"He's like a cockroach," Silas agrees, making a sound of distaste. "My parents consistently tried and failed to hunt him down after he killed their keeper and my uncle. The human government hired bounty hunters to go after him two years ago after he slaughtered an entire courtroom of humans, and he was never caught or punished for it. Wherever he's run off to, he'll be back. Unfortunately," he adds spitefully.
I knew about the courtroom thing, but hearing that Crypt killed Silas's family members makes their apparent hatred toward one another much more transparent.
In Fiend Studies, Professor Crowley discusses the Undead, discussing their aversion to sunlight and fire, inability to speak, shocking speed, craving for flesh, etcetera. It's all shit that I learned firsthand by the time I was seven years old, so I spend most of class plotting how to get Kenzie back.
Class ends, lunch passes as uncomfortably as the day before—except this time, I refuse to touch any mystery foods—and finally, it's once again time for combat training. All four of ustrickle out into the training fields along with dozens of other legacies.
The air is thick with tension. A fair few legacies died during combat training yesterday, so everyone is more on edge than ever.
"Super cheery out here," Baelfire says sarcastically.
"It's only going to get worse." Silas shoots me a look. "There will be no repeats of what happened yesterday,ima sangfluir. Stay close to us."
I make a noncommittal sound before scanning the jumbled crowd for signs of the real Monica. I need to find out what happened to her. I'm also planning on tracking down Harlow to learn how the hell she was connected to that changeling. Her emphasis isn't combat, so I'll have to find her outside classes.
"The coach is late," Everett notes unhappily.
"Maybe they're still trying to thaw his frozen ass after your stunt yesterday," Bael shrugs.
Everett froze Coach Gallagher? I want to ask why, but then I spot a legacy storming towards us and square my shoulders.
It's the blond caster asshole who licked me yesterday. I'd hoped he had been picked off by some other legacy during training, but apparently, he's alive and hasn't figured out that I'm going to kill him if he gets anywhere near me.
"Oakley! What the fuck was that yesterday? You're not an asscaster at all, are you?" he demands. "You almost snapped my neck, and I saw Jace's body. What the fuck did you do to him? What kind of magic was that?"
Nearby legacies are turning their attention to this new scene. Silas steps in front of me, Baelfire moves to my left side, and weirdly, Everett also moves to guard behind me without touching me.
Silas's voice is deadly. "Walk away, Chase."
The caster, whose name must be Chase, scoffs. "You didn't see it, Crane. There's something fucking weird about your keeper. Sierra said she was a germophobic, quiet little asscaster, and at first, she was totally helpless under that paralysis spell but then out of fucking nowhere, she just?—"
"Paralysis spell?" Baelfire repeats, his tone simmering. "Maven, what is he talking about? Did this asshole put a finger on you?"
Chase leers. "I put my wholetongueon her, you huge fucking moron. That's why I'm saying it makes no sense. If she was so completely powerless, then how did she just?—"
"Youlickedmymate?"Baelfire roars.
And I mean, he literally roars it. His voice is no longer human-sounding.
I sense an alarming explosion of heat from my left just before Everett tackles me from behind, rolling us both away just as Baelfire loses control and shifts.
Legacies scream and scatter as blue fire erupts around the Decimus—but everything becomes muffled as a thick shield of ice forms out of nowhere, arching over Everett and me to protect us from the nearby flames.
The fact that Everett's ice can hold up to dragon fire is impressive. I blink up in surprise, finding that I'm lying on the cold ground as he covers me protectively with his body.
Everett's soft, cool mint scent envelops me in this enclosed space. He keeps his head turned to one side, jaw ticking as if he's still determined not to look at me—but I can feel his heart crashing inside his chest pressed against mine.
Without thinking, I squirm against him because this moment of proximity has thrown me for a major loop. When I do, the ice elemental groans brokenly.
Oh, shit.
That is a very hard erection pressing into me.
But the moment ends when the ice around us finally starts to melt. Everett swears under his breath, and a second later, the ice is entirely gone. He rolls to his feet and reaches down to pull me up, but now that I have a clear view of what's going on, I stay on my ass and stare.
Baelfire's dragon arcs through the air overhead, a glittering, golden masterpiece whose sprawling wings pummel the air, blasting everyone below. The beast lets loose a skull-rattling roar. Where Bael lost control, the field is scorched and smoking. All nearby tufts of snow are melted.
Silas is off to one side of it, and when his scarlet gaze collides with mine, he looks relieved. But my stomach lurches when I realize he didn't get out of Baelfire's way fast enough. His clothing is singed, and one of his arms and shoulders is charred and smoldering.
