Chapter Nineteen

Hunter

We all wait at the edge for a while longer, making sure that we aren't going to run into anyone going in or coming out. Finally, I decide that we need to risk it because the longer we stay here, the more we're putting ourselves at risk of being caught anyway.

"Move as quickly as possible until we get inside, and then we need to walk casually so we don't raise any suspicions," Jax suggests, barely above a breath.

We all nod in agreement and then take off, all moving as fast as we can, pushing ourselves to our limits. We make it back to the main academy in record time and stop as soon as we get inside, slowing to walk and slapping smiles on our faces as we strike up a casual conversation about absolutely nothing and remain relaxed and casual as we make our way up to the room.

Without discussion, we head straight for our rooms, and as I'd almost expected, everyone else is already there. Sage jumps up as soon as we walk through the door and somehow manages to wrap her arms around both Jax and me, holding us both tightly.

"I was really worried about you," she says as she pulls back, "I haven't had a vision like that for a while, and it panicked me because I knew without a doubt that if I were to come and get you if any of us were to come and get you, then that would mean that you'd get caught or we'd lose one of you or something as equally bad. It showed me many different outcomes, and the only one that meant you didn't get accused of the murder or worse was the one where I just warned you and everyone else stayed put."

"We're okay," I tell her because I know that's what she needs to hear right now.

"That must have been really difficult to see and do nothing," Jax adds as we all walk further into the room and take seats.

"I hope we don't have to just wait again," Levi replies. "I'm not cut out for it."

"No, none of us really are," Jett replies, and then looks at me as he adds, "Sage told us about your theory. I think you're probably right."

"Yeah, it actually makes sense, especially since we know that if they outright kill us before our time, then they risk the wrath of the Realm, and although individuals may be willing to risk that occasionally, I don't think the Order as a whole would because they want to rule here in the Fae Realm like Nyx used to and they can't do that if the Realm itself is pissed at them," Harry adds.

"Exactly," I reply.

I'm pretty glad that I didn't have to explain it again to everyone because although they're all my family, if I have too much attention on me, I tend to get my words all mixed up, and I end up making absolutely no sense.

"Okay, so tell us anything that you can about the body?" Dash asks, leaning forward in his seat.

"Don't you already know?" Kyle asks curiously.

I can"t blame him; I also assumed that they had all the details that we had, thanks to Sage's vision.

Sage shakes her head, "No, the vision told me that I had to warn you and that there had been a murder. It showed me that there were going to be many outcomes if I didn't just do as I was instructed, and that was pretty much it."

"Oh, okay," I reply and then promptly start to describe what happened and how we found the body.

"Did any of you recognise him?" Erin asks with a frown.

We all shake our heads that we didn't.

Kyle clears his throat, gaining everyone's attention again as he says, "I did find the Order's symbol tattooed on his neck though."

"So he's either a supporter or a member, but either way, they are killing their own now, and I don't understand why," Cole replies with a deep frown.

"That I don't have any theories about," I comment.

"We could do with finding Cain and seeing if he has any insights into it from a teacher"s perspective," Kai suggests.

"That's true. He'll probably have a lot more information than we do. Is he back yet though?" Nate asks.

Everyone looks at Sage since not only does she know him best, but she also knows Nyx the best, and from what happened and how Nyx got Sage to get Cain, I think it"s pretty obvious that Cain is with Nyx.

Sage shrugs, "I haven't heard anything, and if Cain were back, then I assume he would've let us know."

"He said he'd be back by now," Erin points out, "but I agree. I think if he were back then, he would've let us know that he was back."

"Unless he really is avoiding us and all the questions that we have after the way that he was called home to Nyx, who is a Goddess," Kai points out, with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

I chuckle, "I guess that is an option after all. Although, I imagine that if that's the case since there has been a murder now, he will show up."

"Good point. I suppose we just need to wait and see then." Levi replies, "And we also need to see how they're going to handle this new murder, and whether because we weren't caught that they just decide to sweep it under the rug or if they decide to report it how they should."

"By they, do you mean the Order or the teachers?" Damon questions.

"Well, they're one and the same at the moment, are they not?" Levi asks.

Damon's eyebrows raise slightly as he takes in Levi's words, "Yes, I see what you mean. I do think that it's important for us to remember that all of the teachers here are being controlled and aren't actually responsible for their actions."

Jax nods as he replies, "I hear you, and I agree, but how sure are we that all of the teachers are in fact, being controlled? Isn't there a chance that at least one of them didn't need to be controlled and may be helping to keep the others under the control of the Order?"

I pause. I actually hadn't considered that, but there is a chance, and I don't know how we'd go about trying to find who that person is. Other than just hoping that we get lucky and he outs themselves.

"Well shit," Maverick curses, and unsurprisingly it"s echoed around the room, "every time that we learn something else about what's going on here, or something else happens, instead of it clearing up or answering any of our questions, it just adds more. It's incredibly frustrating."

"It makes it seem like trying to stop the Order and the control that they have over the teachers is absolutely impossible and that we're never going to be able to do it," Sage says, and I can see the weight of it weighing her down, weighing us all down actually. "They always seem to be one step ahead of us, and I'm starting to feel like we're never going to catch up."

"Which is now even more dangerous because they've upped their game so that they're now murdering people, and fuck knows how many more supes are going to lose their lives before the teachers are themselves again," Levi adds, his hand rubbing against his jaw.

"I think if Cain isn't back tomorrow, or at least we haven't heard from him, then I think we should try and get a call out to the Enforcers," Jett suggests. "It's pretty obvious that they haven't been called yet because the library is shut down and being guarded by teachers, not enforcers."

"Yeah, I agree, especially with the one that was found in the woods, although they might have cleared that up and any evidence by the time that the enforcers get here." Asher points out.

"True, but it's the least we can do to make sure that those who have lost their lives get the burials they deserve and that their families know what has happened to them," Erin adds.

"I actually have a friend who is now an Enforcer. I should be able to get him on the communication stone so long as he's not on a job, and he will hopefully be able to send some help our way." Harry suggests.

"Yeah, that would be great," Levi replies, "tell him as much as possible without letting on about the Order. We don't want the place crawling with Enforcers. It would endanger their lives and could escalate the situation dramatically."

"Yeah, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Harry replies.

"Along that same line of thinking though, are we sure that calling the Enforcers in is the best thing to do? It's going to set the Order on edge and could escalate things anyway," Cole asks.

"It could, but I think it's a risk we should take; not honoring the dead is something that I don't want to do; I want to ensure that they get their peace despite the violence that ended their lives. Besides, it could work the other way, and because they're under extra scrutiny, they could make a mistake that could help us finally end it." Kai suggests.

"Yeah, I guess," Levi replies, although he doesn't sound that convinced by the idea. He then adds, "Just so that we're all clear about what's going on, tomorrow Harry is going to get hold of his Enforcer friend and make sure that he's informed of what's happened here, the two murders and the chance that the second one might have been covered up."

"Wait," Sage says, interrupting, "surely that would cause an issue in itself as we're going to tell him that we told the teachers about it. Wouldn't that be really suspicious?"

Levi frowns, "Shit, you're right. Okay, new plan: Harry tells him about the murder in the library, the whole school knows about that, and then when Cain gets back, we can tell him about the one in the woods that stumbled across Sage's vision and that the theory on it, and then hopefully he can decide the best way to proceed."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds like it will work. I can do that," Harry agrees with a nod.

"Good. The next thing that we need to do is follow Mav's idea about materials strong enough to hold the amount of magic that would be needed to control this amount of supes for this long." Levi continues.

This time, I interrupt him, "What was Mav's idea?"

Sage

Ihad completely forgotten that they weren't here for that part of the conversation, and Levi obviously had too, as he quickly explains Mav's idea and the plan to find something made from the strongest material, which is, thankfully, quite rare.

It"s not really surprising that Levi forgot because as soon as I had that vision, all of us went into fight mode, and since we didn't actually get to fight, I think we all have quite a lot of unused energy in our systems. I keep looking over Jax and Hunter and just double-checking that they are really here and really okay because all I can see are the what ifs that were shown to me, and the one I followed was the only good outcome.

I don't think I'm going to get any sleep tonight.

"Oh okay, yeah, that makes more sense," Hunter replies, and then suggests, "Well, it is the weekend tomorrow, so we should be able to make a start at least. Are we just assuming that it"s been moved from the library?"

Levi looks around at us all, "Yeah, I think it's the most likely option. Either before they murdered Cain's friend or when they blocked it off."

"Okay, we can do that tomorrow then. Hopefully, we will actually make some progress with this." I say.

"Yeah, although I don't think I'll let my hopes get too high," Erin comments as she stands up, "now I don't know about the rest of you, but I am exhausted and have cycled through some big fucking feelings this evening, so I'm going to bed before we most likely have to deal with big feelings tomorrow as well."

"Yeah, I can second that one," I agree.

Within minutes, everyone has said goodnight to each other and have headed back to their own rooms, and I'm curled up in bed between Hunter and Jax. I need them close tonight after what happened and everything that I saw. I'm hoping that if I have them both wrapped around me, the nightmares that I know I'm going to have are going to be not quite so bad.

∞∞∞

I was wrong. Of course, I was wrong. My nightmares were pretty horrendous, but each time that I woke up, the guys did too, and they comforted me and reassured me that they were fine so that I could settle back to sleep. They were amazing. The cuddles from Ghost and Knot certainly helped, too and they tried their best to take the nightmares when they started, but they were too strong. I definitely appreciated that they tried though.

"Alright, remind me again, what exactly are we looking for?" I ask, sipping my giant cup of coffee as we walk the practically empty halls of the Academy.

"And what happens if a teacher comes across us?" Cole adds, sipping his equally large cup of coffee.

"We're not breaking any rules, and we're obviously not practicing any magic, so we should be fine," Asher replies.

Not everyone decided to come with us. Levi and Jett stayed with Harry to hear what the Enforcer had to say, and Ty decided to stay, too. Kai, Damon, Kysen, and Dash all decided they wanted to make lunch for everyone, so they're raiding the kitchens so they can prepare something in our rooms, and Erin, Nate, and Kyle all stayed behind too. I think it really affected her what happened last night, and I don't believe that she's going to let them get that far away from her, which is the same reason why I insisted that Hunter and Jax came with me today, and they readily agreed.

Mav holds up the book that he's still combing through, and turns it around so that we can see a picture of a dark green, kind of see-through but kind of not, vase. "Okay, so I think we're better off looking for one kind of material at a time, or it's going to get confusing. I think this one is probably our best bet, as it's the strongest and the most capable of holding the amount of magic that it would need to control this many supernaturals."

We all study the picture closely, or at least I do. I'm trying to commit it to memory so that I don't have to keep asking to see the image every time I find something that's green. I try not to smirk when Ghost and Knot also start to study it closely, committing it to memory.

"And it"s not going to be a vase, right?" Cole asks, clearly not quite fully awake yet and needing the coffee to kick in properly before his brain works the way it should.

Maverick nods, "Yeah, that's right. We're looking for the material, not the object."

"Gotcha," Cole says, saluting Mav with his coffee and then adding, "I definitely need some of this stuff. My brain is not firing on all cylinders this morning."

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything but . . ." I reply with a smirk, leaving it open-ended and getting a playful glare from him.

"Before that devolves, do we have a starting point that we want to search?" Jax asks, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Mav nods, "Yeah, actually, I thought we'd try in the temple, which is on the left of the academy," he pauses and looks around, turning in a circle as he frowns and adds, "But we're going in the wrong direction, why are we here?"

Hunter chuckles, "Dude, we were following you. Next time, maybe you should tell us where you want us to go before we just start following you?"

Asher grins, "He's got a point, man."

Mav's smile is slightly sheepish as he replies, "Yeah, that's probably a good call. Anyway, we need to head back this way."

I can't wipe the amused smile off my face as we weave back through the corridors, stopping briefly in the thankfully almost empty cafeteria to grab some more coffee at Cole's insistence, although I have to admit that I do help myself to another cup as well. It feels like a day when buckets of coffee are needed in order to function properly.

We then head out of the front of the property and follow the winding path around the side of the academy for quite a while before we move through a small area of trees, and then the grand temple comes into view. It's enormous, exquisitely decorated, and as is always the way, the doors are always open. It's not only Nyx that can be talked to here; it's any of the Gods. Although, I have learned that these places are very rarely in use for anything like ceremonies or anything like that. Something that Cain said when he was explaining the Warrior Games pings in my brain: the temple at Black Onyx Academy obviously plays a big part in the games themselves, as that's where the teams go to be judged.

I feel a wash of peace flood me as soon as we step through the doors, and I almost tell the others that there's no point in us being here because all I can feel is peace.