Jacob shook his head as we walked briskly across the courtyard.
“No, she popped out from an alley when Dash and I left the compound to grab pizza and confronted us. She basically ordered us to bring her to you, said she’d fry our balls off if we tried to alert anyone else that she was here.” Jacob looked at me wide-eyed. “You don’t really think she can do that, do you?”
It was Harley, so my guess was she could and she would.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” I told Jacob, avoiding giving him a real answer. He actually looked a little spooked, so I had to fake a cough to cover my laugh. “How did you get her past the wards?” I asked.
“She had a bracelet,” he said, and I nodded.
I’d forgotten in all the drama that I’d given her one and she’d run off with it.
Aurelia was going to have their heads if she found out they’d snuck her into the compound. Harley was a master Shade and a danger to the entire campus, but even so I was thankful for what Dash and Jacob had done. If Harley had sought me out, that meant that maybe she’d come around. I didn’t want to admit it, but the thought of facing Apollyon without her by my side scared me.
“Tatum, about Gage…” Jacob said, interrupting my internal thoughts about my sister. The tone of his voice made me look in his direction. “Look, I’m not a huge fan of the guy,” he went on. “Truth is, I may never be, but I wouldn’t wish what happened to him on anyone, and I’m sorry you’re hurting because of it. You’re part of our family, and by extension that means Gage is too. I hope you know that anything I can do to help, I will.”
A sudden rush of emotion clogged my throat, so I just nodded, offering Jacob a small smile to let him know I appreciated his words as we reached the dorm.
Dash and Gage’s dorm room was on the second floor. Jacob and I jogged up the stairs and down the hall. When we got to the room, Jacob opened the door, not bothering to knock first.
Dressed in skinny jeans, red heels, and a black leather jacket, Harley sat on the edge of Dash’s bed, glaring at him. I made a point not to stare at Gage’s bed on the far side of the room. Thinking too deeply about him now was not a good idea.
Dash stood across from her, leaned up against his desk with his arms crossed over his chest, staring back at her, hood pulled up. The vibe I got from him wasn’t hostile, but like he was trying to figure her out and was frustrated that he couldn’t.
“Harley,” I said as I entered the room, shutting the door behind Jacob and me.
She snapped her head in our direction, her long black ponytail swinging behind her with the movement. Quickly rising from the bed, she crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t move any closer.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when she didn’t say anything.
“Right,” she cleared her throat.
Was she nervous?
“We need to talk.”
I nodded, agreeing. After the way she ran off, we did need to talk.
“Privately,” she added, casting a scathing look at first Dash and then Jacob.
“Dash, Jacob, could you give us a couple of minutes alone?” I asked, rubbing my temples. This day had been too long.
Dash frowned. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
He might be right, but regardless, I was having this conversation with Harley.
“Look, Harley or I could open a portal to anywhere and be out of here in less than a minute, so I’m not really asking your permission. That question was just to be polite. If you don’t want us to talk in your room, we’ll go ahead and find somewhere else.”
Harley chuckled when Dash’s mouth dropped open.
“Tatum. You can’t mean that,” Jacob butted in. “She’s amasterShade. Do you know how epically stupid it would be to be alone with her?”
I felt my blood pressure rise and sent Jacob a scathing look. He immediately shut his mouth and backed up a step.
“I’ve already been around her alone,” I said, reminding both Dash and Jacob of when I took her into Apollyon’s life book. Incidentally, that was also how she escaped, but I didn’t bring that part up. “Besides,” I said, glancing at Harley out of the corner of my eye, “I’m pretty powerful myself. Harley knows how incredibly dumb it would be to try and attack me on Lumen turf.”
At least I hoped she did.
Releasing a harsh breath, Dash shook his head, pushing off the desk and coming to stand before me. Reaching onto his arm, he pulled a light blade from the weapon storage mark and pressed it into my palm.
