“Can you guys move the snuggling elsewhere?” Cosette gave a wide yawn. “If we’re done, I’m going back to sleep.”
“You okay?” He asked as he leaned away from me.
“No. I’m terrified.”
“You probably should be,” Cosette’s dark tone turned my head, but I couldn’t snap back when I saw the soft concern in her eyes. “Fear’s a great motivator. It might be exactly what you need to keep that vision from happening.”
She sounded sincere enough, but I could never tell if she actually liked me or she was just twisting us all around for her own amusement.
“One more thing before I go. Any chance the fey will join the fight against Luciana? If we don’t beat her, she’s going to be a problem for everyone.” I still couldn’t decide whether telling her about the guy in the vision would help or hurt my case.
“I’d love to say yes, but it’s been made extremely clear to me that it’s not my call.” Cosette gripped her wrist so hard her knuckles cracked. “For now I’ll report what you’ve seen and we’ll both have to hope it’s enough to get the fey off the sidelines.”
The knowledge that the fey existed was so new to me that I couldn’t even try to comprehend what kind of pressure was on Cosette. But I appreciated that she was trying to help in her way. Whatever that was. “Thank—”
“Don’t. If you thank me, you owe me, and I don’t want that temptation any more than you want to be bound to me.”
I pressed my lips together for a second. Cosette was saying I couldn’t trust her? But she still warned me about it?
The more I learned about her, the more confused I was. “Got it,” I said, even though I didn’t really get it. Or her.
“Now get out of my room.” She sat on the bed so hard the mattress shook. “And don’t come knocking again before lunch.”
“Sorry about that.” I stood and tugged Dastien toward the door.
Cosette mumbled something that wasn’t in English as she slipped on an eye mask. She was already under her covers when I shut the door. Apparently the fey took their beauty sleep seriously.
I’d wanted her to have some better news for us. As it was…
“Whatever happens, we’ll get through it. One way or another.”
That was what bothered me—the other way. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
It lit a fire in me. I had to figure out a way to stop Luciana. I had to be able to fight her. I had to be stronger. Much stronger. “Let’s go back to the gym.”
“You don’t have to go back, cherie. You’re exhausted already.”
Cosette was right. Fear was a great motivator. “I do. I can do this. But I need your help.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
I knew he would. Just like I’d do anything for him. If that meant eating mat every day until I was ready for the fight with Luciana, then game on.
Chapter Eight
Four days later, I was hanging by a thread. There hadn’t been any more attacks on the school since Raphael had been bitten by zombie Daniel. That should’ve been a good thing, but I knew it wasn’t. Luciana was building up power. Maybe saving up for the church but I had a feeling we’d see her before then.
Waiting for something to happen was killing me. It was like slow torture.
Adrian had only gotten to Costa Rica before he had to stop. Raphael was too unstable to go farther. All I could do was hope that Claudia would find a way to save her brother while I spent my days training with Dastien and my nights trying to anticipate Luciana’s next move. Sleep was at a premium. I knew I should be resting while I could—it was somewhere past midnight—but I just couldn’t. Maybe when Dastien got back, I could relax a little. Even convince him to not set the alarm. We’d been sleeping maybe three or four hours a night, and I could barely manage that much.
The shitty thing was that I couldn’t do anything else. Fixing the pack bonds had stopped most of the arguing among the alphas in residence, but now they all agreed we should stay put. Dastien said the Cazadores were watching the compound from a safe distance, just in case Luciana made her move, but that left me and most everyone else sitting around, waiting for whatever Luciana threw at us next.
So in the meantime, I was doing the best I could to prepare.
The more I dug into the pile of books surrounding my bed, the more I realized there was no way in hell I was going to be ready. There was too much to know. Too much that these books didn’t talk about. Anxiety had my shoulders in one giant knot. I tilted my head to the side, and my neck gave a satisfying snap. If something didn’t change soon, I was going to take action and it would probably be insane. The ideas I’d come up with tonight were scaring even me. And I could almost swear I felt magic in the air… But maybe I was just being paranoid.
A knock at my door pulled me fro