Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,50
an unethical experiment. It doesn’t matter what the future holds.
I love them, and no matter what Hawthorne might have to say about it, no matter what ugly ways he has of trying to bend us to his will, I’m not going to lose them. Not now.
Chapter 19
I sit in silence, the wheels in my head turning, as the others continue to debate our current situation. I feel strangely calm all of a sudden, like the newfound revelation has brought with it a sense of security I didn’t even know I was missing until just now. I have to remind myself that we’re not out of the woods yet; nothing has actually changed and now isn’t the time to get complacent. It’s one thing to promise yourself you’re going to do something, and it’s another entirely to actually do it.
“So what do we do, then?” Hunter asks, crossing his arms. “I’m not about to just sit here and wait for them to come take me away.” None of the guys seem to have noticed my sudden change in demeanor, which is fine by me; there will be time to talk about our relationship - to talk about everything - but that time isn’t now.
“All right,” Silas says, running a hand through his brown hair, “we need to think. We can’t use our powers to get out, so what can we do?”
“Maybe we should just bite the bullet,” Shade suggests. “We can just pick the damn thing out and chuck it out the window. Hope for the best.”
“Forgive me for not wanting to touch that thing,” Landon replies. “For all we know, holding onto it for that long will kill us.”
“Okay, fine,” Shade says. “Let’s go out on the balcony and pretend we’re going to jump. I say, they want to run tests on us, we might as well make them work for it.”
“And what the hell is that going to accomplish?” Hunter asked, exasperated. “Other than making them more pissed off at us.”
“Listen, I’m open to suggestions here,” Shade snapped. “I don’t hear you guys getting any bright ideas.”
“What about Hazel and the twins?” I ask, lifting my head. The others turn to look at me as if they’ve forgotten that I’m here. “I mean, they’re in the next room over. Maybe they can get us out of here.”
“I don’t like their odds, even if it would be three against one,” Silas admits. “I don’t like any of our odds against those guards, actually. We’re students, and they’re not. They have the upper hand. Besides, for all we know, the Academy has already moved them out. They’re trying to isolate us, and so far, it’s working.”
“All right,” I say, sighing and putting a hand up. “You have a point. We can’t depend on them breaking us out, so we’re going to have to break ourselves out.” I purse my lips, brow furrowing as I look around the room. There has to be a way out of this, there has to be… And then, in an instant, an idea comes to me. “Wait,” I exclaim, standing up. “We don’t have to use our powers!”
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asks incredulously. “How are we supposed to beat them if we can’t shapeshift?”
“We do it the old-fashioned way,” I reply, giving him a crooked smile. “We fake an emergency, get them to come in here, and then we jump them. If we can hit them with something, knock them out…”
“That’s… not a bad idea, actually,” Landon admits, crossing his arms. “We just need long enough to get out of range of that charm. Then we can find Hazel and the others and high-tail it the hell out of here.”
“Exactly,” I agree, nodding. “It’s not the best plan, but we can’t afford to be picky right now.”
“All right, then,” Silas says, beginning to pace. “Landon and I can wait on either side of the door. Boots, if you can come up with a way to lure them in here…”
“Are you sure Millie should do that?” Hunter asks, glancing at me. “I mean, we can’t afford to let you get hurt.”
“It’s fine,” I tell him, squaring my shoulders. “I’m willing to bet they’re under orders not to let any of us get hurt. They can’t have their prized lab rats getting damaged. So are we doing this, then?” I ask, getting to my feet and putting my hands on my waist.
“It’s not like we have much of a choice,” Shade replies.
The others murmur their agreement,