Page 114 of Mortal Shift
There was only one person here who really knew what had happened to Thaden—Thaden himself. And he might not be able to talk to me right now, but there had to be some clue, some sign of who had done this to him. Something maybe Thessalia hadn’t wanted me to see?
I paused, contemplating, and then shook off my paranoia. There was no more time for maybes. I needed to go to the source.
The corridors were empty thanks to everyone else being in lessons, and I made it to the second floor without being seen. I rounded the final corner in time to see three people clustered around the door. A guard, an older man in a white coat, and what could only be one of the humans from the feeding den. I cursed and ducked back. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised they were feeding Thaden straight from the vein…but did that mean he was awake? If he was, I needed to talk to him. To convince him to clear Cole’s name. I had no clue how I was supposed to get past the guard, and even if I did, there was every chance the healers would send me away the second they realized who I was. And there was no way Astor was going to give me permission to see him. She’d probably think I was there to finish the job. If I was going to get through those doors, I needed a plan. Or someone to get me through them.
I drew back, about to leave, when I caught a snatch of the conversation and cautiously peered round the corner again.
“I can’t leave the patient,” the man in the white coat—a healer, I presumed—was saying. “You’ll need to escort the human back to its quarters.”
“With all due respect,” the guard began, but the healer was already marching back through the doors. The guard cursed, and the human—a blond-haired, pale guy who looked no older than me—kept his eyes averted.
I stepped into open view, and put some purpose in my stride.
“Human,” I said, casting a glance roughly in the man’s direction without quite looking at him, the same way I’d seen some of the haughtier vamps behave round here, “I’ve been sent to escort you back to the den. Come.”
I whirled on my heel and started marching away without waiting for either of them to acknowledge me. I made it exactly three steps before the guard found his voice.
“Who exactly are you?” he demanded, and I turned back to him, rolling my eyes and hoping he couldn’t hear my heart thundering in my chest.
“The unlucky idiot who drew the short straw and has to waste her afternoon traipsing around after humans.” I ran my impassive gaze over the guard and then shrugged. “But hey, if you want to take him all the way down to the den, saves me a trip. I’ll tell Princess Thessalia you’re taking personal responsibility for him. What’s your name?”
The guard’s eyebrows drew together.
“Yeah, nice try. You’re not passing your errands on to me. Take the human and get out of my sight before I arrest the pair of you for wasting council time.”
I cut him a curt nod, then snapped my fingers at the human. “Come.”
A slight tension ticked through his jaw so quickly I might have imagined it. Interesting. I turned on my heel before my curiosity could make it to my face, and started down the corridor, listening for the sounds of the human following behind.
“Fuck, I can’t believe that worked,” I said as we rounded the corner, out of sight and earshot of the guard. The human narrowed his eyes at me.
“You’re not a vampire.”
I let out a short laugh and gestured myself up and down.
“Yeah, no shit. What gave it away?”
“I’ve never seen a vampire with so little grace.”
“Gee, thanks. You couldn’t have said the clothes, or the fact I actually have a pulse? Don’t spare my feelings or anything.”
“That’s a shifter uniform,” he said, eyeing me critically.
“Yeah. Good thing the guard didn’t realize shifters at the academy aren’t glorified labradors fetching and carrying for the vamps.”
He folded his arms across his chest.
“I’m here to serve the vampires, not the shifters. I won’t come with you willingly back to your…den.”
“Okay, one, I don’t have a ‘den’ because vamps are the only ones who feed off humans, and two, I’m not a shifter.”
“The vampires said your kind hunts humans for sport.”
“Well, they lied.” Or at least, I figured it was probably a lie, but honestly, who the hell knew what they got up to beyond the academy’s walls? They didn’t do it here, at least, that much I knew. “And I told you, they’re not my kind.”
“If you’re not a shifter, what are you?”
“A human.”
