Page 15 of Underworld
Nodding, I placed a hand on the barrier, tentatively at first. It responded to my touch, warmth blooming under my hand.
“We need tell the Dean and alert the faculty,” Orion said.
“Man.” Yuri huffed out a sigh. “I’ll go track everybody down. I guess we should meet at Olivia’s place? It’s the largest—andcleanest—for the time being.” She wrinkled her nose. “Boys are messy. They leave dead bodies everywhere.”
I didn’t even want to know.
“That’s fine with me,” I said after Orion looked at me.
“Okay, great,” Yuri said as she popped her lollipop in her mouth. “I’ll—What the…damnit, not again!” She flinched, smacking a hand over her ear as she cringed.
Orion grimaced and muttered, “Dante’s back.” He sighed when I raised an eyebrow at him. “Cole probably forced him out of the tunnels, so he’s taking his anger out on the Dark Mage.”
Confused, I looked between them. Then I realized what had caught their attention. The sounds of a fight, distant to me, but probably painfully loud to those beings with sensitive hearing—like vamps, demigods, shifters…
“It wasn’t a retreat,” I muttered.
It was an ambush, and based on the anger I’d felt radiating from Dante, Hendrik was in for some serious violence.
“You can handle those two, right?” Yuri gave us a wary look as a shout resounded through the air—this time loud enough that even I didn’t have any trouble hearing it.
“We’ve got them, Yuri,” Orion said, pressing a hand to the small of my back. “Are you up for it?” he asked.
My wings still stung, but being part angel had its perks. When I swiped away blood, the worst of my wounds seemed healed. “I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
“Good.” Yuri looked relieved. “I mean, I can handle a few Demonspawn. I’m glad I’ve got this super-strength and all. It’s one of the few things about being a vampire that Idolike, but that doesn’t mean I like having to be the one to wade into this pissing contests between guys like Dante and Hendrik.EspeciallyDante. He’s… scary.” She turned and waved at us over her shoulder before she took off at a run. “See ya!”
If Yuri was running in the opposite direction, I worried what we’d find.
Orion rested a hand on the curve on my neck in that claiming way I liked. “We need to get over there. Dante’s out of control and if we can convince him you’re really back, maybe he’ll snap out of it.”
A cold rock settled in my gut and I nodded. Orion jogged at an easy pace and I followed him. Before I knew it, we were running and the campus streamed by us in a blur of color and noise and wind.
Sometimes, being supernatural was pretty fucking cool.
I had no idea where we were going, but the frayed bond between Dante and I grew stronger. A cool presence infiltrated my body, too, and my nostrils flared at the tell-tale scent of blood and roses.
Hendrik.
We came to a stop outside a dormitory and I wiped the sweat off my brow. My wings dragged at my back, a foreign weight I’d have to adjust to and I looked forward to a long, hot bath.
First, I had to get my Virtues under control.
Orion and I swept inside and I didn’t have time to admire the gothic interior, or inhale the sickly sweet scent of black magic.
I swept up the stairs and scampered down the velvety carpet, my feet pattering and my wings dragging behind me as I followed the tug on my heart.
Orion grabbed my wrist when I moved to open the door where I knew Dante and Hendrik lay waiting. “Wait,” he said. “Let’s see if Hendrik can get him to calm down, first.”
Based on the argument going on inside, I doubted Hendrik was helping matters, but I lowered my hand as the shouting continued.
“You fucking monster,” Dante snarled. “What kind of bullshit mind games are you playing with me now? It’s bad enough that we lost Lily but now you’ve got me hallucinating her?”
“Don’t accuse me of things you don’t understand,” Hendrik snapped. “Back the fuck off, demon-toy.”
Given the roar that followed, the taunt was probably not helping matters.
“Shut the fuck up and put that down before I choke you with it,” Dante snapped. “Are you working with Cole? Is that why you keep fucking with my head? Everyone knows you get off on misery. Here you are making me think she’s here after all this time. You’re a sick bastard.”
