always Cole? I’ve never done anything to that jerk, at least not intentionally, and he’s been gunning for me from the moment I got here. I’ve never really wished ill on anyone before—except Lia when she was trying to murder me—but I am really sad I stopped Jaxon from finishing Cole off when he had the chance.
Jaxon shakes his head and looks disgusted, and I’m about 99 percent positive he’s having the exact same thoughts I am.
But all he asks is, “Who else?”
“He’s picked Marc and Quinn as his additional wolves. And—”
“That’s three wolves,” Mekhi interrupts. “Why does he get three of them on the team?”
Xavier looks at him like he’s not paying attention. “Do you know any vamps in the school who think it’s a good idea to be on a team whose sole purpose is to let the king take Grace back to his dungeon, thereby separating Jaxon Vega and his mate?”
“Fair point,” Mekhi agrees.
“What about the witches?” Macy asks, fingers nervously twisting the bottom of her sweater.
“From what I hear, it’s going to be Simone and Cam, for sure. No one knows if it’s going to be the witches or the dragons who have a third player, too, so the rumors are flying.”
“I knew it!” Macy throws out a hand, and an entire row of books falls off the nearest bookshelf. “The traitor! When I get through with him, he’s going to have lice and acne and a serious case of the bubonic plague! He’s such a douche. I knew he was pissed when we broke up, but this is seriously gross behavior.”
“The dragons are just as bad,” Xavier continues. “The two definites are Joaquin and Delphina.”
“Delphina, really?” Flint looks a little sick at the thought, which makes my already shaky stomach just flat-out revolt. If it does one more somersault, I swear I’m going to throw up, right here in the middle of our meeting. I don’t know who Delphina is, but if she can make Flint look like that, I’m perfectly happy never meeting her.
“And the hits just keep on coming,” Eden growls. “Can we get back to the more pressing issue at hand, though? How on earth are we going to get out of Katmere if they have all the exits blocked?”
“There has to be a way out they don’t have covered,” I say. “There has to be.”
“If so, I don’t know what it is,” Xavier answers.
“Well then, what’s even the point of going to school in a magic castle?” I complain, throwing up my hands.
“There’s nothing actually ‘magic’ about the castle itself,” Jaxon says in a voice meant to calm me down. “Just the people in—”
“Actually, that’s not technically true right now,” Macy says, sitting up like her hair is suddenly on fire. “Oh my God, I think I know what to do!”
95
Second Star to the
Right and Straight
On Till Siberia
“We’re almost there,” Macy says as we walk single file down the dorm hallway. Flint, Jaxon, and Xavier are talking loudly and joking around, trying to act like it’s totally normal for us to all be wandering the halls together at eleven at night, half of us with backpacks over our shoulders.
It’s a good effort, but the truth is, I think anyone from the Circle who sees the eight of us together is going to know there’s a problem. Which is probably why the rest of us are walking around like we’re scared of our own shadow.
Well, not Eden. She looks like she’s ready to punch anyone who glances at us twice. Then again, the more I’m around her, the more I’m beginning to realize that’s her normal modus operandi.
My stomach is churning, partly from the fear of getting caught, partly from nervousness over the Unkillable Beast, and partly because Hudson has gone radio silent. He’s never quiet, and I know his nerves must be triple mine, ’cause we’re either both going to die or half of who he is will no longer exist after today. I refuse to focus on either outcome.
Still, I’m trying not to show how anxious I am, and I think I must be doing an okay job of it, because Jaxon doesn’t seem any more concerned than usual—and neither does Macy.
“Okay, we’re here,” my cousin says as we stop in front of the yellow door leading to her secret passage. She waves her hand in front of the door and whispers the same spell as last time, and then we’re inside.