Page 67 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

He flies off the branch, swooping low enough he could grab her with his talons if he wanted to and she squeals, ducking below the water as he makes what sounds like a bird laugh before landing on a branch again. Gasping for air when she surfaces, she glares at him.

“I won’t forget that!”

Adler chitters and swings his gaze to mine. I can almost see the mirth dancing in them from here. Shaking my head at him and grinning, I swim away from Everett and join the women and Bea, splashing and playing for a half-hour until it’s time to head back.

* * *

Later that night,when we’re all settled in bed, I can’t seem to fall asleep. Dread is niggling in the back of my mind, telling me I’ve already gotten too comfortable. There’s no way Jinx will let us off so easy. Something bad is bound to happen; it’s only a matter of time. At some point, I close my eyes, the weight of exhaustion forcing them shut. Though a little while later, a soft pitter-patter catches my attention, and I wrench them open. Creepy Alice’s face hovers near the edge of my bed. I slap my palm against my mouth to keep from screaming.

Her stringy hair hangs like a curtain around her, blocking the dim light from a lamp on the librarian’s desk. With a pale, scar-ridden hand, she reaches for me, a sweep of cool air washing over me. Damp, wrinkled fingers clasp around my wrist, a freezing cold vice. She blinks as a roach scuttles out of her mouth, and then I feel it. A tug on my medium powers. Almost like someone’s stuck a straw against my spine and is trying to siphon my essence.

“Alice?” I ask in a barely audible whisper.

Placing a slimy finger against her dry mouth, she shushes me as she pulls me from this world and into a memory.

There’s a heavy fog blanketing the ground, so dense the headlights are no use. It must be midday because it’s not dark, but that’s almost worse, like the sun somehow amplifies how white the mist is. Creepy Alice sits in the backseat of a van with me, while the Alice—who is very much alive in the memory—lies on the floor of the van between the bucket seats. She’s asleep or knocked out. Two burly men sit in the front, dead silent during the drive. They don’t even look at each other.

I swing my gaze to Creepy Alice, who is watching me through her curtain of dirty hair.

“What is this?” I ask, knowing it’s safe to talk since it’s only a memory.

With a firm shake of her head, Creepy Alice faces forward. Snatching a cockroach who tries to make a run for it, she pops it into her mouth.

Do you think she realizes how gross that is?Joan asks.

Ugh. I don’t know, but it’s part of her other world form.

A screech sounds when the guy driving lays on the brakes, and the vehicle lurches to a stop in front of the wrought iron gates. The familiar howling wolf at the top tells me exactly where we are: Bad Moon Academy. My eyes stray to Alive Alice who still hasn’t stirred. The passenger gets out and opens the gate, the screaming metal slicing through the air. A few seconds later his dark form appears in front of the car, and he gets in, slamming the van’s door shut.

The driver eases inside. I expect him to stop, but he doesn’t. A loud bang fills the air. Pack magic closing the gate. Or Jinx’s magic—as I’ve learned. An icy hand wraps around my arm and everything blurs. When Creepy Alice lets go of me, we’re standing in the foyer. I glance toward the door, expecting the men to carry her inside, but she appears in front of me, pointing in the other direction. I turn, catching a glimpse of her in a maid’s outfit. Not the sexy kind people wear for Halloween, a legitimate maid’s outfit. Conservative and meant to blend into the shadows, to be unseen by those who occupy the academy.

She walks right past me, so close I could almost reach out and touch her, except she’s not really here. This is only a memory. The Alice who is alive in this particular flashback goes around the staircase and heads down the short hall lined with bookshelves. We follow her, and Creepy Alice doesn’t stop me so I assume this is what she wants me to do. Alive Alice begins dusting the bookshelf, humming softly to herself.

“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, Jinx. Find a goddamn way like you promised me.” A loud voice booms through the foyer, making Alive Alice stop humming and go stock still.

High heels click across the marble floor, following after heavy footfalls.

“Of course, Alpha. Like I said, getting ready for the first full moon takes time. There aren’t enough souls yet for the sacrifice—”

Alive Alice gasps, pinching her eyes shut and covering her mouth with her hand, but it’s too late.

“What was that?” the alpha asks. The footsteps pound closer until a large body stands at the end of the hall, casting a looming shadow over the hardwood floor. “There’s your soul.”

“No. She’s not ready. I have plans for this one, Alpha. I need another.”

He growls and Jinx’s tinkling laughter floats down the hallways.

“Don’t be like that. She will be ours soon enough, but, as I said, I already have plans for her.” Jinx peeks over the alpha’s shoulder, winking at Alive Alice as though she wishes to reassure her.

Alive Alice only shrinks farther into the bookshelf, cringing away from their scrutiny. I can hear her heart pounding and I’m not even in the real moment. Everything blurs, shifting again as Creepy Alice pulls us through time, only giving me flashes of memories. An altar in a part of the woods I’ve never been to. Twelve people standing behind it wearing chains. Jinx’s face twisting in an evil smile as she raises her hands to the full moon and the shifters all scream at the same time. Alive Alice cleaning the blood that splashed on the altar while Jinx sings a song about death and power.

Another blur and we’re in the foyer again. Alive Alice watches from a nook near the stairs as four new shifters are brought in. Two identical faces with longer black hair, one with blond hair, and another with short brown hair. They’re carried in by four stocky shifters and placed on the marble floor. The guys leave in a hurry, not staying to find out what becomes of my men. Alive Alice shifts forward, glancing around like she expects a ghost to pop out and scare her, then races to them.

She checks their pulses. Tension bleeding from her shoulders. A cackling laugh rings through the academy and Alive Alice scurries away. Color bleeds together as Creepy Alice drags me from that memory to another in the foyer, of her standing at the stairs and being assaulted by ghosts. The spirits press in on her just as they had the first time she showed me a part of the memory, only this time, someone shouts “Kill her!”.

Jinx stands at the top of the stairs, a mad grin pushing her cheeks back. “Now.”

Brayden and Draco burst into the foyer from the side hallway, running for Alice as she screams and scratches at her face.

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