“The military base is four miles from the border,” Héctor said. “I’ll keep you safe, lamb.”
He rose from his seat, tension and menace rolling off him as he strode to the front. He put his hands into his pockets in case anyone bumped into him by accident. The students shrank back into their seats from the aisle to give him a wide berth.
“Cameron, call Esme,” he barked. “Why hasn’t she detected anything unusual? She’s leading the head bus.” He turned to two of his elite sentinels in the front seats. “Contact the compound. Get General Blacks on the line.”
“Yes, sir,” the officers answered.
My senses spiked when danger was near. I got up from my seat and walked to Héctor.
He turned to look at me. “Sit tight, lamb. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I need to be where you are,” I said stubbornly.
Cameron spoke to Esme via the military radio, but the Dominion officer who’d tried to get hold of the compound didn’t have much luck.
“There’s no answer from the base, sir,” the officer said. “Something’s off.”
Esme’s voice came over the radio on and off. “I have no idea.... Ares arranged this trip. He said this was an important experiment and it must be done....”
My blood turned to ice in my veins.
This field trip was a setup. Ares had made a move and we hadn’t realized it until now. I’d been giddy that my friends were all with me on this bus, but now it felt like a nightmare. Ares, an excellent war strategist, must have learned about my weakness—the people I cared about. So he’d rounded them up on this bus with me.
If he hurt my friends, if he used them as leverage...
I turned to Héctor. His face paled. His sapphire eyes burned with rage and dread. He knew what this meant.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me Ares was involved, Esme?” he roared into the radio.
Esme’s tone turned distraught. “I had no choice. I—”
“Make a turn on Bushwick Ave,” Héctor barked. “Spilt the buses onto two different routes. Head back to the Academy at full speed. We’re canceling this fucking trip!” He turned to his sentinels. “Lucian, Drew, guard my mate. I’m going to the base alone.”
The students gasped, possibly more shocked at the Demigod of Death calling me his mate than the current impending danger.
“Now move! Tell the head bus to fucking drive fast and get the fuck out of our way.” Héctor gave another order before he turned to me. He held my chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“Love, you’ll return to the Academy with the others,” he said. “I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
My heart fluttered and warmed at his endearment. It was the first time he’d called me his love.
Everyone on the bus was shocked again into silence. Most of them had believed Demetra’s rumor that I was merely the demigods’ newest toy, doomed to be disposed of sooner or later.
Noise from the radio buzzed into the vehicle. The tension was super high.
“I’ll summon Axel to escort you and everyone back,” Héctor said.
He could still reach Axel through their telepathy, but Paxton and Zak were in France to create havoc and draw Ares back to Paris. Had the war god anticipated our moves and stepped a pace ahead of us? Had he used this opportunity to split us up?
Foreboding hovered over me.
“Take me with you, Héctor,” I said. “I don’t want you to walk into an ambush.”
“Don’t argue with me, lamb,” he said. “This isn’t the time and place for you to declare your independence. I need to see what’s happened to the compound and aid the soldiers. I can only function if I know you’re safe.”
He pulled me to him, kissing me hard on the lips with such passion, and then he was gone in a swirl of light and shadow.
The head bus turned left on Bushwick Avenue, heading back toward the highway. Our bus followed closely, as well as the bus behind us.