I shoved open the door into the high mage library; the ornate iron handle clanged against the wall. Ignoring the noise, I ran down the aisle, Honor at my side. We raced past the fountain—
And pulled to a stop just before colliding with a young man … in seafoam green robes. He had the same hawk-like nose and broad forehead as his father, Kian, the mage master of water.
Ugh.
Julian.
Honor bared his teeth and snarled at the dude blocking our passageway.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Kian’s son snapped, pointing at Honor. “Thosecreaturesaren’t allowed here. It’s forbidden.”
“Well, thenmove,” I huffed, stepping closer to him. “You’re blocking our way out.”
His nostrils flared. “I know you think you’re something special, but you’re not.”
Screw you, dude.
My heart, already racing, took it up another notch to a full-on sprint. “You don’t know a thing about me—”
“I know enough,” he snarled, stepping into my personal space.
Honor lunged forward then, snapping his jaws at the dude, and he backed up slightly.
“Clearly, you don’t,” I growled, glaring up at him as I inched through the gap Honor had created.
“Unless you’re on some sort of suicide path, you’re not going to be the mage master of spirit,” he said, eyeing Honor before his gaze flicked back to me. “You don’t belong here with us. You’re a mutant high crime.”
Oh. My. Mage.
I rolled my eyes and then gave him a one-finger wave. “Tell me something I haven’t heard a million times. I don’t have time to exchange insults like teenagers. Get. Out. Of. My. WAY!” I roared the last part, my wolf coming to the surface as pelts of fur rippled down my arms.
His face pinched, his lips bunching as he clenched his teeth, but he stepped aside to allow me passage.
“That’s what I thought.” I dismissed him with a wave and started walking backward down the aisle toward the portal door. “Come on, Honor.”
Pretty much, everyone I’d met here, excluding family, was an evil asshat.
“You better tell the alpha king to get his crap together,” Julian seethed. “If he doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain with the high mages, he won’t be king for very long.”
I stopped my departure and cocked my head as I measured the young man. I didn’t know him well enough to get a solid read, but I was getting close to kicking his ass. Balling my fists, I strode closer to him and snarled, “Are you threatening mymate?”
Shaking his head, he snorted and then turned his back on me. “Not at all.Idon’t need to. I’m just educatingyou.”
What did that mean?
Glaring at his retreating form, I decided I didn’t care. He was probably only posturing, and I didn’t need to chase down one more battle. Rage could handle himself. Still, I’d be more wary of Julian now.
‘Let’s go, Nai,’Honor called, his nails clicking on the stone flooring as he led our departure.‘Something’s wrong with Justice. I feel it.’
Honor’s declaration wiped all thoughts about Kian’s son from my mind. I’d have to deal with that bully at some point, but right now wasn’t the time.
When I arrived at the onyx door, my chest felt heavy with foreboding. I pushed through, and my heart stopped.
The Shifter Island Academy library was silent—unnaturally so, especially considering it was a school library and the middle of the day.
“Hello?” I called.
Nothing.
