I looked up at Fenris.
“Tell my mom I love her. Take care of the brownie, and whatever you do, don’t send anyone to feed the goblin. He’ll just throw his shoes at everyone.”
Fenris’s lips infinitesimally twitched.
“Does this mean I can have the hoard of chocolate bars you’ve hidden around the Academy?”
“No, I’m bequeathing those to Jenna. She deserves them for all the time she spent trying to deal with Elbner.”
Adira sighed.
“Your dramatics aren’t entertaining. Handing you a cure will only delay the inevitable, which is your need for a proper—”
Adira’s lecture was cut short by an unholy scream. The sound filled the room and echoed off the walls, growing in volume and making my ears ache worse than my arm. A second voice joined the first. Then a third.
I clapped my hands over my ears. My watering gaze bounced around the room, looking for the source and finding the table we’d surrendered to the waif-like trio. Heads tipped back, they sat straight and stiff with their mouths open and their eyes completely white.
Banshees.
Chaos exploded around us. People started running in fear. Some stumbled, blood running from their ears. It felt like my eardrums were two seconds from doing the same.
Fenris picked me up and ran for the exit. The rest of the girls were right beside us. He cleared the door and kept going down the sidewalk to my car where he finally stopped.
People milled all around us. Their mouths moved but, with my hands over my ears, I heard nothing. Hesitantly, I removed them. I couldn’t hear the screaming anymore or anything else for that matter. All I heard was a persistent high-pitched ringing, and my ears ached fiercely—almost as much as my arm.
Fenris opened his mouth and shouted something.
Transfixed, I stared at the vein pulsing in his temple and the hard muscles twitching in his jaw. Angry Fenris was something extraordinary to behold. My gaze dropped to his lips as he opened his mouth again.
“Heal her now!”
I blinked at the faint echo of his voice as he shouted. Turning my head, I saw Adira standing a few feet away, her gaze flicking from him to me then back.
“It’s not her, Fenris.” Her words sounded like she was underwater.
Still, Adira quickly applied her hand to my arm. A stinging cold pierced my skin and made me hiss. The sound was less muffled, and other noises, like the rumble of engines, began to register before the pain went numb.
“Peel away the green,” Adira said, her words clearer. “She should be fine. She needs to feed, Fenris. If you have any influence with her at all, get her to feed. I need to get back inside. Go home.”
He looked down at me then. Something shifted in his expression when he caught me looking at him.
“Fenris, it’s not just them,” Willow said. “Listen.”
He lifted his gaze from mine. Each of the werewolves cocked their heads, their gazes becoming unfocused.
“She’s right,” Jenna said.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Fenris’s grim gaze locked with mine.
“It sounds like every banshee in Uttira is singing death’s song.”
Turning my head, I searched for Adira, but she was already gone. A sick feeling settled into my stomach that had nothing to do with the mermaid’s scratch.
“What does it mean when they all sing at the same time?”
“It means it’s time to take you home.”
The phones around us started going off. I felt mine buzz in my pocket and asked Fenris to put me down. He shook his head and looked at Jenna and the other girls.
“Head straight home. No stops. I’ll drive Eliana to the Quills’ and catch a ride home with my dad. I have a feeling he’ll be there.”
Jenna nodded, looking a little pale, and hurried away with the other girls. Fenris turned toward my car. As soon as he had me in the seat, he surprised the heck out of me by grabbing the top of my sleeve and ripping it away with one quick tug.
“What are you doing?” I said with a scowl.
“Sorry. I want to peel this away before it thaws.”
I felt a tug at the back of my arm, and a moment later, he held up what looked like a green worm.
My eyes went wide, and I open-palm hit him in the face as I squealed and tried to get away.
Chuckling, he shuffled back a few steps. The space between us did nothing to quell my racing heart.
“It’s frozen mermaid slime,” he said, tossing it over his shoulder. “What did you think it was?”
“A worm. I think I’m shaking harder from that than when I’d wanted to kill Piepen.”
“Which time?”
“Haha.”
Fenris’s smile changed slightly, looking almost tender a second before he closed the door and moved around the hood to get into the driver’s seat. Setting a trembling hand over my stomach, I tried to take a few calming breaths before speaking again.
“I don’t know a lot of banshees. I thought they only sang death’s song when someone in their house was going to die.”
“House is a loose term for anyone in their immediate vicinity.”
“Is that why you thought it was me who was going to die?”
He glanced at me as he drove and gave a brief nod. I thought about the banshee facts I’d learned.
“What would cause all of them in Uttira to sing at the same time?”
“A lot of death,” Fenris said grimly.
My phone buzzed again, and I took it out of my pocket to read the texts.
Council: All residents should return to their homes and stay there. An update will be provided within the hour.
Mom: Where are you?
Instead of texting, I called her.
“Hey, Mom. I’m on my way home.”
“Good. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not really. I was in the Roost with some friends, and three banshees started singing. We ran outside and heard more. Adira disappeared before we could find out why they were all singing at once.”
Mom was quiet for a minute.
“A banshee sings when there will be a death in their house,” she said softly.
“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t explain—”
“Uttira is their house, baby. Get to the Quills’. That’s the safest place for you. Drive safe, okay?”
“I will.”
“Text me when you get there.”
I hung up and looked at Fenris.
“Did you hear all of that?”
“Yeah. Sounds like something big is going to happen.”
“You say that, yet you’re super calm?”
He flashed a small smile at me.
“A banshee’s song can be sung seconds or weeks before a death. There’s no telling when this big thing will happen or how many will be affected. Likely, the Council is trying to figure that out right now. Worrying about it won’t change the outcome.”
“Then, why send us all scurrying home?”
“Home is where most people feel safest. Plus, it keeps any additional outbreaks of trouble down while the Council tries to sort things out.”
A few minutes later, we pulled into the Quills’ long drive. Every window of the house was lit, and cars clogged the turnaround before the main entrance. Fenris navigated past the mess and pulled into my space in the garage.