“How do you know this?” I ask, aware of the fact that he barred us all from knocking on her damn door, which is why I’m out here to begin with.
“That’s not relevant right now,” he states, and I curse under my breath.
“You better believe it is,” I bite, irritation rising inside of me. He did precisely what he insisted Thorne and I shouldn’t do. Motherfucker.
“Kael,” he mutters, and I scoff.
“Rion.” I want to hear it from his lips and he knows it.
“I went over there.”
I wipe my hand down my face again. “Of course you did.”
“It’s a good thing, really,” he insists, and I huff as I approach the front steps of Institute Thirteen.
“How do you figure?”
“Because she’d be gone and we wouldn’t know.”
I hate it even more when he actually has a point.
Asshole.
Hurrying inside, I take the steps two at a time, racing to the fourth floor. The second I reach the top step, the door to my shared dorm with Thorne and Rion swings open, only it isn’t the wolf I see, but the shadow fae.
“Elodie’s gone,” I grunt, and he nods, no hint of surprise in his eyes as he takes a step backward into the room. But before I can follow him, the door across the hall swings open and Rion stands in the doorway.
I end the call, tucking my cell phone away as we look at each other. My lips part, ready to take control of the situation, when footsteps from behind echo around us and I peer over my shoulder to find Ocean hurrying up the steps with two bags and a tray of drinks in her hands from the coffee shop. One bag is from the bakery, the other from the little hardware store on the opposite side of The Vale.
She takes one quick look at the three of us and her open door before her eyes turn to slits and her mouth twists in anger. “What did you do to her?” She storms toward me, somehow still managing to aim an accusing finger my way, despite the bags and takeaway cups in her hand. “I swear to God, I?—”
“We didn’t do anything, you lunatic,” I grumble when the tip of her finger gets within an inch of my nose.
“Professor Morton took her to see The Sanctum,” Rion explains, offering more than I would have liked.
Ocean’s eyes widen in surprise as her shoulders slump. “Shit. I knew I shouldn’t have left this morning,” she mutters, more to herself than anything else, but I still let it fuel my fury.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have,” I bite, towering over her, yet she doesn’t cower like I expect.
Instead, she blinks up at me as it takes a moment for her to process my words before she scoffs, whipping her head from side to side.
“Of course you take the first opportunity to blame someone else,” she mutters, bypassing me as she heads toward Rion, who moves to the side to let her into her room, but my words seem to make her pause and she looks back at me before she steps over the threshold.
“How is this on me?” I grunt, eyebrows furrowed in disbelief as she simply rolls her eyes at me, not bothering to give me an answer.
She hands the tray of two cups to Rion, whowordlessly pulls one out of the holder, chugging it like it was meant for him.
“That was for Elodie,” Ocean mutters, dropping her bags to the floor as she plants her hands on her hips.
“I didn’t take her for a white mocha with blonde roast kind of girl,” he states with a shrug before downing more of the drink.
“I’m more concerned that you know what it is,” Ocean retorts, but quickly waves her hand in the air, cutting off the change in conversation as she turns to face the rest of us. “How do we get to The Sanctum?” she asks, her gaze mainly focused on me. I shrug, but it’s Thorne who answers.
“We can’t.”
“That’s not good enough. She’s been through enough already, don’t you think?”
I don’t like the pointed look she gives everyone, but worse, I don’t like how much I’m starting to agree with that statement.
