“Oh, thank the wee Jesus. We went straight to Lola when you went missing and she said this is insurance. We were sure it was Edward since no one else likes her. Where are you? We figured out you’re still on campus.”
“How? This place seems familiar, but Edmund can portal. He could have taken me anywhere.”
“So, I loathe snitches, but full transparency, the Muppet hacked your glucose monitor that first day and has been your little fangy snack fairy. He checked because Professor Adamastus worked us harder than usual. He literally watched your levels go up. Wherever you are, it’s close enough for your glucose monitor to send out a signal.”
“You can get mad at me later. I didn’t know why I did it at the time and I was only trying to help, but I think I was supposed to just because of this.”
I couldn’t even get mad about it because it helped them figure out where I was. I didn’t know if I would have gotten mad about it if I hadn’t. Lucian never said a damned thing about what he saw. He never tried to control me with that data. He figured out the right kind of food I needed and the kinds I liked and would just quietly have it ready.
“I think I’m underground. There are rocks on the floor, so I think I can use one to cut through the duct tape, but I can’t fight lightning. If you can’t find me in time, proceed with the plan. In theory, it should work without me. I’m pretty sure I was just in the prophecy to read their auras.”
“Absolutely not,”Khalid said.
“No, I’m serious. I’m pretty sure the Super Moon on Winter Solstice is important. We might not be able to do this again. I’m working on how to get out. Look for me, but if you can’t find me, kill them. Just make sure they can’t contact Edward if something goes wrong because he will hurt me.”
“Morgana said there are catacombs underneath the academy. They’d been blocked off for centuries and the only parts of them that are accessible is the part with the pool. She said she doesn’t know how he got you down there since only professors have the magical signature to open it. She went to tell Headmaster Mykene so they can start searching, but she said they extend for miles and if he hears them, he can just portal you away.”
Awesome. Even if I managed to get myself loose from the duct tape and get away, I couldn’t find my way out. I didn’t know the layout, I couldn’t portal, and I wasn’t a professor, so I couldn’t open the door even if I could find it.
I didn’tknowif my plan would work without me. I just knew if we could have done this at any time, the prophecy wouldn’t have specifically given us a date.
Iwasn’t a violent person. I generally abhorred it. But every time I checked the app that connected to Sage’s glucose monitor and realized this moron kidnapped a diabetic and didn’t plan for it, I felt a little homicidal. This feeling was entirely new to me and I wasn’t sure if I was mad at it. It would probably feel divinely good to rip his head off.
Especially since even Headmaster Mykene admitted that the catacombs were vast and that since it should have been impossible for students to get down there, there were no cameras. She wasn’tsayingit, but Morgana did. The only way to get down in the catacombs was to have your magical signaturekeyed to the door. Even Liam and Petros, the two criminals I was associated with, couldn’t have broken in.
Which meant a professor was helping them. We’d deal with that after we found Sage and dealt with the Forsaken Ones. Except the catacombs were so big and Edward could just portal her if he heard them coming.
Which was why we were all taking our positions in the clearing without Sage when none of us wanted to. Alexios didn’t have the same type of foretelling as Sage did. He couldn’t just force another prophecy and tell us if we were all going to get eaten by a snake or sucked into the void if Sage wasn’t here. He also couldn’t just tell us where Sage was so we could get her.
Basically, I hated every minute of this.
We didn’t know what kind of senses Lola had. Radames was similar to the other reincarnations, but he could also turn into a snake. I had to point out to literally everyone that snakes had enhanced smell due to their Jacobsons Organ, and some snakes had infrared heat vision and we couldn’t discount Radames having it, either.
Which meant the only people who could be in that clearing with Lola and Radames were Liam and me and Iman while we were shifted. There were bats all over this campus because some of the vampires could shift. Iman was the only person here who could turn into a house cat, but the reincarnation of Freya was here, so there were cats everywhere. Radames wouldn’t know it wasthatcat unless he saw her.
Sage decided to try trickery before we resorted to violence, so Liam had his guitar with him. Iman, apparently, brought several cats with her so nothing was suspicious and I was hanging out in a tree. Iman and I didn’t have much of a plan to not also be victims of what Liam was about to do. Bats were neither deaf nor blind and Iman and I couldn’t wear ear plugs while we were shifted.
“What is this?” Lola demanded. “Your taste in music is shitty.”
It wasn’t. Liam’s taste in music was eclectic and random, but it wasn’t terrible. The music he wrote himself was flat out beautiful. For someone who blew up my phone with insufferable group texts, his lyrics were amazing, too. Mazen told us what Lola listened to and we should kill her just for that.
Radames finally showed up, looking around to make sure they were alone. They didn’t even walk to this together. Liam and Radames locked gazes, which was stupid since Radames could hypnotize people.
“This had better work,” Radames snarled. “She wants this.”
I could understand that in a way. I’d do anything for Sage, but I wasn’t dumb enough to blame other people when something went wrong.
Morgana had already been here. She burned a pentacle in the grass and then filled the circle with black salt. She’d added some kind of potion that should hopefully keep them contained.
“And I told you I’d help as long as you take her out of my sight afterwards because of what she tried to do to me.”
“Why the fuck do you have a guitar?”
“You want your crotch goblins in her, right? I channel my magic best through music. Not sure if this is a new me thing like the monogamy, but it works for me. So, get naked and sit in the circle while I open some chakras or some shite.”
Uh, Sage didn’t say anything about getting anyone naked. That was all Liam. What was he doing?
“I’m not gay. I’m not getting naked in front of you,” Radames said.
