Demonic Vampires (Supernatural Shifter Academy #3) - G. Bailey Page 0,43
what she says. Except instead of sending us flying away, it drags Ruby and Xander back into the apartment. Hazel yells something, but I can’t hear it over the commotion, and before I know what’s happening, she’s shifted back and is charging headlong back into the flat. “No!” Silas protests, lunging for her. “We have to stay together!”
“Go!” Hazel yells over her shoulder, barely audible in the chaos. “I’ll cover you!” Silas hesitates, but then she repeats her command, louder, in her siren’s voice. “Go!”
That gets him moving. The big dragon shifter takes me by the hand and pulls me toward the stairs. I try to argue, but Hazel knew what she was doing -- the other guys are hopeless to ignore her command. We forgo the lift and race down the stairs. By the time we emerge back out onto the street, I’m bracing myself, half-expecting another pack of shifters to be waiting for us in ambush. Instead, all I see is a crowd of humans rubbernecking, trying to get a good look at the disaster happening on the top floor. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of police sirens and fire engines, and lights are coming on all over the neighborhood. Worse yet, the spectators all have their phones out to record the scene which makes using our powers a problem.
“Lie low,” Shade suggests, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up.
“Hey!” shouts one of the people watching, a woman trying to herd two young kids. “What happened up there? Do you guys need help?”
“No,” I call back to her breathlessly. “I don’t know. Please let us go…” In a single file line, the five of us snake past the rest of the bystanders, doing our best to keep a low profile despite the fact that we’re all a mess. I steal one last glance over my shoulder: the top floor of the building has caught fire by now, and there’s no sign of the others. It’s too late to go back up for them, and all I can hope now is that between the three of them, they’ll be able to escape. The odds aren’t in their favour.
Silas takes my hand and pulls me gently away. I realise I’m crying again as we round a corner onto a side street, this one less hectic and more out of the way. Before I even notice that I’m shaking, my knees give out on me and I slump to the curb. Putting my head in my hands, I let out a harsh sob.
The guys turn around, exchanging worried glances. “Hey.” Hunter tentatively rests a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, but there’s no fire in it.
Hunter, to his credit, doesn’t let up. Instead, he pulls me into an embrace that feels like it’s my last lifeline. One by one, the other guys approach me the same way, putting their arms around me and surrounding me protectively. I let the tears fall freely, clinging to them like a drowning person clings to a life raft. If they weren’t here, I would truly have nothing left.
After what feels like an eternity, Landon is the first to pull away. “I hate to do this,” he says quietly, “but we’d better get out of this neighbourhood. If there are any more hunters around, they’re going to be sweeping this whole area.”
“Where do we go?” I protest.
“Anywhere,” the siren shifter replies. “Anywhere that’s far away from here.”
Silas gives a stiff nod. “He’s right. Soon this place will be crawling with humans -- bystanders, if not hunters. Better we move now.”
I let out a long breath, but I know he’s right. Shakily I begin to walk again, the guys forming a protective circle around me the same way they did earlier. Everything has fallen apart in the space of a few minutes. Some part of me wonders if I’m going into shock from it all. My normal life has never felt so far away.
For all our precautions, though, none of us are listening to our surroundings very closely, and by the time I’m aware of footsteps behind us, the paralysis spell has already taken hold. My muscles seize up, spasming uncontrollably, just as the guys are blasted back by a wave of magic. Straining against the magic, I look over my shoulder to see Edith approaching, flanked by two of the Academy hunters. She’s looking a little worse for wear, but her green eyes are just as piercing as