Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,52

Moving slowly, as if one wrong move will set off another explosion, I take a step back and pull the door open, bracing myself for some kind of trick - a hostage situation, maybe, or an imposter posing as the deceased school recruiter. It’s more astonishing than I can express when I find myself standing face-to-face with Josie herself. She’s looking decidedly worse for wear; there’s a nasty gash on the side of her face, and she’s battered and bruised, a far cry from the elegant woman who first found me in that abandoned warehouse. But she’s here, and very much alive; before I even realise what I’m doing, I’m rushing forward and flinging my arms around her, pulling her close. “You’re okay!” I cry.

“I am,” she says, grunting a little. “Although I broke a couple ribs back there, so…”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” I let her go. “It’s just… you’re a sight for sore eyes. That’s all.”

“Well, don’t speak too soon,” she replies as I close the door and she makes her way into the common area. “Gentlemen,” she says, nodding to the assembled guys, who look like they’ve seen a ghost. “It’s good to see you all in one piece.”

“We should be saying that to you,” Silas replies. “We saw you get buried back at the convention center! How the hell did you make it out of that?”

“You of all people should know how sturdy these shifter forms can be, Mr. Aconite,” Josie responds. “You’ve survived a lot worse than a bit of falling rubble. If you must know, though, protection spells are sort of a specialty of mine. More so than teleportation, even.”

“What are you doing here?” Shade asks, crossing his arms, ever suspicious. “It seems awfully convenient that you just happen to show up and take out those guards right when we’re trying to get out of here.”

“I understand your concerns,” Josie replies, “but for what it’s worth. It wasn’t a coincidence. I spent the last half hour waiting for those guys to get up and leave. You gave me the perfect opening.”

“Why, though?” Landon asks. “I mean, I’m not complaining, but still… I thought the Academy was on orders to resume the experiments.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Jodie responds. “I’m afraid that the school board has lost control of themselves. Things are going downhill, fast.” Her expression hardens, and she turns to face the rest of us. “I’m not Samantha,” she says, sounding like she’s trying to convince herself as much as the rest of us. “I don’t care what Hawthorne says—I’m not about to just stand by and let him take advantage of the students here. If that means risking the wrath of the board, then so be it. But we can discuss all that later,” she adds, putting her hands on her hips and focusing on me. “We have more important things to worry about right now. Ms. Brix, how would you like to find your friends and leave this place?”

“That would be really nice, Josie,” I tell her, relief washing over me.

“Good,” she says, turning to the charm that still sits on the dorm room floor. “Let’s start with this, then. I’ve always hated these things.”

Chapter 20

It’s eerily quiet in the hallway when we finally creep out of the dorm, one by one, on edge with wide eyes. The first thing I notice is the two guards, seated on either side of the door, and when I see that their eyes are open and staring, I jump. “It’s okay,” Josie murmurs, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I paralysed them. It should wear off in an hour or so, which is plenty of time for us to high-tail it out of here.”

“When can I learn to do that?” I ask dryly, stepping around the two men with the others following closely behind. I come to a stop outside the opposite door, which is closed and locked, turning back to the others. “Hazel and the twins are in here,” I say. “We just need to figure out a way to get their attention, and then-”

But Josie is already shaking her head. “Don’t bother. They’ve already been taken downstairs. Hawthorne wants your friends and acquaintances out of here first - we’re going to need to go intercept them before they can teleport back to the island.”

“Why is he doing this?” Hunter asks as we make our way down the hall. “It all feels so… so…”

“Calculated?” Josie supplies, her expression grim. “That’s what I thought, too. I don’t