Page 67 of Ava: Part Two

“Somebody told you to yield to a human. It can’t be the coach because he would have told you to do the opposite, and it can’t be the dean because he is way too stuck up his own ass to do anything to ruin his academy’s reputation,” he guessed as he strolled casually to stand in front of the vampire.

‘Kill him,’ Shadow growled.

“We can’t kill him yet, Shadow,” he said out loud. “Not with so many witnesses.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. Shadow was the beast they were all warned about. He was the beast that had slain people without discrimination when he’d been pissed off. Though he had since learned to control his wolf, those stories were the ones that spread to every corner of the world.

He gave Shadow a little room to express himself, and his senses sharpened. Nathan was looking directly into the red eyes of evil.

Though Nathan was scared, he must have already known that his actions would have serious consequences. There was only one thing in the whole fucking world that would make anyone take all of this punishment without breaking. Only one thing that everyone was that terrified of.

“Tell me, Nathan,” he started, “which of the Council members got to you?”

There was the slightest reaction on his face. A small twitch of his nose. Sudden alertness in his eyes, and a little panic. And just the slightest increase in his heartbeat. Then nothing. Nathan composed himself quickly as if that hadn’t happened and looked away.

“Poor vampire. Sent to do the dirty work without a clue why, and you’re the one who will die for it. Does it not seem unfair to you?”

Nathan didn’t respond, but everything made sense now. If Gideon hadn’t asked him to yield, then the Council was still playing their games. Had they been watching the evaluation? Or did they have people there like his father did?

“What do they want with Ava?” he growled.

When Nathan didn’t respond again, he snapped and caught him by the neck, easily pushing him up against the wall. The silver chains rattled and touched his skin, but he didn’t even flinch.

“I have been fucking patient with you, but if you don’t talk right now, I swear I will rip you apart,” he snarled. “You fuck with Ava, you fuck with me.”

He felt his claws lengthen and draw blood. He felt Shadow gladly take complete control, willing to do whatever it took to get the information they needed to keep their mate safe. Nathan’s eyes were wide and wild as he weakly struggled against his chains and the claws around his neck. But there was nothing he could do now. He had to speak or die.

It took only a few moments to break the vampire.

When Shadow finally retreated, Nathan’s whole body was trembling, and there was nothing but the scent of fear and piss in the air.

“They’ll kill my family,” Nathan whispered.

And then tears started to roll down his face. The vampire’s fake bravery was gone, but he knew now that the man left behind would rather die than let anything happen to his family.

Zeke stepped back and retracted his claws.

Would the Council stoop this low? Send an innocent student to do their dirty work and hold his family for ransom? What did they want?

The vampire groaned in pain, bringing him out of his thoughts. He quickly rushed to shut all the shutters and curtains and called Gideon back into the room. He was sure the prince and all the vampires in the dorm had heard everything he had said and done to Nathan in this room.

Gideon came quickly with two other vampires who had gloves on to remove the silver chains from Nathan. The prince put the ring back on Nathan’s finger before he told the others to take him to his room and treat him.

Then the prince turned to him, worry in his eyes. He was probably wondering what a mess he had got himself into by becoming allies with someone on the Council’s shit list.

“What could they want?” the prince asked.

“Damned if I know.”

What he knew for sure was that they wanted both him and Ava.

“I have to go,” he said. “Thanks for your help.”

“That’s what allies do.”

As he ran back to his house, he started thinking about their escape plan. It was never a good thing when the Council was interested in anyone.

He ran up his driveway and was about to open his door when he caught Ava’s scent. He sniffed and listened. And then he growled when he realised where her scent was coming from.

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