Hopefully not ever.
If I was going to get Raphael moved, I needed to start working on it now. My gut told me he didn’t have a minute to spare, and I wasn’t going to ignore it.
Chapter Four
One glance out the window told me that the Cazadores were patrolling campus again. We were still on lockdown, but since I was known to fight against the witches, the Cazadores let me move around. They kind of had to. Their leader had tried commanding me to stay indoors a few nights ago, and it hadn’t gone his way. Since then, they steered clear of me. I was pretty sure I made them uncomfortable, but that was definitely the least of my worries.
I stashed a few vials of my newest potion in my pockets—just in case something happened—before going in search of Dastien.
I went to the gym first, thinking our group would be there, but I didn’t see Dastien or anyone else among the guys sparring. They didn’t pay much attention to me as they fought, moving so quickly that their movement was hard to track.
Where was everyone? I thought about using the bond to find Dastien, but I hated to use that as a crutch. I wanted to be able to find him on my own.
The next logical place to look was the cafeteria. But again, only some Cazadores and alphas milling about, and no Dastien. No Meredith or Donovan or Adrian either.
So odd. If they were done working out, why hadn’t they come to get me?
&
nbsp; I grabbed a drink and a cookie and finally gave in, opening the bond wide. Where are you?
The library.
As soon as he said the words, an image of him standing in front of the shelves as he scanned the spines of books came through the bond.
The library was on the first floor of the admin building. I started to head that way, but kept the connection open with Dastien. You didn’t come get me when you were done? My voice had a hint of whine. I hated that. I took a big bite of cookie. Chocolate chip with a hint of salt. God, the Were cooks were amazing.
I checked in. You were on the phone. I figured you’d find me when you were done.
Which was what I’d done, so no point in getting annoyed. But why was I feeling needy all of a sudden?
I started up the three stairs to the entrance of the admin building.
Maybe because you were traumatized and you need to give yourself time to heal.
I nearly tripped. Sometimes it still surprised me that he could dig into my thoughts. Right. Well, it stinks.
I pushed through the door to the library. Everyone sat at study tables. Meredith and Donovan huddled over a book. When a chunk of pink hair fell into her eyes, Donovan tucked it back behind her ear. Chris was tapping a pencil against the table as he worked through his volume. His wavy blonde hair was getting long and poofing out. Chris was the most introverted of the group, even if he did like to flirt a little. I couldn’t believe he’d actually kissed me once. That all seemed like forever ago.
Dastien stood off to the side waiting for me. He leaned casually against the bookcase, and grinned, showing his dimples. I rolled my eyes at how easily he got to me. Just one look and I was toast. “I sure hope you’re right, because otherwise…” If I got any more addicted to him, I’d lose my mind.
“I’m always right.”
I snorted. He liked to think so.
Adrian glanced up from his book. His short, black hair was gelled just enough to be perfectly mussed and spiky. “What is he right about?”
I cleared my throat. “Nothing. But we have a situation.”
That got everyone’s attention. “What’s going on?” Donovan asked.
“Have any of you been to see Raphael?” Only Chris had the decency to look sheepish. “He’s not doing well. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to help, only I’ve got nothing.”
“I thought Dr. Gonzales had him stabilized,” Donovan said.
“Not even close.” The eerie, cackling laugh of that thing inside Raphael echoed in my mind. “It’s The Exorcist over there. She shot him up with enough sedatives to knock out an alpha, and it only pissed off whatever’s possessing him. Best she could do was strap him down.”
Adrian leaned back in his chair. “So, what now?”