Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(87)



“Do you think this is part of the test?” a pixie girl asked.

As soon as the question left her lips, I paused. It sounded like exactly the kind of sneaky, underhanded move I was coming to expect from Ravenscroft’s professors. Some of my anxiety seeped away as I joined the others. The air hummed with tension as we collectively waited for something, anything to happen.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed from the hallway, and Callie burst through the doors and fell dramatically into Noah’s arms. She was bloodied and battered, her dress torn, hair mussed, the feathers on her tattered mask splattered red with blood.

“Help me! Please, they’re coming.”

Noah gripped her arms, pushing her far enough away he could peer into her face. “Who’s coming? Who did this to you?”

“Demons. They’ve broken through the wards.”

“Demons?” I repeated, horror streaking through me.

There hasn’t been a demon attack since the Siren coven stopped Lucifer from opening the gates of hell. Other than the handful, like Lilith, who had carved out little niches for themselves on the mortal plane, they’d stayed on their side of the underworld ever since.

“Get behind me, Sunday,” Caleb said as he closed the doors and picked up one of the tall candelabras that decorated the entryway. I wondered if he could still taste me on his tongue. If Noah could smell me all over him.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, watching as he snapped the base off the candelabra as easily as I could snap a twig. Then he slid the thick metal through the door handles, barricading the doors. Black wax candles fell to the floor, their flames still burning. Sanderson and several other witches stepped forward and quickly snuffed out the flames before we had another emergency on our hands.

“Come on, y’all, prepare the wards,” Sanderson called, hands already outstretched as she wove her spell.

Witches and warlocks moved to the center of the room, and all joined hands as they took up Sanderson’s chant. I spotted Moira’s venom-green head and sighed in relief.

“Don’t worry,” Noah said, squeezing my hand. “The demons won’t be able to pass the wards. We’ll be safe in here.”

Callie sobbed at Noah’s feet where she’d fallen. That he was ignoring her made me happy in a way that proved just how petty I was.

A large, warm palm slid around my waist before tugging me away from Noah and Caleb. Kingston stared down at me, his jaw clenched, eyes hard with unease. “You need to get out of here. This doesn’t feel right.”

“This is the safest place for her,” Caleb contradicted.

“What the hell do you know, Priest?”

He cocked a brow, his expression pure condescension. “About demons? More than most, I assure you.”

“Something is off. Can’t you feel it?” Kingston asked, not releasing his hold on me.

“I agree. There’s not a whiff of brimstone in the air.” Some of the anxiety in my chest eased at the sound of Alek’s deep rumble. He strode across the room, looking like a fucking god as he joined our little band of fighters.

“You’re right,” Noah said. He growled low in his chest and trained his focus on Callie. “Demons? Are you certain?”

She blinked her fake eyelashes rapidly. “Noah, you don’t think I’d lie to you, do you?”

He took her face in his hands, squeezing tight as he lifted her up on the tips of her toes, snarling, “You will show me what you know.” His voice pulsed with power, so there was no mistaking the order for anything but the compulsion that it was.

Callie’s doe-eyes went hazy as she obeyed.

Noah hissed, shoving her back. “Hunters. You little bitch.”

There was no time to react to Noah’s warning. Glass shattered, shards raining from above as something was tossed down from the massive hole where the beautiful dome had once been.

Eyes wild, Callie tugged something free from beneath her skirt. Silver glinted dangerously as she lunged forward, stabbing Noah straight in the heart. “This all could have been avoided if you’d just done what you were told.”

I screamed Noah’s name just as someone else shouted, “Take cover!”

Before I could get to Noah, both Kingston and Alek shoved me to the ground as an explosion rocked the room. My ears rang, and terror washed over me in a cold wave. I couldn’t lose them, none of them. But both Kingston and Alek climbed off me, helping me to my feet, taking protective stances.

“Are you all right?” Kingston asked.

I did a quick mental check. Other than feeling a little tender where my knees and palms collided with the ground, I felt fine. Shaken, but fine. “Yes. What happened?”

“The cowards threw a bomb into the witches’ circle.”

My gut clenched. “Moira?”

Alek offered a wary gaze in the direction of the blackened circle of downed figures. “I don’t know.”

Noah let out a pain-filled groan. “Sunday,” he gasped.

My head shot to the side just in time to see him fall to his knees, blood pouring down his chest. “Noah!” I ran to him, but not before he hit the ground right beside Callie’s headless body.

Caleb knelt beside me, his eyes locking with mine. “He’s been run through by a silver dagger. He needs your blood if he has any chance, a stor.”

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