Chapter 38

Caesar

My breath steamed in the cold evening air as Shea and I raced down the alley. But the outside temperature wasn't what chilled me to the bone.

I bent over Tobias Dracul, whose body was lacerated in hundreds of places, wearing nothing but his smart clothing, which also bore countless holes. The dragon prince was moving with a wounded slowness in a pool of his own blood.

"Damn, what did they do to you?"

Tobias groaned, as if attempting to respond. But his eyes were closed. I knew the boy didn't have much time left.

"We have to get him back to the Dome," I said, setting my jaw as I tried to think of the best way to transport Tobias.

"Arya, omigod, are you okay?" Shea squealed as she threw her arms around her best friend.

"I'm fine, but Tobias…" Arya said, beginning to weep.

Something small shimmered dark silver in the moonlight from the pool of blood to Tobias's right. I reached into the goop to pick it up.

"Lead." Looking around, I saw several more identical pieces scattered throughout the alley floor. "Lead pellets. Dozens of them."

The realization of what that meant made me lightheaded. All the little lacerations on Tobias's body weren't cuts at all. They were wounds where lead pellets had struck him.

I raked my hands through my hair, not caring they were covered in the boy's blood. "We've got to get him to Maya right away. If his body is full of lead, he won't live much longer."

Nearby, Arya continued to weep bitterly, pulling my attention from the dragon prince. Shea was still holding her, running a soothing hand down the back of her hair. Ashlyn Summers was close by with Nikolai Candida keeping a comforting arm around her. Niko and Ashlyn were in their smart clothing, showing that they'd shifted to face the vampires in battle as well.

"Are you three hurt?" I asked, knowing just by their postures that Tobias had suffered the worst from the fight.

Arya didn't respond—likely couldn't. Her eyes were trained on Tobias as she cried.

"He saved my life," Niko said distantly. I'd been in enough fights to understand how easy it was to relive violent memories. The distant look in the boy's eyes disappeared and he looked up at me. "Tobias dove in front of me when they shot their cannons. He shielded me."

"Once we get back to the Dome, I'll get reports from each of you," I said. "But we can't linger. The vampires could return at any moment."

My spine tingled, that very real possibility making every shadowy corner a hostile threat that I refused to turn my back to for too long.

"Shea, get the girls back to the Dome as fast as you can," I ordered. "Niko, I'll need your help to carry Tobias." The dragon prince was too close to my size for me to carry him alone, and attempting to do so would only hurt him more.

Shea nodded without complaint, taking both girls by the wrist and rushing them out onto the street and toward the subway entrance. Niko and Ashlyn stared longingly at each other until Ashlyn was out of sight, then the boy came to my side to help me with his friend.

I tucked my hands under Tobias's back, gesturing with a nod of my chin for Niko to take his feet. "I'm sorry, kid, but this is probably going to hurt."

Angling Tobias's back upward, I scooped my hands under his arms. Tobias groaned at the movement, and his head lolled backward, the whites of his eyes showing before they closed.

Niko grabbed onto Tobias's battered legs.

"On three," I said, my heart pounding.

Moving an injured person could be extremely dangerous, depending on what kind of wounds had been inflicted. I hoped we weren't causing any more damage—at least nothing irreparable—but we didn't have any other choice.

"One… two… three!"

Together, we hoisted Tobias up off the ground. I had anticipated the boy's weight—Tobias was six feet tall and quite muscular from the different exercises and defense training sessions his father had put him through since he was a child. But still, my muscles shook from the effort. Niko said nothing, but the strain on his grieving face told me his struggle was worse.

It seemed to take hours to carry him across the road and down the stairs to the secret janitorial door. The task would've been impossible if we'd been any farther from the subway. It was only after we got onto the secret platform that I was able to breathe a little easier.

We set Tobias onto the ground while we waited for the train to return, and I sent an emergency text to Celeste requesting a gurney and medical assistance because I sincerely doubted my ability to carry the massive teenager any further.

* ? * ? *

We made it back to the Dome without incident, but the subway ride seemed to take forever, and Tobias was unresponsive the entire way.

My back and arms flared with exhaustion from carrying him—we didn't have anywhere appropriate to set him during the train ride, and I didn't want to risk the strain of lifting him again, both for Tobias's sake and my own. So Niko and I held him across our laps.

I had no words of comfort to offer my grieving assistant. I had lost many friends in battle against the vampires over the years. I knew that no words could make the loss any better. And though Tobias still breathed, I was not about to reassure Niko that his friend would be fine because I had no idea if it was true.

The bullets in Tobias's body were poisoning him from the inside out. Dragons were—for lack of a better word—allergic to lead. It burned them on contact. I could only imagine the searing pain he was in. Maya was an excellent healer, but she couldn't work her magic until every last pellet was removed, and I doubted the boy would live long enough for that.

Finally, the train stopped at the other end of the tunnel. I gritted my teeth and kept my fists clenched as we made our way to the school's entrance.

Thankfully, Celeste was waiting for us with a wheeled bed from the hospital wing with Arya, Ashlyn, and Shea impatiently hovering by her side. The worry on Celeste's face turned to shock as we came into view.

"Is that the Dracul boy?" she gasped. "What happened to him?"

"We'll find out the details soon enough," I replied quickly. "Hurry, Niko. Up and onto the gurney on three."

I counted off again, and we gently raised Tobias onto the bed.

"Celeste, please keep wandering eyes away," I said. "We'll take him from here."

Celeste nodded, disappearing down the hall to do as I requested. I knew that the assignment I gave her was a tough one, but I wanted to limit Tobias's visibility to the other students. We needed to find out exactly what happened before the rumor mill took over.

Taking hold of the rail, I pushed the gurney in the direction of the infirmary, making sure that the other students followed. Shea trailed us, and rules be damned, I couldn't ask her to leave. Her presence here now had nothing to do with her and me, and everything to do with her best friend needing her support. If anyone had a problem with that, they'd answer to me.

As we approached the infirmary door, my watch buzzed as an emergency message blasted from it.

"Attention students: Tonight's curfew requires everyone to go back to their respective common rooms and dorms for the remainder of the evening. Any students caught outside of their assigned wings will undergo daily sim room detention for the rest of the year."

"Thank you, Celeste," I whispered.

A mao student was walking out, holding an ice pack against her head. It fell from her hand and she gasped as she saw Tobias's gruesome form.

"Out of the way, child!" I barked. My urgency and anxiety removed any filter I'd kept on as director of the school, but I didn't have time to regret my exclamation.

Fortunately, the girl did move away, but she rubber-necked until we burst into the infirmary.

"Good gracious, what happened?!" Maya asked, her mouth agape in horror.

"Another vampire attack," I informed, panting from the exertion. "Tobias needs your aid thirty minutes ago."

"Right," Maya replied, pushing her ever-falling glasses higher on her nose. "Put him right here."

I pushed the gurney to an open part of the infirmary where curtains had been parted across from the still slumbering Letti—the exact spot where Shea and I had been earlier. That was the bed Celeste had chosen. I didn't have time to consider the irony of that, or to dwell on the sinful memories of what Shea and I had done in my room after.

"Multiple lead pellets are embedded in his body," I said, getting out of Maya's way so she could see to Tobias. "Worst of all, he's lost a lot of blood."

Maya shook her head, feeling at Tobias's neck. "We've got to get both under control. His pulse is weak. His chest is barely rising." Maya tapped the display screen attached to the bed and began to work.

I heard sobbing coming from behind me, and I turned to look at my four charges. Arya, Ashlyn and especially Niko from the looks of it, needed medical attention as well.

"Do you have any well-trained students who can assist with the others who were present during the attack?" I asked Maya, not wanting to disturb her but also not wanting to neglect the needs of my other students.

"Yes, get on my phone and send an S.O.S. to my mentorship group," she instructed over her shoulder without looking up as she dropped one of the pellets onto a metal dish beside her. "They will know to come right away."

I did as she said, easily finding the chat group she mentioned and sending the message. In only a few short minutes, a handful of harpies came running in dressed in scrubs and ready to help.

One by one, they attended to the three wounded students.

"You, again?" Arya balked at the male harpy who approached her. Ajax, I think. "Um, actually, I'm fine."

The boy frowned at her. "But I'm supposed to give you a check up—"

"Nope, really. I don't need the help," Arya insisted.

"It's okay, Ajax, I'll look her over," offered Una, one of the higher level harpy girls.

Ajax's frown deepened as he realized he wasn't needed with three of them and turned to aid Maya with Tobias instead.

"Thank you," I heard Arya whisper to Una.

What the hell was that about?

The extra harpies joined in aiding Maya as well, and with everyone preoccupied, I stole to the corner of the room where Shea was hovering.

"Thank you for being here," I whispered. "Arya will need all the support she can get, so you are welcome to stay here with her tonight."

A look of surprise crossed her eyes before that familiar sass that so tempted me took over. "I'm sure Celeste will love that idea. When I showed up with Arya and Ashlyn, I thought I would burst into flames from her hateful stare before they vouched for me."

I nodded. "I'll make her understand. I'll try to make everyone understand."

I gave her a meaningful look, hoping she understood what I was truly saying. I didn't know how to make this work, but I did feel deep inside that Shea belonged here. I'd find a way to make my colleagues see the benefit in forming a union with witches. Even though I realized that Shea becoming my student would mean the end of whatever was happening between us.

I waited around until Arya, Ashlyn and Niko had been cleared by their attendants to leave the infirmary. Arya and Ashlyn had only sustained a few cuts and bruises, but one of Niko's ribs had fractured, which only made his silent compliance in carrying Tobias so much more impressive. That was the way of dragon males, though, to suffer in silence and push their limits.

That was the reason Tobias was in his current ill-fated state.

"Niko, would you escort Ashlyn and Shea back to the avian common room?" I asked. "I'm going to get Arya's statement first, and then each of yours in turn."

Now healed, Niko nodded and ushered the two girls out of the infirmary. Shea waved a sad goodbye at me before leaving the doorway, taking my heart with her.

I placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. "Keep me apprised, will you? I know you will do your best for him."

Maya nodded, too invested in her work to give me any further acknowledgement.

I turned to Arya. Her hair was askew and her eyes red. I approached her, and her bloodshot gaze met mine.

"I'm so sorry," she mumbled through quivering lips. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

I brought her into a fatherly embrace, and she rested her tear-stained face on my shoulder. "Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about, Arya."

"We tried to get back before curfew, but there was traffic, and the subway was blocked off." Arya's words were rapid and hard to understand.

"It was a coordinated attack," I said. "I have no doubt about that. But like I said, it wasn't your fault. You should not be apologizing."

I swallowed, realizing I could no longer keep things hidden from her. Keeping her in the dark was no longer serving her best interest. "There are a few things I've been meaning to tell you. And you deserve to know them. Let's go to my office."

She nodded and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, letting me guide her out of the room and down the hall.

Once inside my office, I locked the door to make sure we wouldn't be disturbed and sat at my desk, gesturing to her with a wave to sit on the opposite side. I took in a deep breath to brace myself for the conversation we were about to have.

"Last time you came to my office, after the attack on Letti, I wanted to explain why that attack happened, but I was afraid of how you would react. But after tonight, you need to know: the vampires are hunting you."

Her jaw stiffened, but somehow she didn't seem surprised. The sadness on her face framed a deep fear I understood all too well.

"Why me? I'm a useless mermaid."

I shook my head. "You are much, much more than that. Which brings me to the other bit of knowledge I feel like I must confess to you."

She rubbed at her nose, swollen eyes looking at me while she waited for me to continue.

"What I'm about to tell you is extremely confidential, Arya. I implore you to not disclose such information to anybody else. Not even your closest friends."

She nodded, an eagerness stirring in her countenance.

"Celeste is the greatest seer in the known world. Her clairvoyance goes beyond the skill of any other mermaid that I know. Years ago, she received a prophecy about a stray mermaid. This prophecy states that a stray mermaid would be a siren, and would be the one to bring an end to Hadrian and his group of vampires."

She stiffened at my words, her eyes widening.

"Siren?" she whispered.

I looked at her in confusion. Out of that entire declaration of the prophecy, she had pulled the word siren out of it?

"Yes. I believe that siren is you ."

Relief spilled through me at finally telling her the truth, as if a great weight had been taken from my shoulders.

"That's what he called me," she murmured.

Again, I gave her a confused look. "Somebody called you a siren?"

She nodded quickly, looking down at her feet. Anxiety replaced my short-lived relief.

"Who? Who called you a siren?"

"Hadrian did," she said softly, bringing her gaze back to mine.

I licked my dry lips as she said the vampire's name.

"Hadrian was involved in the attack tonight?" I asked. "And he called you a siren?"

She stiffened again. "Something happened… During the fight. Something weird happened with my voice."

My heartbeat increased. "Tell me."

"It's hard to explain," Arya said, her fingers picking at the edge of the arm of her chair. "Ashlyn was in trouble. A vampire had her. And I told the vampire holding her to leave her alone." Her eyes distanced as she recalled the memory. "My voice was different, though. It was still mine, but it was a deeper, fluid sound. Almost like I was singing, even though I wasn't."

She was a siren! The siren! My eyes widened, and my mouth opened ever so slightly as she spoke.

"And the vampire holding onto Ashlyn went quiet and still, like I hypnotized her or something. That's when Ashlyn escaped. There must have been some kind of magic in my voice to make her freeze like that."

"You're the siren," I said as I stared at her with increasing awe. "I have always believed, but now I know it."

"But if I'm this siren from the prophecy you've talked about, that means I'm supposed to kill Hadrian, right?"

I nodded, not knowing how else to directly answer her question. That was a heavy weight for anybody to bear. I'd failed in killing Hadrian seven years ago. And now that task was on Arya's shoulders.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

I straightened my back. This question I knew the answer to.

"We train you."

Arya's brows furrowed. "Like what I'm already learning?"

"Yes, but more so. It's now imperative that you learn how to fight. Hadrian knows who you are, and he will stop at nothing to find you. What his desired purposes are with you, I don't know. But we must not let him find you. At least not until you are confident in your abilities to stand against him."

She shifted uncomfortably, looking down solemnly. "I don't know how to fight. I tried, but I wasn't strong enough."

I leaned forward. "I will personally see to one-on-one defensive training with you, starting tomorrow. And in your next Defense class, you must spar. You can no longer afford to watch the others from the sidelines."

I hoped my offer to instruct her would help alleviate her fear and anxiety. I'd never offered such training to any other student, but Arya was the most important person in the Dome. I'd make her the best she could possibly be.

"I hope I can become the shifter you believe me to be," she said, doubt wrinkling her forehead.

"You will. I have no doubt about that."

She chewed her lip, quiet for a moment as I watched unknown troubles cross her expression.

"I know this is hard, but would you be able to give me your summary of what happened?" I asked. "Any details, no matter how insignificant, could help us in learning their strategies and intentions."

She nodded and began to recount the events that took place. I listened and took notes, all the while buzzing on the bittersweet revelation that she really was who I always hoped. And I no longer believed it was just coincidence that her best friend was a witch who drew me irresistibly. Shea just might be able to help in this war. And under my tutelage, Arya was going to become great.

The battle against the vampire had been a long one, spanning hundreds of years and tens of thousands of lives. But I finally saw an end to it. We finally had hope .