“The siren means we need to move,” she explains as she drops to her knees and tugs a black case out from under her bed.
My eyebrows pinch in confusion as I slowly realize that the siren that cut my dream short is wailing in the background.
Damn.
Rubbing at my eyes, I fail to make my vision any clearer as Ocean turns to me with a pointed look. “Positions, Elodie. I’m sorry, hun, but we need to move,” she insists, offering me her hand.
The second my palm touches hers, she launches me to my feet before shoving something against my chest.
“What positions?” I ask, still as confused as the moment she stirred me awake, but now I happen to be holding a sheathed sword. “And why the hell am I holding this?” I add as she gives me a tight smile and a shrug that says she isn’t taking it back.
“Don’t worry, just follow me,” she states, like that’s all that needs to be said, when pounding starts at the bedroom door. “Want to guess if it’s a wolf, a vampire, or a shadow fae?” she asks, cocking a brow at me as she waves toward the sound, and I shake my head.
“None.”
With a dramatic eye roll, she reaches forsomething on her bed, slinging it over her shoulder before she heads for the exit while I gape at her, spying the bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows at her back.
“What the actual hell is going on?” I blurt at the exact same time she turns the bedroom lock and swings the door open to reveal Rion on the other side.
He fills the doorway with his washboard abs on display and my mouth dries as I take him in. In nothing but a pair of shorts, he wields a small axe in each hand. “Let’s go, Petal,” he states, taking a step back, and Ocean sighs in frustration.
“We’re fine on our own,” she grumbles, and he scoffs.
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Is someone actually going to tell me what’s going on?” I insist, and the hot wolf gives me an apologetic smile as he tilts his head at me.
“It’s okay, Petal. I’ve got you.”
“She’s fine. Stop babying her,” Kael grunts from behind him, offering me a glare from over his shoulder.
What have I done now?
Before I can speak the question out loud, the blond vampire manages to narrow his eyes further. “Now, Elodie,” he orders, and Ocean hurries tomy side to grab my arm and tug me along with them.
“What is this?” I ask, hiking the sheathed sword in the air as I step out into the hallway at the exact same time as Thorne.
“A sword,” he mutters, and I give him a pointed look as the five of us fall into step, heading toward the stairs as a unit.
“And why the hell do I need a sword?” I grumble, and he matches my stare with one of his own.
“Because we’re being invaded.”
My eyes widen so far I’m sure they’re going to pop out of my head. The only reason I keep moving is because Ocean tugs me along after her, hurrying down the stairs in a blur.
The bite of the cool night air heightens my focus as we make it outside.
Intuitively, my hold on the sword shifts to the hilt as Rion reaches for the leather protecting the steel, and with one swift move, the glint of death sparkles back at me under the moonlight.
“Fuck, I didn’t think you could get hotter, Petal,” he rasps, tossing the leather aside without care as we continue toward The Vale.
“Now isn’t the time to be thinking with your dick, Rion,” Kael grunts, his knuckles whitening around the daggers in his hands.
I turn to Thorne to see what medieval weapon he’s holding, but to my surprise, his hands are bare. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him about it when he turns to his friends with irritation dancing in his eyes.
“If we’re not down there to defend The Vale, they’ll have us all on solitary training,” he states, a tick flickering at his jaw.
My steps falter, making Ocean stumble too as she keeps ahold of me. “I’m not defending The Vale,” I blurt, and Kael scoffs, glancing back over his shoulder at me.
