Page 7 of Tears of Gold

“She’s still recovering,” I snap, turning us away from the nosy staff member.

Ava’s fingers tighten on the back of my neck. “It’s alright, Harper. I just have a bad headache, Ms Yuli.”

The counselor purses her lips. “Well, I hope it passes. Rest up, in quiet.” She eyes me meaningfully. I hold her gaze defiantly, too pissed to care about sucking up to the academy prudes. It’s not like the students aren’t having sex under their noses all the time. Even Ava and their precious prince and probably the fucking dragon at the same time before she got kidnapped—I shut that thought down fast before I lose my shit.

Outside her room, I reluctantly release Ava, lowering her to stand on her feet as I open the door.

“Thanks, Harper.”

I lean my arm against her doorframe, and my heart throbs at the faint smile she shoots me.

“Need anything? Food or something?”

She shakes her head, then winces. “No, I’ll just lie down for a bit.”

“Take a Percocet if you need to.”

She nods and shuts the door, closing me out.

The anger I’ve stuffed down inside comes to a boil as I stand in the empty hallway. What did those fuckwits do to put her in this state?

I race down the stairs, taking two and three at a time. Rita comes through the front doors, her brow furrowed. “Have you seen Ava? She took off.”

“Some bodyguard you are,” I scoff, my anger extending to Rita and all the elementals in general. “She’s lying down ‘cause she’s got a headache.”

“Hey! Watch it! Just because we let you—”

I slam the front doors closed so I don’t have to hear her crap and storm off. She’s the one who let Chengan take Ava in the first place, thinking with her hormones instead of her brain.

If Ava was mine, I could do something about this mess. Erritt would have to let us go if she asked, and I could take her home to Earth. We might have to live in hiding until the Exerins ended the war with the Davinas, but I know how to do that. I’m sure they’ll come out on top anyway.

I growl under my breath and clench my hands as I stalk through the undercover walkway to the first boys’ dorm. Like I told Ava this morning, the real problem is that I’m not sure I can protect her alone. As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t go up against an elemental like Chengan, let alone someone at the level of the beast who flattened the Davina camp.

Even if I asked Pa for help, how would he react to guarding the girl we kidnapped, who got two of our crew killed—not that it’s her fault, just that she was involved. We were the ones stupid enough to take the job.

It fucking sucks. Erritt should be taking care of this problem, but instead, he got himself killed. Maybe that’s the most unsettling part. His incompetence pisses me off, but I know he’s a super-powered guy. If even he got taken down, what chance would I have of protecting her alone?

I pound up the stairs to Erritt’s wing and burst in, not bothering to knock. “What the fuck did you do to her?” The office is empty, so I swing into the bedroom, letting the door bounce back against the wall with a loud thud.

Erritt pauses, midway to pulling the blankets up around himself as Skye and Vanrey spin my way. A sword appears in Vanrey’s hand, confirming my suspicion that the elementals can summon items at will. But seeing that long length of killer steel only infuriates me more.

Skye trades a wary glance at Erritt, which looks like guilt to me.

I ball my hands into fists. “You pushed her, didn’t you? Well, now she has a migraine, so you might as well have hit her over the head.”

“She remembered something herself, Harper,” Skye replies, crossing his arms across his chest.

“And did that give her the monster headache, enough to make her dizzy and light sensitive? I don’t think so.” I point at the Elite elemental. “I swear I heard you say, ‘don’t push her because you might give her brain damage,’ but I guess everyone in this room conveniently forgot that bit of advice.”

My chest feels too tight to contain my thumping heart. Not only did Vanrey warn against it, but that grumpy chief medic Sesun was worried because human brains are more fragile against qi attacks. Why did Ava have to get mixed up with these shitty people? The answer to that question is by far the most infuriating part of the whole damn mess. Me. I’m the reason.

“The Davinas said they want her as bait.” Erritt holds my gaze, and my tirade sputters off as a hollow sensation seesaws in my stomach.

“Bait?” I echo numbly. Who would use a human as bait, and for what? Icy fingers creep up my spine as the legends of human sacrifices flood my brain. As far as I know, vampires are extinct in all the realms, so it shouldn’t be for blood, and any human would do for something like sex slavery.

The Davinas hired my crew to find a girl with specific characteristics, which my team located in Ava, but then we were shocked to discover she’s an ordinary human.

“What kind of bait could Ava possibly be?” I ask, thinking aloud.