Page 109 of Wings of Ashes
“Yes,” Nix grated.
“The Oadess family gave you that elixir, didn’t they?”
Nix replied, “Why would you think that?”
“Because I think Council President Oadess has been using the same poison to disappear rare shifter species off the streets and from the academy because he feels threatened by their powers.”
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CHAPTER
“You thinkwhat?” Thierry questioned Bael.
Bael removed his blade from Nix’s chin. It had not pierced the skin, but he still leaned forward to lick and press a quick kiss over the flesh he had threatened.
“I don’t have proof of it—not yet,” Bael said. “Oadess—the evil male one, not you, sweetheart—likes to pull strings behind the scenes.”
Bael added, “Students have gone missing at an alarming rate in the last five years at the academy. The species of the students coincidentally tend to be species that Oadess believes are a threat to the shifter race. Similar to how he has turned people against dragons over the last decade.”
Nix flinched at the reminder of how vocal her adoptive father was about how “disgusting” and “violent” all dragon shifters were, how they were a threat to every paranormal.Ryker has never been anything but kind to me.
“Students are…disappearing?” Nix asked. Was this new to this timeline, or had Nix just never noticed in her past, too wrapped up in the societal pressures of “winning” an alpha?
“There’s a reason why Ry and I live off campus,” Bael told her, tucking his hidden blade into his back pocket. He cupped her face and laid his forehead to hers. His woodsy alpha scent puffed onto her face as he exhaled. “The rarest winged shifters keep disappearing from here.”
Nix swallowed nervously, trying to shove away her sensual thoughts of how good he smelled. “Okay?”
“We are not here to take classes. We are here to find the fuckers responsible for stealing students in the night and doing fuck knows what with them. Have you never read the disappearances in the school paper?”
In her past life, Nix had never known anything other than what Elle wanted her to know and focus on. Elle would have scoffed at Nix for picking up a school newspaper. “I…”
“Prey haven’t been the ones disappearing. Ryker’s brother was taken a few years ago, a year before he was supposed to graduate.”
Nix’s heart clenched. “His brother?”
Was that why Ryker had solemnly said, “More to lose,” when Nix saw the photo of his family?His family members have gone missing. What if the culprit was Nix’s future captor? What if, in this life, Ryker and Bael were able to find Nix’s captor before her torture ever began?
“Someone is managing to capture extremely powerful shifters from this school—”
“Yes,” Nix exclaimed rather loudly.
Bael’s brows drew together at her odd, excited reaction to his words.
“There is. I mean, I…” Was she supposed to tell them what happened to her in the future? Would the timeline punish her in some way if she did?
She already witnessed Persius and Elle together—was it because she was changing things? What if this whole second life was a punishment?
She blinked and looked up at Bael and Thierry.No. Their new presence and warmth in her life did not feel like a punishment at all.
Nix asked, “How do you know my father—adoptive father—is responsible?”
“Baby, if I knew for sure it was him, his body would be charred and roasted on a stake in front of the academy gates, courtesy of Ryker.”
She nodded as thoughts flew through her head.My life could really change this time. With their help, we can kill my captor before he ever gets me. “I want to help,” she said.
“Absolutely—” Bael kissed her forehead. “—fucking not.”
Her jaw dropped.
