Chapter 17 Tobias

With my height, I easily found the book I was looking for high on the top shelf: Skye Boarding House - The Original Shifter School: A History. It was thick, which was both good and really daunting. At least the massive size meant the answer I was looking for was likely to be in it.

After finally giving in to Arya and this imprint that made her irresistible to me, I needed to know more about the damned Dracul curse and if there was a way to lift it. I knew he wasn't in love with her, but my feelings were definitely getting increasingly more complicated, and if we continued down this path, it was only a matter of time before one of us fell.

I walked to my study spot in the center of the school library and sat among my notes, pushing them aside to make room for the large book. The edges were decorated with flowery, silver leaf borders that reminded me of the old shifter fairy tale book my mother used to read from. It took a lot of years, but I was finally beginning to understand why her favorite was the tragic romance of Dante and Calliope , the immortal mer and harpy who fell in love and were forbidden to be together. It must've reminded Octavia of her own tragic romance with Arthur.

Carefully, I lifted the cover and flipped through the pictures and text that depicted the history of the boarding house. Located in Washington state, the house became a haven for shifters, and then a makeshift school before it was destroyed by vampires. I wasn't interested in the founding of the boarding house, since it housed only humans for the first several decades, but I flipped through the beginning photos anyway.

I stopped at a picture, an old black-and-white that must've been taken in front of the house. Four people were in the picture—all simply dressed and looking like they ran the place. A middle-aged couple stood in the center; the man had a smiling sort of face, but the woman's looked forced.

A young girl, a teenager probably close in age to me and most likely the daughter of the couple, stood next to the man. She smiled, but I could tell she was the skeptical type. The sort of person who would require a person to prove their worth before she gave them her loyalty. It was funny that I could tell that about her in a picture.

On the other side of the couple was a young man, maybe in his twenties. His hair was dark and was pulled back at the nape of his neck. His expression was a lot like the man's: easy going, happy, and kind.

I wondered what type of shifters they were and glanced at their names listed at the bottom. The young girl, the skeptical one, was Camilla Skye. Next to her were James and Jane Skye—definitely her parents. The man in his twenties was named Julian Asher. None of the names were familiar shifter names, or otherwise known, so I continued to flip through the book.

I was looking for a specific name: Claudette Dracul. I didn't know if I was a direct descendant of Claudette or a distant relative, but she was the supposed reason for the Dracul curse. I called my older sister, Tamara, to verify Claudette's name—claiming it was for a school paper because I didn't want her to know the real reason for my interest—and according to her, Claudette committed some inexplicable crime. As retaliation for her misdeed, a curse— the curse— was placed on the entire family line .

The curse stipulated that if ever a Dracul fell in love—and by association, anyone who loved a Dracul—the love would be forever unrequited. My mother loved my father deeply, but I'd witnessed Arthur's flippant attitude toward her since I was a young child. I suspected he was still in love with his former mistress—my half-brothers Adam's and Alex's mother—but she only came around when it benefited her, offering false affection to raise her status.

They both loved but were not loved in return, though I couldn't quite find it in me to pity Arthur.

I stopped on a page picturing a young woman. Her clothing wasn't simple like the people in the first photo, and even in black and white, I could tell her dress was probably expensive. She wore a traditional head wrap, much like the ones my Romanian ancestors probably wore, and her features were familiar. In fact, her nose looked almost identical to Tamara's.

Scanning her name, my suspicions were confirmed: Claudette Elana Dracul.

I'd found her.

The book slammed shut, pinching two of my fingers.

"Studying on a Saturday?" Brett asked, plopping down across from me at the table. "I've been looking everywhere for you, man ! And I swear half the student population has escaped to Christmas shop, so it wasn't like I've had crowds to search through."

"They're letting students go topside?" I asked. Who would be stupid enough to go out after the attack?

"Yep." Brett let out an exasperated breath and spun the book to read the title. Fortunately, it held no interest for him, and he turned it back with a raised eyebrow. "I'm bored. Wanna hit the sim? "

I almost asked Brett if he knew which students left the Dome, hoping he wouldn't say Arya's name, but he wasn't that observant.

"Who's still around?" I asked instead, attempting to sound only slightly curious.

Brett balked with an annoyed smile. "I didn't take roll call, Tobias. But Niko's not here."

I flashed him an annoyed smile. "Yeah, I knew that, ya dumb bird ."

He flipped me off. "C'mon. You're a straight-A student. I need to blow off some steam. Let's go fight computer vamps!"

I packed up my books and notes like that was what I intended to do. And I would. I just needed to know that Arya was still at the Dome first.

"You know, that Ashlyn girl shifted for the first time that night we were attacked," I said. "She might wanna practice on the sim. Should we go find her and Arya? See if they wanna join?"

Okay, so I knew I was being obvious, but part of me didn't care.

"Umm... sure?" Brett replied while I carefully stashed the Boarding House book in my bag. "I haven't seen either of them, but we can go find them."

I shouldered my bag—I'd definitely need to take a closer look at the book later, now that I knew Claudette was in it—and followed Brett out, trying to hide the building dread that Arya and Ashlyn were some of the students who left the school. According to the science on imprinting, and my own past experiences, I'd know if she was in any kind of danger, right ?

"That Ashlyn girl is pretty badass," Brett said as we exited the library. "She really made Mr. Summers earn his keep yesterday in class. And he's her dad!"

"Not getting the hots for Niko's ex, are you?" I teased.

Brett shot an insulted grimace at me. "Of course, not! Bros before hoes, dude. But, I mean, it's a shame he got to her before I did."

I rolled my eyes. "You had every opportunity to ask her out before Niko finally got the balls to do it. You only think she's hot now because she's a better phoenix than you."

He shrugged. "What can I say? She wasn't hot before she was hot! "

"You're an idiot," I chuckled.

We made a quick stop at my dorm room so I could drop my bags and books before we went searching. I asked a couple of harpies in the common room if they had seen either of them recently.

"Sure, this morning," one with long white hair said—I couldn't remember her name. "I remember the dark lipstick Ashlyn was wearing." She let out a low whistle. "It looked like she might be heading out for a hot date."

Brett and I looked at each other, but I was certain we weren't thinking the same thing.

"What about Arya?" I asked. "Dark hair with blue streaks."

"Yeah, yeah, we know who Arya is," the other one with more yellow hair said, rolling her eyes. I didn't remember her name, either. "And no, we haven't seen her today."

I nodded a quick thanks, then shoved Brett out the door with more force than I meant to .

"Whoa, what's up, bro?" he asked, hands raised in mock surrender.

"N—nothing, I just..." I trailed off. I wasn't in the mood to be mocked for caring.

But Brett surprised me by sobering. "You're worried they left."

"Yeah," I admitted on a grunt, taking long steps toward the stairs.

"Okay, then. We'll find them. They're probably just off watching one of those cheesy Christmas chick flicks somewhere. I'm sure they didn't leave. They know it's dangerous."

I stopped to look at him. Brett was acting the way Niko would in the same situation, even though he didn't have dating history with Ashlyn. Brett was worried because I was worried.

"I'll check the dining hall," he said, shrugging off the grateful expression I was giving him. "You check the training room."

I nodded and rushed off. I checked the training room and pool, catching a few offended mer stares while I was there. I plastered on my go-to stoic expression when asking if any of them had seen Arya, then stalked away like it didn't matter that none of them had since the day before.

As soon as I was out of the building, I practically sprinted to the greenhouses, but all of them were locked, so she couldn't be inside.

My heart began to beat furiously with the exertion, coupled with my rising panic.

Arya had left the Dome.

I was almost certain of it, and the memory of the attack in the alley forced itself to the forefront of my mind. Ashlyn had been capable in that fight, but if she and Arya faced something similar, just the two of them, they wouldn't survive.

Racing to the main part of the school, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Arya. She didn't answer. Neither did Ashlyn. What the hell happened to them? And how was I going to find them?

An idea struck me, and I hopped on Instagram. Ashlyn couldn't go anywhere without posting pictures of her escapades—the food she ordered, graffiti she thought was actually artistic, and the countless selfies! I had unfollowed her because I was tired of seeing it. If she went out today, there would definitely be pictures.

I navigated to her account, and sure enough, there were pictures of her and Arya in front of the Bean—and they were with the witch. My blood boiled so quickly it practically vaporized inside my veins.

As I glared at my phone, a new post appeared. A picture of a chili cheese burger. She tagged her location: The Grill.

Goddammit, Arya!

I found Brett in the Great Hall when I ran in.

"Did you find them?" he asked, combing his fingers through his shaggy hair.

"Yeah," I said behind gritted teeth, holding my phone up with the screen facing him.

"Oh," he said with a grimace.

"Let's go," I ordered, not waiting for his agreement as I stomped toward the front entrance.

I was so angry that the train ride was a blur of red in my vision, seeming to take only seconds. As soon as we got topside, I ordered an Uber to take us directly to the restaurant. I didn't know what I would say or do when I found her. I only knew that I needed to find her.

My heart stopped beating for several breaths when I saw her coming out onto the street as we pulled up. My relief was powerful but brief as my anger renewed at the sight of her here, far from the safety of the school.

I shoved the door open and jumped out before the vehicle came to a complete stop, stomping toward them.

"What the hell?" I growled.

Several heads turned in our direction, then quickly away.

"Can we help you, Tobias?" Ashlyn asked, her voice calm but with an edge of a tease.

I was not amused.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I demanded, my scales prickling just beneath the surface of my flesh.

Rage flashed in Arya's eyes as she met my gaze, but her expression remained aloof and somewhat mocking.

"Girls' day out," she answered, lifting her chin slightly. "We needed a girls' day."

I clenched my fists at my sides, barely restraining my temper. "Are you two complete idiots? Don't you remember our little incident only a week ago?"

Arya's blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're making a scene," she hissed.

"And you're being really fucking careless!" I shouted. "It's not just your life you're risking."

She flinched at the volume of my voice, and a distant part of me inwardly cringed at the way I was clearly making her feel. But I couldn't stop. I needed to make her see how dangerous this was.

"Look, dude, take a fucking chill pill," the witch said, jutting a hip as she regarded me down her nose. "It's only two o'clock in the afternoon, and I was going to have them back well before sunset."

"You!" I seethed, my dragon's growl rumbling up my throat. "This is your doing."

"No, actually, it's mine," Ashlyn stated, inserting herself between me and the witch with a fierce scowl on her face. "I needed to get out because your asshole friend broke my heart. So if you want to blame anyone, blame him."

"Oh, please," I snapped. "Get over it already."

Arya shoved in front of Ashlyn, her rage seeping from her eyes into her features and looking all the more dangerously beautiful for it.

"That's enough, Tobias! Regardless of what you apparently think, I am not your property. There are no rules that say I am never allowed to leave the Dome. I'm not going to live the rest of my life in hiding. It's broad daylight, and I am perfectly safe. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to make the best of our time before we return at four. Don't bother checking in when we get back."

She hooked her arms around those of the other two girls and stormed off without so much as a look back at me.

"Whatever!" I yelled after her, throwing my hands in the air. "Go and get yourself killed!"

I spun on my heel back to the car where Brett was still sitting in the backseat, gaping at me .

"Fuck ‘em. Let's go home." I entered the new destination in the Uber app, and we drove off, neither of us saying a word to each other.

I hated how much I cared, and that I was so angry I wanted to burn this whole city to the ground with my dragon fire. I hated that I'd lost my temper and probably ruined things again. And even worse, I hated how terrified I was that she hadn't come back with me.