Page 54 of Of Bone and Ash

Fuck, why is her defiance so damn hot and irritating at the same time? I laugh, but it's not a happy one as I wrap my magic more firmly around hers, yanking it toward me and earning a delightful gasp of surprise from her pretty red lips.

“Shit! I’m on my way,” Boris says to whoever is on the call, stomping past us and distracting me enough that Fina yanks out of my arms. I feel her magic slip through mine as I desperately try to hold on to it, but almost like it has a will of its own, it forces my magic to yield and bend, setting itself free without my permission.

What the fuck!?

“Boris!” Hawkins shouts as the Dragon curses and hangs up his phone. “What happened?”

“Another girl just died, but this time she’s on school grounds!”

TWENTY-FOUR

Ryland

Istare down at the dead girl lying in the grass at the center of the stadium field. Her eyes are open wide, her lips parted, and there is a gash at the top of her head. Her skin is so pale. If I hadn’t already been told there wasn't a drop of blood left in her body, I would know.

“What the fuck happened?” I snarl, looking at the team as they shift from foot to foot, unease filtering into the air around us as I stare down at Teagan, who is kneeling next to the Healer as she does an assessment.

“She randomly appeared. No students saw anything. One moment, the girl's track team was leaving the field, and when the rugby team came in not five minutes later, she was here.” It's Dimitri who answers—the only one on my team who has enough dominance to meet my eyes when I’m upset. I curse and run my hand through my hair, yanking the hair tie from it as I look around. My team has secured the scene; my three newest recruits standing guard around the girl, while Andrei is taking statements from the members of the rugby team who found her.

“Dismiss classes for the day,” Teagan instructs, using her headmistress voice while looking up at the trembling man who is holding a tablet in his hand, staring at the dead girl like it's the first time he’s seen a dead body. “Students are to return to their rooms and stay there until dinner. That will give the Balaur Patrol time to search the grounds and ensure their safety.”

I hold back the urge to scoff at her attempts to keep the students safe. If this woman gave two shits about the students here, she would send them home and close the university. Shaking my head, I turn away from her, and my eyes catch on a familiar head of black curly hair.

I can feel my Dragon creep forward, wanting to go over to the boy who thought he could touch Serafina and get away with it. He’s talking to Andrei, nodding to whatever my friend just asked him before looking back this way. His eyes glance over me for a millisecond, and I swear I see a flicker of disdain there before he looks back at the dead girl and frowns. There’s a group of students surrounding him, and a small blonde girl who can’t be more than five feet tall is clinging to his arm, batting her lashes up at him like he’s some kind of hero.

I’ve spent all night diving into everything I could find about this boy while concocting a plan to get Fina to talk to me. She’ll be a challenge on her own, but her willingness to let this boy touch her concerns me more than anything.

“Evans!” I twist on my heel, yanking my gaze away from the boy to look at Boris as he stomps onto the field. I take a step toward him, then frown when I see the damn Angel, Atlas, and Serafina trailing after him. My heart leaps in my throat at seeing her in the light of day, then plummets as I really start looking at her.

There are dark rings under her eyes, which makes them appear darker than I’m used to. I can tell she’s used some make-up to help cover them, but they may as well be bruises with how dark they are. Her long black hair isn’t as shiny as it used to be, which makes me wonder if it’s a hair product problem or a health issue.

My Dragon growls at that thought, immediately wanting to go to her, pick her up, and bring her back to our nest. We can make sure she gets more sleep and feed her, then I can call Covington and force all the information I need out of him in order to fix whatever is wrong. I tilt my head to the side, listening to the Angel as he shakes his head.

“No Demons have crossed my boundaries. I would know,” he snaps at Fina causing her to roll her eyes at him. I can't stop the smirk gracing my face when she shoots the prick a death glare for talking to her that way. Keeping my eyes on my girl, who is walking by her brother's side, I wait for Boris to reach me. I shove my hands in my pockets so I don’t do something stupid, you know, like reaching out and kidnapping Fina. I’m pretty sure she’d cut my balls off for that, and I really don't want that to happen.

“My shields would have picked up on it as well,” Atlas admits, looking up at Fina, winking at her when she huffs under her breath but nods. From the corner of my eye, I watch as the kid watches my girl, his eyes locking on her every move as she glides my way.

“Report,” Boris grinds out, coming to stand at my side. His shoulders are trembling, and his eyes are gold, matching my own as we stare down at the young girl on the grass. Teagan sighs and stands up, brushing off her white slacks that now have grass stains on her knees before she walks over to stand in front of us.

“Female. Eighteen. No blood left in her body with injuries to her head and ankles,” I add, looking at the red, almost burn-like marks showing just above her black sneakers. “No ID on her yet, but we’re working on it.”

“How can you list all that off with no emotion?” the headmistress gasps, looking at me like I’m a monster.

“Easily,” I snap, turning my glare on the short Phoenix shifter in front of me. “With the knowledge that I personally told the headmistress of the school to shut this place down, and she didn’t listen. I sleep well at night knowing her death isn’t on my shoulders,” I lie. Not about the death part, because that’s true. I did tell this woman multiple times not to let the students back here, but I don't sleep easy at night. Every death hangs on my soul like it's personally my fault I didn't get to them in time. I didn't save them, and they had to die alone.

Teagan stumbles back like I physically struck her, dark brown eyes glistening with unshed tears as she stares at me with her mouth agape.

“I-I tried! I went to the school board and—” she starts to stutter, shaking her head as a tear falls down her golden skin. Boris snarls, barring his sharpened teeth at me as he steps forward, hand outstretched to help comfort her. He’s always had a tender spot for crying women. I, on the other hand, couldn't care less. Sure, Teagan went to talk to the school board, but she didn’t fight the decision. Girls are dying, and I hold her just as responsible as I do the school board, myself, and my team for failing to save them.

“You can’t go over there,” I hear Andrei snarl, making me twist my head just in time to see him reach out to grab Serafina's wrist as he attempts to stop her from following Atlas and Ambrose.

“Oh shit!” Dimitri shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth as he yells across the field to Andrei. “Dude! Don’t she’s a—” Dimitri's warning isn't soon enough, and I watch as Andrei’s fingers wrap around my Draga Mea’s tiny wrists, yanking her back and away from the field.

I see fucking red as Atlas shouts when he sees Fina move from his side. Ambrose pivots, golden tattoos twisting through the glamour he’s currently wearing, but before anyone can do a thing, Andrei releases a scream that quite literally is made of nightmares. His back arches as Fina slowly turns her gaze upon him, looking him in the eye as she shakes her head and tsks under her breath.

At this moment, I’m not sure if I need to save my best friend from dying at the hand of the woman I love or kick his fucking ass myself for touching her. A growl bursts from my chest, making Boris curse and stumble back as my Dragon releases his full dominance on the group of people gathered on the field. Over half the people here crumple to the ground, leaving only those who are not shifters on their feet.

“The fuck? Ryland!” Andrei bellows, face planted firmly in the dirt as I stalk over to him. Fina brushes her hands off in front of her like she’s removing Andrei’s touch from her skin. Her head snaps up when she hears me coming, and she shakes her head as I close in on her.

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