Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,60

the bottom of the stairs. I had to fight her off.”

His expression was grave when he nodded. “Everyone seems to be fine, but …”

When his voice trailed off, I wasn’t sure what to think.

“Is she not okay?” My voice was shrill when asking, thinking I’d somehow done more damage to her than I realized.

“She’s fine,” Kai assured me. “They all are, actually. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

My brow was tense with confusion. “What do you mean?”

Kai took one hand off my waist and pushed it through his hair. “Sue and Lloyd—the two Janet was concerned about when they took off—apparently they were infected when the first attack happened. They came back.”

I stared while he spoke, guessing this was the point when all the chaos exploded outside.

“They just—they started leaping on the other caretakers, infecting them faster than I’ve ever seen. We were fighting them off, but more kept turning, and it was obvious they were about to start going for the kids next.”

That explained a lot, and also made me super grateful we hadn’t opened this door before now.

“But then, like a switch flipped, they all just dropped to the ground, and the darkness exploded from their mouths. With there being so many, I was worried that … that we wouldn’t be able to save them all.” He peered up, wearing his emotions on his sleeve. “I’m just grateful no one made their way up here.”

I blinked at him. “Actually, someone did. Or … something did,” I clarified, unsure of how to word it. “It spoke, pretending to be one of the kids, begging to be let in, but I didn’t let it.”

“It was so coooool!” one of the boys interrupted. “She was flying, and then this red magic exploded from her, and the Darkness just ran away.”

My face burned hot with the boy’s explanation.

Quiet, kid. He already knows I’m a freak of nature.

Kai peered down at me and I was admittedly nervous as I guessed what thoughts ran through his head. However, when he took my chin in his hand, forcing my gaze to meet his, I didn’t know what to think.

“You fought it off?” he asked, thoughtfully narrowing his gaze at me.

I only nodded.

“And the light,” he went on, addressing the boy this time, “it was red?”

My little snitch friend nodded. “Yeah, and it was big, and bright, and awesome!”

Okay. Enough already.

Kai stared at me again. “That’s incredible.”

Incredible? Not quite what I expected to hear.

“It is?”

Kai nodded and I felt butterflies fill my stomach when a smile ghosted on his lips. “It is because there was a red pulse of energy that moved over the property like a wave. We think that’s what forced the Darkness away, what saved the lives of all the caretakers.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, partly because it felt like I was being given way more credit than I deserved.

The sound of several sets of feet thundering up the stairs had us all swiveling our heads that way.

Paulo and Rayen led the group, with Ori and the other alphas trailing behind them.

“You’re okay,” Paulo sighed.

When I nodded, he wasn’t shy about rushing toward me and gathering me into a tight bear hug. No sooner than he let go, Rayen did the same, smashing me against his chest. If all this affection hadn’t brought a smile out of me, and warmth to my heart, I would’ve needed my pulse checked.

Joel—from the Aurora Hive—peered around my guardians, taking in the sight of the kids still partially hidden behind me.

“You looked after them?” he asked, meeting my gaze right after.

When I nodded, a huge grin brightened his stoic face.

“Nice work. I saw you through the window, handling Janet when she came after you. I tried to get there to help, but I still had two dangling from my neck and couldn’t break free. Guess it turned out you didn’t need saving.”

Pushing my hair behind my ears, I gave a nervous smile. “She was kicking my butt pretty good at first, but I guess I got lucky.”

Joel’s grin widened even more when he turned to Ori and draped an arm around his shoulder.

“Where’ve you guys been hiding this one? I like her,” Joel declared. “’Bout time you clowns settled on a mate. Your hive has been in need of a Queen for far too long.”

“Wait, she’s—” Ori tried, and failed, to interject.

“I can already see she’s going to be an excellent fit,” Joel continued, removing his arm from around Ori’s shoulder to offer me