Page 48 of Great Falls Rogue
“The deputy headmaster is already taking every safety precaution he is able to. There is nothing more to be done without proof.”
“Fine.” Standing, I head for the large wooden chest where we keep my spare set of leather armor and weapons. “If River and Sage need proof that the Academy is under imminent bloody threat, I’m going to get proof.”
Coal’s scent spikes dangerously before I’m halfway across the room. “How?” he says. “By wandering the woods by yourself in hopes a Night Guard fae tries to kill you?”
“If I have to.”
Coal snorts with no hint of humor. “So long as the proof you are after is your own dead body, it’s as solid a plan as I’ve ever heard.”
I twist toward him, my blood starting to simmer. A week ago, Coal didn’t know the Protector’s Guild even existed—now he wants to stop me from the outings I’ve been taking for weeks. “You have a better idea?”
“We start by you not getting dead and go from there.” Coal’s muscles shift sinuously as he rises to his full height and steps away from the wall and toward the wooden chest, as if he could physically bar me from opening it. “Wait a few days, and we will go together. There is little to be lost by holding off that long.”
“What bloody world do you live in, Coal? You won’t be capable of so much as wiping your arse with that arm in a few days. And you are the one who got yourself into that mess to begin with.”
“Lera—” Arisha starts to say.
“No. Coal can keep his votes of no confidence to himself.” My gaze snaps back to the male. “I was patrolling by myself for a month before you came along. And Iwillkeep doing it.”
Coal’s eyes darken as I speak, and now his lips pull back, showing the sharp canines my amulet tries to tell me aren’t there. “Like hell you will.”
“Exactly. Like hell Iwill.” My words escape through clenched teeth, the flame of frustration that started with sleepless nights and fed on Sage’s death-trapping stupidity shifting into a full-on bonfire. I step toward Coal until we’re nose to nose. “You were invited to the guild to help, not to order me about. As for what you are actually capable of just now—that would be an extra dead body at best and a liability at worst.”
Coal’s furious body heat washes over me. I don’t know who’s he angrier at: me for pointing out the obvious, or himself for still being injured. In the corner of my narrowing vision, Arisha throws her arms protectively around her precious manuscripts, while Gavriel inconspicuously gathers up his china teapot.
“Get out of my way,” I say simply.
“Master Coal—” Gavriel starts, probably feeling the brittleness of every single thousand-year-old book page surrounding us. One breath could blow them to dust, let alone two raging immortals. “Tempers seem to be—”
Coal slams the heel of his palm on the tabletop. “Go out alone tonight, Cadet, and I’ll ensure you regret it.” His eyes are blue lightning, and I have no doubt he means every word.
Unfortunately, so do I.
* * *
Nothing.
I’ve patrolled every inch of the forest around Great Falls, north to the great thundering waterfall itself and south to the borders of the village, and all I’ve found is a big fat nothing.
Normally, I’d have stumbled upon a herd of Yocklols at least, maybe a few slobbering sclices, or a rippling shadow that speaks to something lurking in the forbidding gloom. Normally, I’d have had a perfectly reasonable shot at stunning or killing something to drag back and drop at River’s feet.
But not tonight. Just silent woods, soft leaves underfoot, and the warm weight of Shade’s wolf at my side.
It’s almost as if they knew I was coming.
As dark night lightens to a silvery gray, the huge wall of the Academy comes into view. I curse softly, scaring an owl from its roost. I don’t resent the night of missed sleep—I needed a break from Coal’s dark, bloodstained memories anyway—but I do resent what I just risked for this big fat nothing.
Fortunately, I don’t think Coal spotted me going out—which I judge mostly by the fact that no blond bastard tried to tackle me as I left. Much as it grates me to appear to have appeased the overbearing male, I’ve enough wits to know that a physical confrontation with Coal wouldn’t end well for either of us. So I was beyond careful when I snuck out my window and across the grounds, keeping to only the deepest shadows, grateful for the slim crescent moon as I climbed the stone wall. And I’ll take the same precautions now. I know how to remain hidden. For all the good it did me tonight.
Shade pants lightly and presses against my leg—a warning. A guardsman paces across the top of the wall in front of us with torch in hand, silhouetted against the lightening sky. The tunnel it is.
And then a long day of acting completely normal around Coal—and plotting my next move to get River the proof he needs. To dosomething.
4
Lera
“What in the name of all the stars is this nonsense?” Stopping a few paces short of the training corral for the morning class, Arisha watches Coal spin-kick a post, each blow shaking the wood. The male’s left arm is bound tightly to his shirtless body, the other up in defense. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the warrior had simply taken one arm out of action for training purposes. Certainly, Coal gives no evidence of feeling the agony that must shoot down his bones with every vibration.
