His determination that things would go well burned through our bond, but he hadn’t seen what I had. Easier said than done.
I know. Just try.
I was trying, but man—I was shaken to the core with this. How could I not be? Everything I had was on the line. Dastien. My friends’ lives. Even my life.
There’d always been risk, but it had never felt more real. Even when I was scared for myself, it’d never occurred to me to be scared for Dastien. He was such a good fighter, and he’d always been so strong. I really thought he was invincible…
But he could die. We could all die. Tonight. Tomorrow.
This could be it for us. It wasn’t a huge leap to understand why I was so scared. The terror gripped me until it was like I was moving through a fog.
Now wasn’t the time to be foggy.
Because giving up seemed like a totally valid option at this point.
Running sounded pretty good, too.
But if I could stop it entirely—stop Luciana before we ended up in some decrepit church with an open portal to hell—then that would be fantastic.
I tasted blood, and let go of my lip. I hadn’t even realized I was biting it.
Cherie. Dastien’s rumble came through the bond. A note of warning lit in his voice.
I know. I was freaking out, and I needed to stop.
We headed straight up the stairs in the main building, which held the admin rooms and offices on the bottom floors. Above that was the infirmary. The guest suites were on the top floor.
They usually housed the parents of students, visiting teachers, or Cazadores. Even though plenty of alphas and Cazadores were staying on campus, they were all in the dorms.
The few witches who’d broken from la Aquelarre had the floor to themselves.
Mr. Dawson had thought giving them their own space would be best. They mostly stuck around there or the library. The only one who didn’t care about the Weres and went where she pleased was Cosette. She’d been spending afternoons sunning in the quad, but she wasn’t an early riser. I’d be shocked to see her anywhere before noon.
I couldn’t help but smirk at the idea of waking her up as we climbed to the third floor. If I had to be awake at this hour, it was only fair that she should feel my pain.
I wasn’t sure which room was hers, but I used my senses to sniff her out. Her scent wasn’t like anything else I’d come across. The best way I could describe it was sugar water in the moonlight.
Which was ridiculous, because moonlight didn’t smell. But if it helped me find her, I wasn’t going to question.
My nose led me to the third room on the right. Of course. That room had one of the tinier windows, but the best view over the quad.
I knocked three times.
No answer.
I knocked two more times.
No answer.
Just as I went to knock a third time, she spoke up. “You want to keep that hand?”
Oh, no. She was not going to take that tone with me. “I need to talk to you.”
“Come back in four hours.”
“I can’t wait that long.” I jiggled the door handle, but it was locked. Not that it would hold against my Were strength. “I’m coming in. You can either let me in or I’ll let myself in.”
“You’re going to regret it.” The faint rustle of sheets carried through the door along with a lot of what I assumed were fey curses.