“They were talking about Gray,” Nix whispers.
All eyes are on Grayson. Nix tries to leave out the bits that make Grayson blush, even though any other time he’d enjoy it a little.
“They know he’s been holding back. They said he’s the—” Nix breaks off, not sure how to say it without making it sound crazy.
Luca shivers, already sensing that whatever it is is going to be weird. Or bad. Or both. “The what? Why is her crazy pooping all over Gray?”
Grayson groans, covering his hands. “Fuck, this is embarrassing. She kept saying that I’m The One.”
They let that settle in the silence for a minute. The pack is far too familiar with prophecies and the crazy people who take them too far.
“The One what?” Rowan growls, and it’s not mocking like it would be any other time. “That sounds fucking bad, not gonna lie.”
“Every time she tried to say it, the guy cut her off, but she knew Grayson had been lying about the test results during her lessons. She’s sure he has some huge Time Affinity.”
“He doesn’t, though, right? Nimue and Ignatius say it’s just for us and not something the Academy will be interested in. I mean, he’s amazing, but his power is elsewhere, right?” Leo asks.
“I’m so done with prophecies. Get to the part where she was on fire, kitten.”
Grayson answers with a grimace. “She told her contact that she’d been to the compound. To convince me to join their cause—whatever the fuck that is. He did not like that at all. That’s when it got bad. She has a tattoo of a spider on her chest about the size of my fist. An Art Deco design.”
He closes his eyes, and his voice drops to a whisper. “Eight legs, angled downward. Six eyes. With a pattern like an hourglass in the center.”
Nix remembers it, too. Glowing bright red under her nightgown and then through it. Gagging, Nix turns and spits water onto the floor from his stomach, which is still a little cold.
“Jesus, fuck. Sorry, Angel.”
“It’s okay. Not your fault.” It’s the oily man’s—and definitely Dawson Hayes’s. “So the professor said she’d been here, and it sounds like she jumped the gun on a plan they had for Gray. He then set the tattoo on fire.”
“From over the phone?” Luca winces. “Ouch. She’s a sneaky bitch, and I would have punched her in the throat, but no one deserves that.”
Nix agrees wholeheartedly.
“Hopefully, she’ll be okay,” Jamie murmurs. “Then we can ask her some questions.”
Gideon’s phone rings. “Go.”
“Subject is fine. Surprised to see a takeout delivery guy at her door at ass o’clock in the morning. Our guy said she looked sweaty and pale. Tired and pissed off.”
“She was on fire. We saw it.”
“We know. The scent of burning meat was so strong, Teddy nearly lost his cookies in the elevator. But she’s still alive and kicking.”
Their friend pauses, clearly thinking out his next words. “Nix, you have anything you wanna share with the class?”
“Not right now. But we will.”
Logan hums, as if he’d expected nothing else, and Nix can imagine the big man shaking his head on the other end of thephone. “I figured as much. Fine. Keep your secrets. Again. If you need us, call me. And Gid?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll send you the bill.”
“You do that. Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see y’all in a few weeks for Arlo’s birthday.”
The line drops, and there’s only silence as they process that Dahlia looked perfectly fine.
