Page 82 of The Pretty Psycho

"We have a problem," Gabriela added. "Well, no, we have a fucking situation of epic proportions."

"What situation?" I asked, sidestepping Adrian and moving right next to him. "What's going on?"

Gabriela looked at Ethan, who simply nodded, before he looked at us. "The Academy is under attack."

"No," I breathed out, taking a hold of Adrian's hand. "How? When?"

"We just received a call," Gabriela added. "Adrian," she swallowed thickly. "Dante went to the Academy. He's there, with Jax. He's?—"

"Fuck!" Adrian spat out, dragging his hand over his face. "How could this fucking happen?"

"This was a diversion," Ethan added. "They knew we wouldn't let you do this on your own. They fucking knew and they played us."

"Oh God," I mumbled. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't pulled Gabriela in?—"

"No, Bambi," Adrian said. "This is not your fault."

"But all of us are down here. They're sitting ducks up there. They're?—"

Gabriela suddenly stepped in front of me, slapping me across the face and shutting me up momentarily.

"What the fuck was that for?" I screeched, holding a palm to my cheek. "That fucking hurt."

"You were having a panic attack," Gabriela shrugged, as if slapping me was the most normal thing she had done the entire day. And maybe it was, considering the situation. "We don't have time for this, Vega. We don't have time for you to fall apart right now."

But she didn't understand. She couldn't.

I panicked earlier and brought out almost the entire cavalry, leaving the Academy unprotected. I did this. But Gabriela was right. We had no time for me to fall apart.

"What's the plan?" I asked, glaring at the woman, but I couldn't fault her for slapping me, not when I would've done the same thing.

Panic swam in her dark eyes, but she covered it quickly before turning toward Ethan who stood not too far away from us, watching Gabriela with an interest that wasn't there before. It was as if he suddenly saw her in a different light, but whatever it was, I had no time to psychoanalyze it.

"We need to get back to the Academy," Ethan said, keeping his eyes plastered to the pacing woman in front of us. "I've triedgetting in touch with Jax and Dante, but…" He winced. That one little wince was enough to get me running out of the building and toward the car Yolanda brought us in.

But the car was no longer there, and neither was Yolanda.

I stopped, my chest rising and falling with rapid breaths, before turning back toward the three of them as they piled out of the building.

"Where's Yolanda?"

There it was, that small little wince on Ethan's face, and I knew even before he said the words.

"She went back to the Academy before we knew what was happening up there."

Ethan drove like a madman,swerving and rushing up the mountain, while Adrian kept my hand in his as the two of us sat in the back seat. Gabriela was quiet as a mouse for the first time since I met her, staring out the window from the passenger's side in front of me.

I fucking hated this.

This silence.

This uncertainty.

All four of us were lost to our own thoughts, and no matter how many times Adrian squeezed my hand, I couldn't look at him.

Jax and Dante weren't answering. As a matter of fact, we’d lost contact with the control center at the Academy, and we had no idea what we were walking into. The plan was to enter the premises from the back entrance, which I had no ideaeven existed, located somewhere close to Adrian's cabin and hopefully surprise them.

A smaller team was left behind to take care of the soldiers at the warehouse, and given that there were only ten of them waiting for us, I was sure our team would be successful.

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