I whirl, but again, know who it is before I see his face or even scent him. Cinnamon and clove envelop my senses as a dark presence barrels toward us. Erich, his black hair hanging in his pale blue eyes, black tribal flames climbing up his neck beneath his glowing collar to lick at his jaw, flowing down his arms and across his fingers. His silver nose ring and eyebrow bar glintin the overhead lights. His dark brows are drawn tight, jaw set as his gaze flicks from me to Laurant and back. Then, he grabs my free hand and pulls me from Laurant’s grasp, places himself between us.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he growls.
Laurant looks… exhausted. His whole body slumps, but he remains standing. When he opens his mouth to respond, I hold my free hand up to him in a halting motion, then place it on Erich’s chest, drawing his attention back to me.
“We were going somewhere to talk.” My voice is quiet, drowned by the siren screaming around us.
Erich’s brows twitch as he runs his tongue over his teeth behind those luscious lips. Then he says with a deadly glare at Laurant, “Not without me.”
I’m somewhat surprised when Laurant doesn’t argue, and instead, gestures down the hall for us to follow.
Erich doesn’t release my hand. He takes the lead to the door Laurant stops in front of and uses an old key to unlock. He waves us into the darkness beyond with one word. “Stairs.”
Erich raises his free hand in front of his chest, and a tiny ball of fire flares to life between his fingertips, lighting our way down some narrow stone stairs. Behind us, Laurant closes and locks the door. The alarm becomes more muted as we all travel down a spiral of stairs, well past the three floors that would bring us to ground level.
Despite my trust in Laurant, albeit fleeting, my body tenses the further we travel, and at some point, Erich’s thumb begins to rub the top of my hand in a light, soothing, back-and-forth motion. The move surprises and calms me, despite only seeing his muscular back as we continue to descend.
Laurant must see the movement in the firelight, or sense my unease through his curse, because he awkwardly places a hand on my shoulder from behind me, the warmth of his skin seepingthrough my layers of clothing and easing the chill the stone confines wrap around us.
It isn’t until we’re what has to be two to three levels below the ground floor that we reach the bottom of the stairs and set foot on rough stone.
“This way.” Laurant slips out from behind us and takes the lead, heading around one corner, then another, until we reach a door that he opens and gestures for us to enter.
Erich’s expression is severe, cast in the light of the fireball in his palm. His free hand still grasps mine as he enters the dark space first, lighting the way until Laurant enters, shuts the door securely behind him, and smashes a light switch.
Bright light fills the room, revealing a clinical space, clean and sterile. Empty metal shelves line two of the four walls. Old tech screens are laid into the other walls, none of them turned on. Despite the cleanliness of the space, it looks as though it hasn’t been used in years.
“What the fuck is going on?” Erich all but growls, his fireball vanishing within his grasp as he releases my hand.
I bite my lower lip, brows drawn as I peer from Laurant to Erich and back.
Laurant’s forest green eyes are calm and soothing as his head inclines to one side, his lips flattening. “This is one of the only safe spaces to speak freely on the entire campus,” he says, his deep, soothing voice tinged with that trustworthy British accent of his putting me at ease. “Tell us what happened.”
Another lip bite followed by a sigh, and I do as he says. I tell them both about Mira, her pack, how Aubrey was auctioned and would be taken away to the Kingdom of Russia in the morning. “They were desperate,” I say.
“I would be, too,” Erich hisses, his muscular arms crossing over his chest as those pale blue eyes focus on me.
“So, I helped them.”
Erich blinks, lips parting when Laurant interjects. “You combined your curses.” It’s a statement, but I give him an affirmative nod.
“I disabled the shields over the explosive charges in their collars, and Rai immediately disabled the charge.” I dig into the pockets of my hoodie and pull out the defunct control boxes, two in each hand, holding them out to each of them. “Once they were free, they ran.” I lower my arms and shake my head as I go on. “Rai knew the alarm was going to sound quickly, so they headed for the helicopter landing pad.” There’s a pinch in my chest as I whisper, “I hope they made it out.”
For a moment, none of us says anything. Then:
“Why the fuck didn’t you go with them?” Erich roars, enraged, fists clenched, and I jump at his outburst. But deep within his gorgeous eyes lies something other than anger.
Fear.
“He’s afraid for your well-being.” Laurant’s voice is quiet. “As am I.”
I frown, look back and forth between them before breathing, “I couldn’t leave.”
“What are you talking about?” Erich rages. “You had the perfect opportunity—”
“I couldn’t leaveyou!”
The outburst claws its way from my soul and out of my mouth, completely unexpected, and met by eerie silence. My heart races as a myriad of emotions pass over Erich’s face: confusion, realization, gut-wrenching devastation.
