“You seem tense,” he commented quietly. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said with uncertainty, taking a moment to consider. “I don’t know, I just feel odd... I feel like it’s going to be a really ‘off’ fucking day.”
Dean froze and turned towards me fully, gently grasping the tops of my arms. “We don’t have to go to school.”
I waved him off with a tight exhale. “It’s probably nothing.”
“I don’t know about that,” he muttered under his breath. “I feel a bit off as well.”
I tried to ignore our weird feelings as we met everyone in the front, Dean leading me towards his car once again. The man was such an over-controlling bastard. I smiled as Draven slid into the back seat and turned towards him after I put on my seatbelt.
“What’s that look about, little lamb?” he asked curiously.
The angel’s hand snuck out to tug on my hair experimentally, still seemingly hesitant about touching me. So I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers as his eyes warmed on me deliciously.
“Just like looking at you,” I offered with a smirk. “I don’t feel bad about it, either.” Draven inhaled and shook his head, kissing the top of my hand.
After a stern look from my psycho lion shifter that let me know I should settle back into my seat, I found myself feeling fairly relaxed. I closed my eyes and listened to the music that played throughout the car, making the ride to school go by quickly. But I was pulled out of my peace when Dean groaned. My eyes snapped open and my mouth legitimately dropped.
“Get in the back, Lorcan. Now,” Dean said in a harsh whisper as he checked the locks. Reporters swarmed the school gates like a goddamn infestation and I found myself more annoyed than ever before. Didn’t I have larger things to worry about than humans who had a weird obsession with my brother and I? I crawled over the center console, and Draven grabbed me by the waist and tugged me onto his lap. I squeaked as he wrapped his arms around me, making me glad the back of the car was tinted.
Was this why I felt so off today? Had my siren been trying to tell me about this? The bitch offered me a shrug, looking genuinely confused. The worst part was that it wasn’t exactly a bad feeling… just off. Something was bound to happen today, and I wasn’t even sure it had to do with school.
Shit. This was how people got paranoid.
“Why the hell is it so much worse today?” Draven snarled, his relaxed mood gone as the hint of the man from Broken House I knew snuck out. “These fucking humans are asking to be annihilated.” It was sexy how violent and worked up he was for me.
“The car incident with the reporter and our cancelled interview, probably,” Dean admitted as the media slowly parted, some banging on the car and others trying to fucking open up the door. This was a goddamn frenzy.
“I am going to call Jeanie and Nelson,” I stated quietly. “I can’t keep dealing with this. It’s exhausting, and for what? I don’t need any of this high school bullshit, and we all know it.”
“I would prefer for you to not have to do this every day,” Dean agreed in a low rumble.
“What about you guys? And would I just not finish high school?” I asked, needing to justify the choice.
“I would quit,” Dean said immediately.
“Same,” Draven said. “I don’t like this human teaching facility.”
I snorted at his phrasing and then sighed, “What about getting a degree?”
“You don’t need it,” Dean pointed out as he parked. “But we could hire a tutor to homeschool the three of you.”
“That could work,” I nodded. Then, with a smirk, I added, “Or you two could just teach me.”
Draven rumbled as Dean chuckled softly. I could tell he wanted to say something, but the door opened. Cormac pulled me by the arm from the back of the car, his eyes looking panicked as he ignored Draven’s snarl at the semi-rough treatment. I put a hand on his shoulder, not used to seeing him so worked up.
“Dude, what’s wrong?”
“This is going to sound crazy,” he said, looking around, “but I have a really off feeling about today, Lorcan—”
My eyes followed Cormac’s to his two female guardians, Quinn and Elliot, who were watching us with concern. I wasn’t positive where Felix and Riley were, but I had to assume they were nearby.
“Same,” I mumbled as his eyes darkened.
“We shouldn’t be here,” he urged.
I looked towards the school and frowned. “It’s going to look suspicious if we don’t arrive the day after the principal disappears. Plus, we have no idea if it even has to do with school. Maybe it’s the goddamn vultures outside.”
“The principal? Where is he?” Cormac reared back in confusion. Ah, shit.
Dean rumbled, “He’s very dead.”
Cormac blinked as he laughed softly. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me—”
“Let’s see how the day goes, maybe we are just feeling nervous about this shit?” I asked, noticing the tinge of hope in my voice. Was it so much to ask for a few goddamn hours of nothing happening?
“We’ve never given a fuck about murdering someone and the possible consequences before,” Cormac pointed out as I nodded seriously and ran a hand through my hair, the warning bell ringing.
Despite my hesitancy, something was telling me that I needed to go into the school. Something important was happening today, I just didn’t fully understand it yet.
“Today, after school,” I began, “come to the house so we can practice. I have an idea I want to float past you.”
Dean and Draven walked next to me towards the rest of my boys, who were waiting for us near the school entrance. Then Dean surprised the ever living hell out of me by tugging my waist and kissing me hard before walking towards his office. Not to be outdone, Draven wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head gently. I shook my head at the two of them, left with my four other boys as we walked into the school.
Inhaling and looking around, the world seemed to shimmer slightly. I blinked, trying to clear my gaze as sparks of neon darted in and out of my peripheral. My nails bit into the palms of my hands as I tried to steady myself, my nose twitching as I felt a drop of blood hit my lips.
“Bunny?” Rhett asked quietly, grasping my waist gently as Desmond dabbed the blood with a handkerchief.
“I don’t like how often these attacks are becoming,” Adriel muttered.
I swallowed as everything seemed to vibrate underneath me. My vision began to blur, and everything grew into streaks of neon in an impressionistic oil painting. This felt like a goddamn acid trip. I mean, it wasn’t necessarily bad—it didn’t feel like a star call, but it had the potential to turn dark fast. I swallowed nervously as the halls began to pulsate with sky blue and orange light, the sound of drums vibrating my ear drums.
They couldn’t hear it. I knew that, because I was the only one holding my hands over my ears. I winced and curled into myself as the drums and strobing lights continued their assault. Fucking hell.
A wave of something ran over me, and then everything stopped. No more drums, no more flashing lights attempting to penetrate my closed lids. When I straightened and opened my eyes, it seemed like everything was back to normal…