Page 8 of Ethereal Shifters

His eyes darken. “Fuck, I wasn’t expecting you to say that. Now I’m tempted to stay in here with you and leave the academy to fend for itself.”

“You’re not allowed to fuck me in the academy, remember?” I cross my arms, deepening my cleavage, and smile innocently.

“I’ve figured out a way around the rules. Hearing you sayfuckis too sexy when I need to fight at your side, Sun.” He groans. That deep groan sends a shiver down my spine. I push away from him first, knowing if I don’t, we aren’t leaving my room.We go out together into the corridor, which is empty, and I don’t even have time to put my boots on. The floor is cold against my socks as we run together down to the stairs, which is crammed with students. They turn and part for Finnegan, and I hide behind him to get through the crowd.

Finnegan suddenly stops and I move around to his side to see what everyone is looking at. There’s a woman standing in the entrance hall with a big circle of people around her, but the only ones who are close are Alek and Tutor Jettie. The new arrival has long white hair that’s messy, falling into tangled knots all over her shoulders. She’s wearing a tattered dress that looks, well, bad and old. She’s super pale and thin, but I’d guess she is around my age. She lifts her head, looking straight at me, and my heart freezes as I see her ice-blue eyes. She looks…familiar.Too familiar.She could be related to me with how similar she looks but I don’t know of any other family I could claim her to be. My Nexus blasts into my mind with a feeling I know well. Hate. She hates this stranger. I don’t let her take over, pushing her back, tightening my hands into fists.

She looks away from me and to Alek. I do not like the way she is looking at him. Alek has his arms crossed tight. “Who are you? How did you get in? And are you hurt?”

“I’ve been trapped with the Vian for years. They’ve kept me prisoner… I—I don’t remember before.” She sobs. “I escaped, and I felt something. Something in here.” She places her hand over her heart. Her Nexus. She isn’t human. “And I followed it, and it led me here. To you.” She takes a step towards Alek, and the sickness rises in my throat as my Nexus growls. Finnegan takes my hand right before the woman passes out straight into Alek’s arms, and he catches her right before she hits the ground.

My Nexus roars in pain as I sense it. A connection between her and my mates.

She’s going to die for it.

Chapter

Five

Istand by the edge of the room because if I move any closer, I’m going to stab her. Well, not me, but my Nexus. I think it’s her feelings, but being honest with myself, I feel it too. A wave of jealousy slams into my stomach as the woman stares across at Aleksander and Finnegan. Don’t look at them, they are mine. Mine. Fucking. Mine. My Nexus grumbles and I swallow the noise.

The healer moves her hands over the woman, who smiles like butter doesn’t melt at her. The only thing that is making this better is the fact Aleksander and Finnegan have stayed at my side.

“She’ll be okay, but she is a bit dehydrated. Her feet have got slight marks on them, which suggests she’s been walking a long while. We’ve healed her, but her own healing is far greater than any of ours. There was little need for intervening.” The healer sighs. “What a gift you are, girl. Healers like you haven’t walked our city in centuries.”

“Good to know she is fine, as we need to ask her questions,” Tutor Jettie begins, leaving her hushed conversation with Tutor Edvard. He looks over at us, at Finnegan, but says nothing, letting Jettie take the lead. She moves to the edge of the woman’sbed and looks right at her. “One, how did you get through our barriers? And two, exactly where were you held at? Anything you can offer might be useful information for us on the Vian.”

“I don’t know.” Her soft voice echoes and she winces. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know.” She begins to cry, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I’m a girl’s girl, but come on. I can spot a liar a mile off because I’m a damn good one myself. She sits up slightly, her eyes big as she looks around the room and then focuses on me. I arch an eyebrow, and she turns back to Tutor Jettie. “They never told me where I was, but it was underground. I didn’t see a lot of daylight, but it wasn’t far from here. Recently, there was something like a fire or an explosion above. It damaged the walls of my cell, and I started picking at the bricks to get out. Everything was burnt and a mess above ground when I got out, and I ran.” She breathes out the wordran. “I ran, following the feeling my Nexus told me. Leading me here, to them.” She points at Aleksander first, then Finnegan and then Rhodes.

Bitch. “Who the fuck are you?”

She sucks in a scared breath. “My name is Georgina, and I don’t know what my last name is. I don’t know who I am, only that I’m happy to be free and I’m a little terrified of all this.”

“You’re safe now,” Tutor Jettie offers in a sympathetic tone I’ve never heard from her.

“Who are you all?” Georgina asks, looking around.

Everyone introduces themselves until I’m left. “Gwenieve Autumn.”

Silence echoes between us until Tutor Edvard clears his throat and steps forward. “What do you know about what you are? You said Nexus before, so you speak to your Nexus? Do you have control?”

“I read many books and was told much about the Nexus race. I was… The guards back there. They told me stories to pass thetime. I never knew their names, but they would talk about the Nexus, who they are at war with. They taught me that I was Nexus, and they weren’t sure what to do with me. They just kept me down there, and they were careful never to touch me in case… They said that my magic was healing, and they weren’t interested in that, but I was still food to them.”

“Why would they not be interested? That’s a very useful power,” Tutor Edvard questions.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs her slender shoulders, her white hair falling around her. “They looked after me and brought me up but never really told me anything useful. I was a prisoner of war.”

Tutor Edvard is rubbing his chin. “We’ll run your blood through the systems, find if you have any living relatives recorded here or in the other cities. They might have more answers.”

“Okay, that would be nice to know.” She rubs her arm. “You’re not going to kill me, are you? I didn’t mean to cause a problem.”

“How did you get through the barriers?” Tutor Jettie pushes, and she touches Georgina’s arm. Tutor Jettie gasps, lifting her own sleeve. An old cut, a nasty scar that was etched down her arm, fades and disappears. “You don’t just heal new wounds, you heal old. Impossible! Legendary even!” She is too excited. “I am excited to inform the alpha about your gift.”

“I want to help people. I don’t want to be scared anymore,” says the cat with sharp claws. I don’t believe her.

Tutor Jettie sighs. “You can, dear girl, but now, while we find out what you are and why you were drawn here, we?—”

“I feel a connection to those two men, and I want to know them.”

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