Supernatural Academy: Year One (Supernatural Academy #1)(81)

My ramblings barely made sense, but Rone seemed to understand. “We’ll get him back, don’t you worry. And rest assured that Asher can look after himself.”

He was so much calmer than I expected; it seemed he had a lot of faith in Asher and his powers. But he hadn’t seen that woman … hadn’t felt her slimy, evil presence. She’d known that wearing Asher’s mom’s face was a surefire way to throw the Atlantean off-balance. She was devious and sneaky, and I was more than a little worried.

Rone led me toward the door. “The others are securing the perimeter. It was lucky that Axl put a tracker on you, because we wouldn’t have easily found you this fast otherwise.”

In normal circumstances I’d have been ultra pissed that someone put a tracker on me without my permission, but in this situation I really didn’t have a place to be angry. I should have expected it. Axl had trackers on all of his friends because he couldn’t sleep at night unless he knew they were safe. I’d clearly made the cut there, which was sweet. In a creepy stalker way.

“What do we do about Asher?” I asked, continuing to pick at the patch on my energy. The moment my power was released, I was following that bitch and ripping her to pieces.

Rone’s face was once again awash in hard, angry lines. “Did he say anything to you?”

I looked around to make sure we were alone and leaned in close. “He said he had a plan to eliminate the threat, and that he wanted us to find the library. We need to figure out how I fit into all of this. He thinks we’ll need my powers soon.”

He’d also told me not to leave the Academy until he returned, but I wasn’t sharing that, because if they went after Asher, I was going as well. End of story.

“For now we follow his advice,” Rone said seriously. “Asher does not make any decision lightly, and he will have a plan. If we don’t stick to it, we might fuck it up for him.”

No! No! NO! my body and mind screamed. I wanted them to go after Asher right now. Every second he spent with those people were seconds he was in trouble and out of my life.

Tonight I’d felt a much deeper emotion from Asher. The way he’d touched me at the dance. His face when he sacrificed himself for me. I was finally realizing that he felt the same way I did. Both of us had just been too stubborn and stupid to explore it. There was no way I was letting him disappear now.

But there was nothing I could do on my own. I needed all of their help to stand a chance.

“I’ll agree to the plan for now,” I said slowly. “We go back to the school and find the library.” My powers being freed was a new top priority for me. “Have we heard about the possible location in the demi-fey school?”

Rone shook his head. “We haven’t received permission yet. The demi-fey princeps is making it difficult. I think it’s time for us to put a little pressure on him.”

Yes. It was fucking time.





32





Rone remained protective as we entered a small living area. I’d been right about the courtyard; the rest of the house was very different to where I’d been held. It was painted in warm colors, and there was a large fireplace and wood floors.

There were bodies everywhere, some dressed in the full Arterian assassin outfit, others in normal street clothing, but I counted at least twenty bodies. “Are they all dead?” I asked, not sure I cared if they were. These assholes were part of some stupid fucking conspiracy that got me kidnapped and Asher taken from us.

“Some are dead,” Rone said, sounding as uncaring as I felt. “Some are just knocked out or badly injured. Asher kind of lost his shit when they wouldn’t return you.”

My eyes burned but I didn’t cry again. There would be time for that later. Time when I dealt with the torrent of raging emotions inside of me. For now, I was moving forward, following Asher’s plan.

Movement near the door had me on alert, but it was only Calen and Jesse. “Maddi babe!” Calen said, hurrying forward. He swept me up in his arms and I allowed him to hug me.

“I’m okay,” I said softly. “You arrived in time.”

When he set me down, Jesse moved forward, his eyes darker than normal. His expression was…

I choked back a sob.

“Mads, sweetheart,” he growled. “Don’t fucking do that to us again.”

I laugh-sobbed this time, and then he was hugging me. He held on longer than usual, and I tried to find comfort in this hug. It didn’t work. The arms I really wanted around me were not here, and I had no idea when I’d see him again.

Axl rushed in the door then, and I pulled back from Jesse just in time to get the strongest hug of all. “It worked!” He sounded breathless. “I knew if I pinpointed this location via satellite and worked out the exact numbers of hostiles inside, we could take them down.”

“It almost worked,” I said, chest aching.

Rone wasted no time telling them exactly what had happened with me and Asher. I filled in any details he had missed, and then Axl started calculating shit on his notepad that he always carried. “The magical tracker on Asher tells me that he’s still in the country,” he said. “We can catch him. If we leave now.”

My eyes locked on Axl’s face like it was a water mirage in the desert.

“No,” Rone said, dashing my hope. “Asher asked Maddison to give him time. And to find the library. He must know that simply rescuing him won’t put an end to whatever is going on. We have to do what he’s asked.”