Nightworld Academy: Term One(Nightworld Academy #1)(69)

In that moment, I’m soothed as a calm washes over me. Jamie’s safe, and he’s here with me. The barrier between us the last days is crumbling at last. I want to cry and hold on to him, to believe that tonight something stopped the death I saw.

To believe everything will be okay.

Tessa screams again.

That scream.

The one I heard in my last vision of Jamie’s death.

I tremble and almost sob with relief as the noise confirms my belief. This is the situation I needed to change, in order to save Jamie’s life. The two visions I’ve had recently dovetailed. They were the same night, and Tessa was never the one under threat.

Amelia’s now beside her, holding Tessa by the upper arms and shaking so that she looks her in the face.

"He’s bleeding!" Tessa shouts.

Breaking free from Jamie, I run towards the scene.

The man on the ground doesn’t move and blood streaks his face too. I gag at the blood pouring from the circular bite mark wound on his arm. Ash sits beside him on the ground, with his head bent over to touch his knees and hands in his hair.

"Shit. I didn't mean to, but he pointed the gun at you all. How many more shots would he have taken at you all?" stammers Andrei.

Blood covers Andrei’s mouth and chin and my stomach turns over. Tobias looks at his upper arm, muttering to himself, and I’m ready to vomit as he digs his fingers into the flesh and pulls out a small metal object. He examines a bullet with bloodied fingers, then shoves it into a pocket.

"They shot you," I rasp out.

Did the bullet that hit Tobias instead of Jamie change my version of these events? And has Andrei stopped more bullets from firing?

"Better me than you or your friends." Tobias wipes his fingers on his jeans. "Now can you see what consequences your stupid teenage rebellion has caused?"

"Maeve!" Amelia calls my name again and I spin around to see Tessa charging away from the scene.

"Help!" Tessa screams. "Someone’s hurt!"

Tobias glares at me before sprinting away. He catches up to Tessa in a blur and steps in front of her. Tessa halts. As she looks up at Tobias, my heart sinks. I know what he’s doing and why.

I turn my attention to Andrei. "What did you do?"

"I saved your bloody life," he retorts. "Again."

"You killed someone."

"He isn’t dead," says Jamie, who’s crouched beside him, holding his other wrist. "But he won't regain consciousness soon; he’s losing a fair amount of blood."

I bend and tear a strip from my dress and grab the torn wrist. "Oh, lucky guy, you didn't go for the throat or hit an artery," I say with heavy sarcasm.

The day I first saw someone hurt in a vision is the day I enrolled in a first aid course. I decided it made sense to learn skills to help the injured, although I never thought I’d need to bandage a vampire bite. I bind the wound while Andrei mutters how hilarious I am. In reality, the terror still shakes through.

"I was tempted," he says.

"This is my fault," says Ash. "I let my nature take over common sense. I should never have followed him."

"No. My fault for coming here," I admit and yank the material tight.

"The whole thing is a mess." Amelia’s voice catches with a sob.

I stand and wrap my arms around her, hugging Amelia’s small figure to mine while she sniffles. I’m angry with myself, with my new situation in life, with what happened here. Resting my chin on her head, I stand with the others in silent solidarity while the minutes drag by. I’m helpless. Lost.

Tobias calls me over and my body courses with dread as I release Amelia and walk over. His expression matches that on the day he cajoled Sally—open and friendly, his good looks sharpened by his sensual smile as Tessa gazes up at him.

"It appears that Tessa’s boyfriend went home without her," he says in velvet tones. "She’s wandered the school grounds looking for you."

Tessa pouts and pokes me. "Yes. Where did you go?"

Our group aren’t far from us, but she’s oblivious to them. Any memory about the attack left her.

Tobias eyes meet mine in shining warning: play along. "Sorry, Tessa," I reply, my voice quavering.

"I told Tessa you’d ensure she gets home safely." Tobias’s honeyed voice and the warm smile remain. I nod and he looks to Tessa. "Once we're sure you’re safe, I’ll take Maeve and her friends back to her academy. You know she wasn’t supposed to come tonight, don't you?"

She nods too, wide-eyed. I draw in a breath against what he’s doing, but there’s no other choice.

"I won't tell anybody, Tobias," she whispers. "Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want Maeve in trouble."

Tobias nods at me. "That’s settled. Maeve, why don’t you accompany Tessa to the front of the school? You can organise for her to travel home safely."

I close my eyes. There’s no way I can resist what I’m told anymore. "Okay."

"Then we should go, before you disappear again." He clears his throat and adds pointedly. "I have to clear up something first, don’t I?"

Tonight confirmed to me everything I wanted to deny: I’m no longer safe, and I can’t do everything I want any more without consequences.