As we pulled into the academy, the stress of the night finally caught up to me. Angel was sitting on my right side while Rage was on the left. The entire way, Rage was tense and kept gazing at my arm.
Jess pulled into the parking spot and looked around. “I’ll take Angel to the dorm while the three of you head to the healer’s office.”
“Are you okay with that?” This sweet girl had already been through hell at a tender age. I couldn’t even fathom how she felt about it all.
“Yes, I’m exhausted.” Angel yawned as she said the last word. She opened the passenger door to get out when she paused. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.”
If only she knew the dark future she had, but she’d been through enough today. “Of course. We will always do what we can to help you.” I had to be careful with my words. I couldn’t promise her she’d be okay.
“Hurry.” Jess hissed. “We need to get inside before someone sees. I can only hide you for so long with my spell.”
The girl nodded and ran after her.
By the time we all three got out of the car, the girl and Jess were gone. Luckily, it was a Friday night, and the dorm would be pretty empty.
“We’re a sight to behold.” I snorted as I took in each of our appearances.
Cole had blood trickling from his neck, but it was in the process of healing. I had my arm that still throbbed, and Rage looked like he had a rough night.
The three of us entered the healer’s office. That was one of the nice things about our academy. A healer always had to be available for any alpha shenanigans that may happen.
When the gentleman saw us enter, his jaw dropped.
“All three of you need to go back to your dorm and rest.” The healer tsked as he pushed us through the door.
As I stepped out, I froze in place. Right in front of me was Isadora.
“Good evening, Miss Wright.” Her voice was sharper than normal, and her usual short, well-kept hair was slightly skewed. “I hear you and your crew had another unusual night.”
For all I knew, this lady could have been part of The Elites. We had to be careful. “We had a skating mishap.”
“Skating?” She leaned back against the wall behind her.
“Well, why are you so surprised by that?” Cole appeared next to me and winked at the headmaster. “When I bust my moves, everyone watches. Her and Rage fell while they watched me cut a rug … no, wait … bust a skate.”
“I don’t know if I have the patience for this tonight.” Her green eyes had dark circles underneath them. “Mr. Smith, do you think I buy that story when you’ve had your neck attacked and she has a deep bite on her left arm?”
“See … it was an unfortunate mishap.” Cole was gearing up for a story. “See, I distracted them, and Raven fell on Rage, which caused my teeth to sink into her arm as a pole sliced through mine. It’s rather simple.” He put a hand over the bite so she couldn’t see that it wasn’t a typical vampire bite.
“You are dismissed, Mr. Smith.” She pointed toward the end of the hallway.
“But …”
“Go.” She stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me call your father.”
“It’s okay.” Rage patted him on the back. “I’ll be here with her.”
“Fine, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” Cole turned on his heels and marched down the hall.
I had to try to keep him out of trouble. “He …”
“Don’t worry, Miss Wright. I won’t call. He left.” She glanced both ways and waved us to follow her. “Let’s go to my office.”
We walked in silence and filed into her office. Once Rage and I passed her, she shut her door. “How I feel like we’ve been in a similar position before.”
“Yeah, it does feel a little like déjà vu.” Rage sat next to me, and his hand gingerly touched my injured arm.
“Ever since Raven joined our school, things have gotten strange.” Isadora paced behind her desk, not even bothering to sit down. “Let me just cut to the chase. I think you know something about a secret society that has somehow found a way into this school.”
“What?” I hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, and I wasn’t entirely sure if this wasn’t a test.
“You heard me.” She snarled and placed her hands on her hips. “Because that would be something I would know, right?”
Oh, crap. She was part of the society and about to expose what we had done. “Let us explain.”
“Before you humor me with a lie. Let me tell you that I know it has something to do with hybrids and racism.” Isadora stopped in her tracks as she looked out the window of her office. “That’s one reason why I’ve made sure the dorms are mixed up instead of segregated, keeping only the same races together as roommates.”
“So you’re not part of this … society.” Rage narrowed his eyes, waiting for her response.
“Of course not.” Isadora slammed her hand on the desk. “This society has been trying to get their claws into this school for years now. We have the best of the best, and they want the same. I need to determine who all here is involved and clean house.”
“They approached me.” I don’t know why, but something told me she was being truthful. “It started the night that I … Ashley was killed.”
“And you joined?” Her face was indifferent. There wasn’t any judgment, at least visibly.
“Of course. I don’t want those kids to die.” That appeared to be an important factor that she was conveniently overlooking.
“Die?” She tilted her head and squinted her eyes.
“Yeah, when their two sides war against one another.” Rage’s voice sounded like a question.
“Is that what they are telling you? That’s why I needed you to find the hybrid they had staged. They were after Raven, but I didn’t realize the propaganda that they used.” She sat in her seat and closed her eyes. “It’s not true. No wonder I’ve been failing.”
“What’s not true?” I must have missed a piece of the puzzle all of a sudden.
“Hybrids.” She raised her head and looked me square in the eye. “They aren’t in danger of their sides fighting against one another. We discourage them because they wind up being more powerful than a full breed.”
“What?” Rage’s voice was barely a whisper.
“But your class …” None of this made sense.
“So that’s what Jonathan’s new class is all about.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I’ve thought for a while he might be part of it. Every time I ask him about his new class, he’s very evasive.”
For some reason, Nate’s pendant in my pocket felt like a weight.
“You didn’t know?” Rage crossed his arms in his seat. “This is all a little too convenient.”
“I wish it were.” She rubbed her hands together and worry lined her face. “I had a feeling tonight that something bad was happening. You went for someone, didn’t you?”