His eyes widened. “You’re going to leave?”
I shook my head. “I’m just going to scout things out.”
“If they realize you’re missing, they’ll probably start hurting us to find out where you went,” he whispered.
“That’s why I’m just going to scout,” I explained. “I’ll scout a bit and come back, so they won’t realize I’m gone.”
“We’ll need to create a distraction,” he said, his eyes dropping to the ground as he thought up a plan. “Or, we need to just get our side under control while you find out what we can do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If we can get control of our side here, then if we know where our enemies are from your scouting, we can formulate a plan of attack,” he explained.
The human drew nearer, a silver bottle that looked familiar in his hand.
“I’ll create a distraction and you go, okay?” Bogden whispered.
“Don’t get hurt,” I ordered him.
He smirked. “Don’t worry about me, Lor. Just worry about yourself.”
Before I could add more, he jumped to his feet and stalked towards the human.
“Sit down,” the human warned.
The other human guarding us stood on the outside of the circle, but he drew closer as Bogden continued to advance on the one giving us the potion.
A few of the other students looked from me to Bogden and seemed to understand what was happening, and they stood as well.
Slowly, I backed up, trying not to draw the attention of the humans as they focused on Bogden and the others.
“Sit back down or you’ll regret it,” the human with the potion ordered Bogden.
Bogden snapped his fingers and a black hole opened up right beside the human with the bottle.
“Now!” Bogden yelled.
I hopped closer to the trees’ shadows and leapt in without looking back.
Please stay safe, I silently begged him.
Once in the shadows, I traveled around the school, mentally noting where the humans were, and then returned to Bogden.
I sighed in relief when I saw everyone was untied and had moved to the shade of the trees. The humans were gone, but I didn’t care to know what had happened. Likely, someone had eaten them.
He rushed to me and started untying my binds. “What did you find?”
“They have us separated into over a dozen different groups. There are also five sets of three on perimeter patrol. By my count, there are at least forty humans. I wasn’t able to find Frances or Tsukiko, which means they must have more groups in odd places, which increases the number of humans, too.”
“Anyone hurt?” he asked.
I shook my head. “From what I can tell, they’re just keeping us hostage.”
“Why?” he whispered and began to pace. “What do they think they’ll accomplish?”
“The only thing that I can think of is to expose us to the humans,” I whispered. “But wouldn’t they have done that by now? What are they waiting for?”
“Could be ransom,” a Lamia witch I didn’t know said from the trees. “They might want our families to pay them.”
That was a definite possibility. Our families were old and had invested heavily in the human world to keep us, well, rich. Not every creature was rich, but most of the ones who went to this academy were.
“We do have several very wealthy families here,” Bogden said.
“This definitely feels like an inside job,” I whispered.
“Or at least done with insider knowledge,” Bogden agreed.
“Who? Who would benefit from this?” I had my suspicions, but I didn’t want to voice them.
“I’m not sure, but whoever they are, they are going to pay for this,” Bogden promised.
“I should do some more scouting,” I said.
“Don’t reveal yourself or get caught,” he urged. “Just find out the situation, try to locate all the groups, and come back. We can map out the locations and that will help us make our plan of action.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
He opened his mouth, but then closed it again without saying anything.
I took a breath and went back into the shadows.
Chapter 34
FRANCES
I was beginning to lose hope, to worry that Loralie was in more danger than I was.
Then, her head popped up between Dante and me. “They’ve separated us into dozens of groups. There are over a hundred humans holding us hostage. We don’t know the purpose yet. Stay docile until we find out anything else. Don’t try to play the hero.”
“Did they not give you the potion?” Dante asked.
“We defeated our humans before they gave us the second dose,” she explained. She looked up at me and said, “Frankie, please don’t endanger yourself. I’m going to get us free, okay? Just trust me to take care of things.”
I nodded. “Okay. I promise.”
“Love you,” she whispered.
“Love you, too.”
She disappeared and I dropped my head forward.
Dante scooted over so my head rested against his shoulder. “See? Things are in motion. We just need to wait for our assignments.”
“Dante, the only logical explanation for this is that they are holding us for ransom and that someone on the inside is, or has, helped them. It could be someone in this room. We need to keep quiet about Loralie and our plan, so they don’t help them further.”
“You really think another creature would help the humans?” He asked.
I nodded.
“Wow, that’s awful to think about,” he whispered.
Not really. I knew many who defected to the humans. Look at the werewolves for just one example.
For some reason, though, I didn’t think this was the werewolves doing. There was nothing that gave heed to that, but that was my gut feeling and I always trusted my gut.
“Did you like your gift?” Dante asked. “You never told me.”
I grimaced. “I didn’t open it.”
He jerked away from me. “Did you throw it away?”
I shook my head vigorously. “No, no, of course not. I just didn’t open it.”
“Why not?”
How could I explain this without being rude?
“We aren’t compatible,” I whispered. “You are better off with someone else. Someone who isn’t terrified of your fire. I’m fine with being friends with you, but doubt it could ever go beyond that. How could it when I can’t stay near you for very long?”
“You’re near me now,” he whispered.
“Only because you’re holding back your flames. You can’t do that all the time. You are a phoenix. You are a being of fire. The instant you go all flame bird, I’m going to freak out and run away. That is no way to live. That is not the image I envision when I picture my ideal relationship. Plus, we’re so young. I’m sure you’ll lose interest in me soon.” I said the last sentence in a tiny voice.
“What do you envision as your ideal relationship?” he asked softly.
“Cuddling while watching shows. Walking along the beach together. Attending family events hand in hand,” I whispered. Sadly, I could picture all of those things with him, but I could also see myself running in terror, too.