here and be rejected. It really doesn’t make sense. Authorization to leave has never been an issue before. Why now?
Wiping a hand down my face, I try to remain level headed, aware that if we all start throwing our weight around like Blaze, it’s going to go from bad to worse, and fast. Silently, I applaud him, though. I would love nothing more than to take my frustrations out on someone right now, but I don’t know what I’ll be capable of; what it truly looks like for me to lose control.
If only Polaris was here, she would know exactly how to ease the tension rolling through me.
“I said release him. Now!” the guard repeats, but if anything, Blaze’s grip only tightens.
“This is an urgent matter,” Minnie declares, trying to deescalate the situation as she steps between the free guard and Blaze. “We just need to leave. That’s all,” she insists, and I nod in agreement, Wylder, Lincoln, and Tatum doing the same, but it doesn’t seem to change the guard’s position on the matter at all.
Blaze growls, his frustrations getting the better of him, and he slams his free hand into the wall beside the guard’s head. A trickle of blood instantly runs down the wall, but Blaze pays it nomind and releases the guard with a huff, running his hand down his face as he takes a step back.
I expect him to ease off, let someone else take the reins, but to my surprise, his attention whirls around to the other guard. Blaze’s hands ball at his sides, revealing the break along his knuckles. They were already busted up from earlier, but he doesn’t care. He cracks his neck from side to side as he stops toe to toe with the guard. “I’m no longer bound by the blood kin curse. I don’t even need to be here any more,” he seethes, and I can’t help but agree. He has a point.
“Me either,” Minnie chimes in, and it’s like a swift punch to the gut, one that we all feel if the winces on everyone’s faces are anything to go by.
“We don’t have authorization to open the portal. I don’t know how else to say this to you,” the guard bites, unwavering under Blaze’s intense glare.
“I’mgiving you the authorization as the alpha of the wolves,” Lincoln declares from my left, and the guard turns to him with a pointed look.
“It doesn’t quite work like that.”
“I don’t give a fuck how it works, just make it happen,” I add, frustration getting the better of me, and Wylder pats me on the shoulder. It does nothing to soothe me.
“There seems to be a disturbance. Does anyone care to explain why that might be?”
I spin, following the thundering voice booming from behind us to find Professor Whitmore glaring at us. His crisp white shirt is tucked into his suit pants, his blazer and tie long gone as he waits expectantly for an answer.
Sighing, I take a step toward him to explain, but to my shock, Tatum beats me to it. “We have an urgent matter offsite to attend to. One that can’t wait, hence the use of the word urgent,” hestates, folding his arms over his chest, and a ripple of pride runs through my body.
