I straightened my shoulders. “Well, it’s not going to work next time. She can call me names all she likes, but next week, I’m staying in her class.”
“She’s not gonna say anything.” Odette giggled. “She’d be too worried about Delmare causing another scene, and shaving off her eyebrows next.”
Delmare smirked, but the smile fell away just as quickly as it came. Stefan walked by. He did a double-take when he noticed Delmare, mouth dropping open. Delmare got the worstoh shitlook I’d ever seen.
Stefan abruptly spun on his heel and hurried toward Delmare. He grabbed her by the hips and wrenched her against him. His face was mystified as he said, “Irena… that look… I amloving it.You look like a grunge-rocker chick. I amso hardfor you right now.”
“We really didn’t need to hear that,” I complained.
Stefan paid me no attention, rocking Delmare’s body against his as he swooned. “I always had a thing for hardcore biker babes with shaved heads. They’re like, my boyhood fantasy,” Stefan said.
“Really?” Delmare asked.
“Oh yeah, babe. I’m totally into it,” Stefan said. He sounded giddy, and Delmare smiled in relief.
“As riveting as this all is, we should probably get out of here, just in case Korva comes looking for us,” I pointed out.
“What’s Korva got to do with it?” Stefan asked.
Delmare explained on our way back to the Rec Room. When we got there, we saw that Ethan was playing an air hockey game with Theo, while Alexei worked on homework on the couch. Alexei’s eyes fluttered upward, but when he met Kiara’s eyes, he looked away, and she glanced down.
What was wrong with these two? It was nearly painful to watch.
When the boys saw Delmare’s new look, everyone came rushing over. Delmare indulged them in an epic retelling of what had just happened as we gathered on the couches in front of the TV.
Theo placed a bottle of water on the coffee table and said, “Gods, that must’ve been epic. What I would’ve given to see Korva’s face.”
“Itwasquite the stir, wasn’t it, Odette?” Kiara asked her.
Odette didn’t respond. Her eyes were placed on the bottle of water that Theo had put down. They didn’t move, as if she was entranced by the liquid inside the bottle.
“Odette?” Theo grabbed her arm and shook it, but she didn’t notice. Her eyes remained attached to the bottle of water, and Theo stilled. Her strange behavior today suddenly made sense.
She was having a vision.
Odette continued to scry, observing the water with a strange tilt of her head. Everyone in the group shifted to block Odette from the rest of the room, save for Theo. His eyes were fixated on his mate’s face, studying her. She stared at the water bottle, completely enchanted. I could only imagine the messages the gods were sending her.
A few moments later, Odette came out of it, shaking her head in a daze. Her eyes connected with Theo’s first, as if she just realized he was there.
“My dear, what did you see?” Theo pressed. His face was heavy with concern.
Odette blinked as she came back to the land of the living. Her gaze was muddled as she said, “Gabby and Elijah already have the griffin stone.”
Chapter Nine
Ethan
My stomach plummeted. My cousin and his mate had the griffin stone in their grasp? Did they have the Seelie and Unseelie stones as well? This was shaping up to a horrible outcome.
Alexei had more sense than the rest of us. He stood up and said, “We shouldn’t talk about this here. Come on.”
We followed him out to the gardens. Theo dragged Odette behind him by the hand, as she was still in a stupor. Alexei changed, to signify we boys should as well. By instinct, Delmare got on Stefan, and Emma climbed on me. Odette was still a little out of it as she dragged herself onto Theo.
Kiara hesitated, like she didn’t know if she should touch Alexei. Alexei’s feathers bristled when Kiara touched him, but he allowed her to climb on his back. The griffin took off, and Theo and Stefan followed as he flew into the forest.
Emma and I remained on the ground. I ran into the woods, looking up to keep track of where Alexei was going. Miles flew by, but Alexei didn’t slow up.
Alexei didn’t land until we were in a clearing deep in the woods. The only things that were out here were wildlife and monsters. The rest of the shifters landed and changed as the sorceresses slid off their forms. Emma swung herself off of me, and I shifted back.
