Page 15

15

DANTE

I find Gaida in the corridor heading toward the library, her face flushed, hair slightly dishevelled.

“Our fathers are here,” I tell her without preamble, pulling her into a secluded alcove. “They’re at the gates demanding entry.”

“I know,” she says, straightening her dress. “Professor Kendrick told Luke while I was there.”

I smirk. “Went well, I presume?”

“Let’s just say he is being more amenable to eternity with me.”

“You didn’t think that was a given?” I frown at her.

She purses her lips. “He is stubborn. But I am more stubborn. I won’t let him pull away when this is what we both need to survive.”

“Yeah, I’ll do a read on him later, although his emotions are getting harder to pin down since he returned from the other dimension.”

“Don’t tell me what you find out,” she reminds me. “I don’t want to know unless he is ending it for reasons I can accept.”

“I won’t. But I need to know to protect you, okay?”

She thinks about it for a second before nodding. “Okay. We need to hide. Now.”

“Felix’s potion?” I pull the vial from my pocket, studying the murky liquid again.

“No, not yet. We should save those for when we absolutely need them.” She peers out of the alcove, checking the hallway. “We need somewhere they won’t think to look for us.”

“The underground chambers? The gods know those places are a maze.”

“Luke knows his way around, maybe they do too.”

“Okay, so let’s go up. They will likely start at the bottom.”

She nods, and we slip out of the alcove and head for the nearest stairs. We are near the central clock tower, so that seems like a good place to hide out, for now.

The clock tower is rarely used by students. Too many stairs, not enough reasons to climb them. It’s perfect.

As we ascend the winding stone staircase, I can feel Gaida’s tension bouncing off the stone walls.

“You okay?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

She glances back at me, her blue eyes troubled. “Yeah, I just don’t like this. What if they refuse to leave when they don’t find us?”

“Then we make sure they don’t find us until they’re forced to leave. What happened with Luke? Really?”

She hesitates, her hand trailing along the stone wall as we climb. “I told him I love him.”

I smirk. “Oh? And how did that go?”

“And he didn’t say it back.” Her voice is controlled, but I don’t need to be an empath to feel the hurt it causes her. “He said he can’t say it until he knows he’ll be here to mean it.”

“That is reasonable. It’s not a ‘no’. It’s a ‘give me time’.”

She nods, reaching the landing of the fourth floor. “I know, but still. It’s time I don’t want to waste without him fully committed.”

“Yes, but it’s not about you, is it? I mean, it’s not all about you. He has shit going on. Big shit.”

We continue upward, the staircase growing narrower as we ascend. The air is thick with dust and the smell of old stone.

Gaida sneezes, the sound echoing in the confined space, and then she says, “Yeah, I get it. I’m being childish and impatient.”

I shrug. I’m not here to chide her. “You want what you want.”

“Need,” she murmurs.

“I know how that feels.”

She stops and turns to face me. “Are you talking about us?”

“Maybe.”

“Where do you see us?”

The question hangs in the air between us, heavier than I expected. I run a hand through my hair, buying time to organise my thoughts.

“I don’t know,” I admit finally. “Everything’s changed so quickly. Not that long ago, I was transferred here, against my will, I might add, and now I’m bonded to you in a way that frightens me, Felix is somehow in the mix, and we’re hiding from our ancient vampire parents while you’re falling in love with the Headmaster.”

She leans against the stone wall, a wry smile tugging at her lips. “When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

“It is ridiculous. Our whole lives are ridiculous.”

We share a laugh, the sound bouncing off the stone walls around us.

“But,” I continue, growing serious, “whatever happens, I’m with you in this. All of it.”

“Even the kids part?” she asks with a giggle, but I know how serious she is taking this.

I blow out a breath. “That is something that we have to discuss, but not now.”

“Why not now?”

“We have bigger issues.”

“Bigger than if we are going to have kids?”

“We have to survive long enough to breed,” I point out. “Our parents are going to go ballistic.”

“Breed,” she wrinkles up her nose. “I don’t want to breed, Dante. I want to share something with you that I can’t share with anyone else. Do you see why I find it important?”

Well, fuck. “I do now,” I say slowly. “But I need to think away from the stress of being hunted down and dragged away from you.”

“Are you worried I will leave you? You don’t need to be. I’m with you. I’m not going anywhere.” She slips her hand into mine.

“I know that, but thank you for saying it. It makes me feel better about the future, our future. I guess I’m just insecure because I see how you are with Luke.”

She pulls me closer and brushes her lips over mine. “Luke takes effort because of who he is. You and me? This is easy, Dante. We are destined. Do you believe that?”

“I do now,” I murmur, cupping her face and deepening the kiss she started. For one heated moment, I consider pushing her back against the wall and claiming her while she is still slick with Luke’s cum, but perhaps now isn’t the time for that. I break it off reluctantly and, with her hand still in mine, lead her up the stairs.

We reach the top of the tower, a circular room with tall windows on all sides offering a panoramic view of MistHallow’s grounds. The clock mechanism ticks loudly above us, massive gears turning slowly. Below, I can see the main gates where a small crowd has gathered.

“Hey,” a male voice whispers from the far side. “You guys hiding too?”

I snicker. “Corvus. How interesting the three purebloods chose the exact same spot to hide out. Maybe we aren’t as clever as we think.”

He chuckles darkly. “Maybe not. Do you know why they’re so determined to pull us out?”

“How long have you got?”

He gestures to the gate. “A while, by the looks of it.”

“The parents think the ferals will start attacking us,” I say. “We are like catnip, according to my dad.”

“Well, that’s more than I got. The usual, ‘it’s not safe,’ bullshit was thrown my way.”

“That’s more than I got,” Gaida chimes in. “I got fuck all.”

Corvus raises an eyebrow but then turns back to look down at the gate. “That sucks. Pardon the vampire pun.”

“Excused,” Gaida mutters and moves over to stand next to him, staring down at the crowd of increasingly angry parents.

“Any idea why they are locked out?” Corvus ventures.

“Blackthorn locked them out deliberately,” Gaida murmurs. “Long story.”

“So will he let them in?”

“Eventually, he will have to,” I say, moving in next to Gaida.

“They brought firepower,” she mutters. “This isn’t good.”

The moment she says it, the mage’s magick hits the wards and bounces back off them, much to their and our parents’ annoyance.

“Okay, I’m going to be the one to say this, but I feel like a complete idiot hiding out,” Corvus says. “We are adults. Why won’t they just fuck off and leave us to it?”

“Good question,” I mutter.

“It’s an excuse,” Gaida says suddenly. “They want me, and the only way to get to me is to fabricate some excuse to do it.”

“You are probably not wrong,” I agree.

“So why did I get dragged into this shitshow?” Corvus snaps.

“The curse of being a pureblood,” Gaida states.

He sighs sharply. “Well, fuck this. The three of us up here is like a fucking homing signal. I’m out of here.”

To my surprise and Gaida’s, he turns into a bat and flaps off, leaving us stunned and staring after him.

“Erm, can you do that?” she asks.

“No. Can you?”

“No. I didn’t know it was an option.”

“Me either.”

“Why not? Why does Corvus get to know and do that, and we are sitting here like ducks?”

“Ducks or dicks?” I ask with a snort.

She shoots me a death stare. “Both. I’m trying it.”

“Seriously? Now?”

“Now is the best time to try it. If we can take to the skies and into the forest, they will never find us.”

“Good point…” I observe as she closes her eyes and frowns with concentration.

Nothing happens for several moments, and she scrunches her face even harder, her fists clenched at her sides.

“Gaida, I don’t think?—“

“Shh!” she hisses. “I’m concentrating.”

I watch, fascinated despite my scepticism, as she stands there trembling with effort. Then, to my utter astonishment, her form blurs at the edges. It’s subtle at first, then more pronounced as her body folds in on itself, shrinking, darkening.

“Holy shit,” I whisper as her transformation accelerates.

Where Gaida stood moments before, a small bat now hovers, wings beating frantically to keep itself aloft. She squeaks, the sound somewhere between triumph and panic.

“Gaida?” I breathe, extending my hand toward her.

Gaida flies a wobbly circle around my head before landing on my outstretched palm. Her tiny claws prick my skin as she grips my fingers, her small bat face looking up at me with Gaida’s familiar blue eyes.

“You did it,” I laugh in disbelief. “You actually fucking did it!”

She squeaks again, and I swear she’s smirking, even with a bat’s face.

“Okay, my turn,” I mutter, closing my eyes, feeling her take off again.

I try to imagine my body changing, shrinking, growing wings. I picture bones hollowing, skin stretching into leathery membranes. If Gaida can do it, so can I.

Minutes pass, sweat beading on my forehead. Nothing happens.

“Fuck,” I mutter through gritted teeth, opening my eyes to see Gaida’s bat form circling me impatiently. She squeaks what sounds suspiciously like mockery.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” I grumble, trying to concentrate again. “Why can you do it and I can’t?”

She lands on my shoulder, tiny claws digging in as she settles there.

I take a deep breath and focus harder, envisioning the transformation with every detail I can muster. This time, I feel a tingling sensation that starts in my fingertips and spreads up my arms. My vision blurs, the world tilting sideways as my perspective shifts.

The transformation is disorienting, painful even. My bones crunch and reshape themselves, my skin stretches tight then loosens as it forms wings. I’m falling forward, but before I hit the ground, instinct takes over, and I’m flapping to stay airborne.

Gaida squeaks excitedly from somewhere above me. I look up, and my new bat vision is surprisingly sharp. She’s circling me, her tiny form darting through the air with increasing confidence.

I wobble in the air, my wings uncoordinated as I try to find my balance. Flying is harder than it looks, a complex dance of muscles I’ve never used before.

Follow me!

Gaida’s voice suddenly echoes in my mind, clear as day.

You can speak to me? I project back.

Apparently. Telepathy must be part of the transformation. Useful, since bats can’t exactly chat.

Where are we going?

Away from here. The forest. They won’t find us there.

She swoops out of the tower. I follow, my movements becoming more fluid as I adapt to my new form. The sensation of flying is exhilarating, the wind beneath my wings, the world suddenly vast and open in ways I’ve never experienced.

We soar over MistHallow’s grounds, the academy shrinking beneath us. We bank left, away from the gates, diving toward the dense treeline that marks the boundary of MistHallow’s grounds. The ancient forest beckons us, dark and primaeval, offering a sanctuary.

The sensation of flying is freedom like I’ve never known. My body cuts through the air, responding to my thoughts almost before I have them. We dip and weave between branches as we enter the forest canopy.

Gaida loops back toward me, her movements more controlled now.

We need somewhere they won’t think to look, but also somewhere we can change back safely.

I sense movement below us. It’s a small clearing with an abandoned structure nestled among the trees. I dip lower for a better look.

Down there . That building looks empty.

We descend together, landing on a crumbling stone wall. The structure is an old outbuilding of some sort, long abandoned by the looks of it. Moss covers most of the walls, and part of the roof has collapsed, but it offers shelter and concealment.

I concentrate on my human form, envisioning my body expanding, reshaping. The transformation back is just as disorienting as the first change, but quicker. In moments, I’m standing on two feet again, fully clothed, thank fuck, steadying myself against the mossy wall as my equilibrium adjusts.

Beside me, Gaida shifts back to her human form with a gasp. Her hair is wild around her face, and her eyes are bright with excitement.

“That was incredible!” she exclaims, her voice hushed but vibrating with energy as she smooths her dress down and then feels between her tits for Felix’s concoction. “Why didn’t anyone tell us we could do that?”

I run a hand through my hair, still feeling the phantom sensation of wings. “Maybe it’s not something they wanted us to know. Power they didn’t want us to have.”

“True,” she says, looking around the abandoned structure.

It might have been a groundskeeper’s cottage once, or perhaps some kind of storage building. Ancient tools rust in corners, and what remains of wooden furniture has largely rotted away. “This place hasn’t been used in decades.”

Gaida moves deeper into the structure, her footsteps careful on the uneven floor. “It’s perfect. They’ll be searching the academy, not the outer boundaries.”

“For now.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?”

I give her a slow smile. “I can think of a few things.”

She giggles and falls into my arms, ready to kill a few hours by whatever means necessary.