Page 74 of Rebel Fae
“Wow, good job,” Bridget said, nodding, her green eyes scanning the width of my wings over my head.
“Thank you.” Disha preened and smiled from ear to ear at the compliment.
Almost mechanically, I stood, realizing the pain was gone. My wings fluttered behind me, fanning my hair as they usually did. A knot seemed to come loose inside my chest. I didn’t know when it had formed, but I exhaled in relief.
“Thank you, Disha,” I said in a hot puff of breath.
“It’s nothing.”
I enjoyed the sense of peace for a moment, closing my eyes, and thanking the gods for letting us save the girls and for allowing us to get out of there alive, even if Vaughn…
My eyes snapped open and flew to Charlie. “Please, my friend, Vaughn, I need to know how he is.”
Charlie nodded and turned to Rowan. “Can you find out?”
Rowan nodded and promptly left the room.
“Sit, Tally.” Charlie gently pressed her fingers to my forearm. “You must be exhausted.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. My friends are still on the island. I need to go back for them. They’re waiting for me.”
“Okay,” Charlie nodded. “We can do that. Bridget, Disha, and I can get them. All you have to do is tell us exactly where they are.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the gods. I thought it might be too late.”
“It’s not. We’re close to them, and we have a way into the island.”
I frowned. “Not far?”
Charlie stood and gestured for me to follow. We walked to the other side across from the sitting area and crossed in front of the pod of computer workers. This was a crazy realm that I would never get used to. Why did they need computers when they had magic? It seemed ludicrous, but humans had somehow figured out a way to make them work together.
Charlie stopped in front of the wall and pressed a button. A panel slid out of the way revealing a window. More fog floated outside.
“Come closer,” Charlie said, making room for me.
I approached and stared at the fog.
“Look down.”
I let out a gasp, marveled at what I saw: a tiny island surrounded by a blue, expansive ocean. In the middle of it, a dome shimmered like a jewel.
“We’re flying over the island, Tally, and we’re not leaving until this place is nothing but a bad memory.”
I was still processing this revelation when the door behind us opened, and I turned to find Rowan accompanied by someone else I never expected to see: Dean Lynssa McIntosh of the Supernatural Academy.
She was wearing a weak smile. Her eyes were gentle, and I could tell she was happy to see me, but… there was something else.
“Where is Vaughn?” The question came out of me in a desperate sobbed.
Dean McIntosh pressed her lips together. Charlie put a hand on my shoulder, anticipating my need for support.
The dean took a step closer and spoke calmly. “The bullets that struck your friend were not ordinary bullets, Tally. The Habermanns were ready for an attack by supernaturals. They planned for us.”
I pulled away from Charlie and grabbed the dean’s hands, squeezing them with all my strength. “Please, he can’t be dead.”
“He isn’t. He’s alive.”
Air rushed past my lips as my lungs seemed to collapse in relief.
“However, there is a problem,” the dean added. “We can’t wake him and some sort of poison is wreaking havoc inside his body eating away at his consciousness.”
“What can we do?” I asked, my heart nearly tearing itself to pieces.
The dean glanced between her crew before her soft blue eyes landed on mine. “We need to go back to find the answer, Tally. We need to finish what we started.”
