Chapter 32

No way that voice was who I thought . . .

“Helen?”

“Maya, thank God!” A pause and then a breathy exhale whispered against my ear. “I don’t have a lot of time. A demon is here at Moretti Academy.”

I jerked as if hit.

Beckett pressed his palm to my spine. Tanner stepped into the living room at that moment, and he focused on my face, brows furrowed.

“Get help. We need to get out of here, like yesterday.” Again, the same hushed voice. What was she doing at Moretti Academy? They were supposed to be far, far away from there. But it seemed like a waste of a question. “Guy is a murdering nut.”

Tanner crouched and picked up the phone. “Is Claudia with you?” he asked grimly, pressing his lips tight. He held himself coiled as if he were ready to spring to action with a command.

“Yes, she gave me your number. Shit, I have to go.”

“We’re coming,” I said, but the beep was my only response.

“Wake the others up.” Tanner tapped away at his cell phone. I bounced to my feet and hurried upstairs to the room where Enzo and Elliot were sleeping.

He was at fucking Moretti Academy this entire time. Since there’d been no one to guide him there considering all his minions were dead, I didn’t think that was where he’d end up. Fuck, how had it not occurred to me to at least check?

I shoved through the door. “Wake up!”

Enzo sprang upright and smoke plumed from his nose. He raked his hand through his disheveled hair. Elliot remained deep asleep with his arms straight at his side. Creepy.

“Wake him up, we need to leave for Moretti Academy.”

Enzo shot a pillow at Elliot who gasped and fell to the ground.

Getting dressed was the priority; I didn’t want to waste my time packing.

What had that fucker done to my friends?

I hadn’t been in my room since yesterday, but the blood stains were gone. Enzo was good at what he did, but even without the bloody evidence, the image of Lucian’s sliced corpse laying on the floor caused a throb in my chest. Missing Lucian would never go away, but I needed to focus on protecting the people who still lived.

I pulled on a fresh hoodie and leggings then shoved my feet into my Converse. Plucking the new cellphone off my nightstand, I slid it in my pocket. Once downstairs, I found everyone outside and in the SUV. I’d rushed, and they had still beat me?

I jumped inside the rumbling vehicle, and it revved, spitting pebbles behind it as Enzo took off. I squealed and gripped Elliot beside me.

“You okay, pretty girl?” Enzo asked, focusing on the road.

Tanner sat in the passenger seat with his head bowed as he messed with his phone. He pressed the screen to his beautifully pointed ear.

Enzo sped onto the highway ramp, avoiding the slower cars by expertly weaving around them.

“You’re telling me I have to fly commercial?” Tanner spat at whoever was on the other end.

“The horror,” Beckett whispered, and we shared a look.

“He’s worried about Claudia,” I mouthed back.

“Fucking ridiculous.” Tanner dropped the phone into the cup holder. “Take the exit to the airport.”

It was forty minutes away, but with how Enzo drove, it would take us a fraction of that. As it was, we were already a third of the way there. Good thing it was five in the morning, and we weren’t dealing with a congested highway.

I leaned to the side, fully encroaching on Elliot’s space. Beckett frowned but didn’t complain that I’d forced Elliot to smush into him. I needed to get a good view of Tanner.

He leaned back against the headrest and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t move for a few minutes. Last time he’d spoken to Claudia, he’d been short with her and if I was honest, a little mean. She’d deserved it considering she acted like a bitch, but guilt was likely eating at him.

Scooting forward, I set my chin on the seat over Tanner’s left shoulder with part of my torso leaning across Elliot. A few minutes in, he still hadn’t relaxed.

I would never one hundred percent like Claudia, but I could respect her position as Tanner’s sister. I touched the point of his ear and dragged a finger down the shell. Finally, his shoulders dropped their stiff position.

“Helen would have said something if she wasn’t okay.” I licked my lips and leaned forward to press my head against his. “I’ll make sure she’s okay, Tanner. I promise.”

He rolled his head to look at me, brown eyes sparking with frustration. “I don’t want you in danger either.”

I smiled and leaned forward to kiss the tip of his regal nose. “We’ll work together to keep each other safe.”

Elliot hoisted me on his lap making my position comfortable.

I slipped my hand under my jaw and shifted to get a better look at Tanner. He closed his eyes. Blond lashes shadowed the top of his cheeks, the smooth line of his jaw flexed. I could watch him forever.

“We’re here.” Enzo pulled into a parking spot and shut the engine off. It hissed. Poor thing had been abused. How we hadn’t been pulled over was a surprise, although he probably would have ignored a cop.

No one wasted time bouncing into action. I trailed after the four silhouettes striding ahead of me.

“Elliot, you have all our documents?” Tanner asked. In answer, the vampire tossed a thin folder to him, and Tanner deftly caught it. “We have thirty minutes to get on the flight,” Tanner said. “My lawyer checked us in already.”

“This early in the morning?” I muttered.

“I pay him enough.” Tanner was focused .

The next few minutes passed in a whirlwind. Tanner hadn’t been joking. We easily passed security without bags, and then the employee scanned the codes on his phone. We shuffled through the gates as the final announcement for our flight echoed over the speaker.

Having a control freak in your corner worked out in emergencies.

A flight attendant guided us to first class and waved her hand at the seats. I didn’t miss the doe-eyes fluttering over my guys. Especially the way she lingered over Enzo’s arms. I narrowed my eyes at her, but I wasn’t stabby, so it was a win. I dropped next to the window and wiggled deep into the cradle of the spacious seat.

Nice.

The pilot’s voice fuzzed over the speaker about the gates closing. Enzo dropped next to me and palmed my head. Was I that obvious that the ogling flight attendant irked me? I smoothed my expression.

Tanner took a seat in front of me and tipped his head back. The seat beside him remained empty. He should have sat next to me considering his fear of flying. I plucked the safety card from the sleeve.

Complementary internet. Perfect to pass the next few hours. The flight attendant moved to the front to signal the exits, and her smarmy smile settled on Elliot who sat with Beckett in the row next to us.

I scowled and sat up, my eyes throwing daggers at her. Fortunately for the lives of everyone on board, my sweet and slightly unhinged vampire mate smirked and closed his eyes.

The woman focused on her job, but I stayed on edge until she disappeared. Enzo’s chuckle tickled my ear, and he sank his blunt teeth into my lobe. I gave him a side-eyed glare and reclined. Swiping my thumb across the smooth surface of the phone screen, I logged into my Impishly account.

Nothing new. It’d been weeks since someone posted. If I had logged in sooner, maybe I would have noticed something was wrong.

Ugh. It was stupid to stress about what-ifs; it wasn’t like I could turn back time.

I kept scrolling and hovered over a video I thought had been deleted.

“Why is that on there?” Enzo rumbled, attention fixated on my screen. I angled it toward my chest, but he plucked it from my fingertips knowing I couldn’t hold it tight without breaking the new device by playing tug of war.

Enzo scrolled, and his scowl deepened. I could hear his teeth grinding. There were two videos in the post. One was the blow job video where I’d been at his feet as he’d ridiculed me. The second video was what happened after, when Purity almost murdered me.

“Woah, you can’t go all fire boy on here,” I hissed, fanning in front of him and sweeping my gaze around. We’d be kicked off the flight at this rate. Enzo’s nostrils flared, and his pupils thinned. “Enzo.” I smacked his bicep.

He exhaled from between clenched teeth. With his next blink, his eyes were no longer dragon-y. “I made her pay for hurting you.”

“I figured since she avoided me like I had a disease.”

I plucked my device from his grip. I thought that was the end of it until he fished into his pocket and pulled his out.

Oh great, what was he about to do? He navigated to the app while I peeked over his shoulder.

Delete it or else.

He always had a flare for the dramatic. It reminded me of his first ever threat towards me when I’d banged on his door on day one of my arrival at Moretti Academy. My lips twitched.

“What is this?” He spat. I refocused on his screen, already leery about whatever he would show me because heat radiated from his body like a furnace. “What. Is. This.”

Shit. It was the fight with the dragon. The one I had to lose to get information about his whereabouts.

“I’ll tell you when we get off the plane.”

His teeth ground together.

“Enzo,” I muttered, leaning close. “Stop being stubborn.”

His fingers moved fast as he typed out a message. He angled away before I could read it, but my phone dinged a few moments later.

Enzo sent the video to a group chat with all of the guys.

“We will discuss this.” He settled back in the seat with his mouth curved in a severe frown.

The plane picked up speed, getting ready to take off. Eucalyptus whispered across my senses, and then my stomach dipped.

I reached between the crevice of the seats in front of us and gently squeezed Tanner’s arm. He exhaled hard, his hand settling on mine and clutching it tightly.