could I offer that would make two vampires stick with this pathetic group?
“See,” Becca said. “No point. Just sit down, Tally.”
“Girl, do you know who you’re speaking to?”
We all turned to see my aunt walk into our circle. At her height of nearly seven feet tall, she was always impressive, but when she put on her regal air, she was indomitable.
Becca hunched her shoulders and didn’t say a word as my aunt loomed over her.
“That right there,” Kiana pointed her finger to me, “is a Seelie fae princess of the royal court, and if she tells you to get moving, you move.”
“Your status doesn’t matter here,” Becca offered quietly, her eyes darting up before shooting back down again.
“What did you say to me, girl?” Kiana hovered over Becca menacingly, but I put my hand on Kiana’s arm.
“Let me deal with this.”
Kiana narrowed her eyes. It was the first time I’d given my queen an order, and we both knew it, but I also knew if we were going to survive this, Kiana’s tactics would not work on Becca and Ronnie. To survive, we had to work as a team, not as subjects of an impulsive, selfish monarchy.
Surprisingly, my aunt didn’t strike me down or call me every name in the book. She just withdrew her arm from my grasp and stepped back.
I’d call that progress.
“Becca, Ronnie, come on. Let’s get to safety. Then we can make a plan.”
“Where is safe though?” Ronnie asked, his expression telling me he really did want to know.
At this, I glanced at Vaughn, hoping he might have an idea. A thoughtful look crossing his face, he tilted his head up before nodding as if the perfect answer had dawned on him. “The cliffs.”
“The cliffs?” several of us asked in unison.
“The werewolf guards had this place they told me about, sometimes they would go there on their days off to blow off steam. But the Habermanns didn’t like guards leaving campus and stopped allowing anyone to go out of the dome unless they were on a mission. There are caves nearby, and they should be abandoned now.”
“But if the guards know about it, wouldn’t they come looking for us?” I asked.
“They might,” Vaughn offered, “but there are so many tunnels that lead to openings on different parts of the island, they would have a hard time catching us. Especially with magic.”
Ronnie nodded, but Becca was not pleased. “Gross caves? Do they have, like, bats and stuff?”
“I used to go spelunking with my dad sometimes,” Ronnie offered, looking almost exciting. “It’s cool, Becca. And bats aren’t bad. They’re kind of cute actually.”
She made a face, but I noticed she didn’t protest, a good sign.
“The cliffs,” I said, growing used to the idea. “We can go there and wait and see if we can get in touch with the dean. Maybe she can meet us there. Ronnie, any luck reaching her?”
“No, but I’ll keep trying on the way.” He had cast a locator spell similar to the one he’d used to find the key cave, but he’d found no trace of her yet. It worried me, but we’d just have to keep trying. We had no other choice. I’d meant what I’d said. I was not going back to jail. Not while the Habermanns still breathed. Daniella and Vinya deserved to be avenged as did everyone else who’d died or been tormented.
The walk to the cliffs proved difficult. We had no supplies so everyone grew thirsty in a short time. Becca cast several “Go Away” spells, but the bugs didn’t relent, bent on eating us alive. I stirred my wings to send them flying, but they zoomed right back in the moment I stopped.
It didn’t help that everyone’s spirits had hit rock bottom.
“How much longer?” Becca moaned as the sun began to sink.
Vaughn sniffed the air. “We’re almost there.”
He was right. I could smell the salty sea air trickling in through the branches. The call of gulls echoed over our footsteps. A few more minutes and we broke through the trees to catch a glimpse of the sea below us.
The water was blue, flecked with caps of white as the waves washed into shore. The sea birds whirled in the twilight air, cawing to one another before plummeting into the surf to catch their dinner.
Speaking of dinner, we hadn’t eaten all day and had no food waiting for us in the cave. It reminded me of some of those lean days when I’d first come to the island.