Page 33

POLARIS

L incoln is the last to enter my room, glaring down the corridor in the wake of Blaze before kicking the door shut behind him. I’m relieved to see they’re okay too, but my mind continues to wander back to the man standing on the balcony in the assembly hall.

I shake my head. It can’t have been real. My vision was putting two and two together to get ten. My imagination was clearly running wild with itself.

“How did you guys get here so quickly?” Asher asks, pulling me from my thoughts, and I frown at him as he takes a seat on my bed.

“Quickly?” I repeat, the word almost foreign on my lips. There was nothing quick about what happened back there. I feel like I’ve aged a decade.

“We couldn’t get out of the assembly hall. It was mayhem,” Tatum explains, dragging a hand down his face, and I shrug nervously.

“Honestly, it was madness for us, too. I managed to find the exterior wall but couldn’t make my way to the exit. Blaze helped me,” I admit, my pulse thundering in my ears at the mention of him as I prepare for their opinions on the matter, but to my surprise, only silence greets me.

Lincoln rocks back on his heels, eyeing the bedroom door before he turns to me. “What was the blood?”

“Blood?” I repeat, my mind exhausted, making it harder than ever to keep up with them.

“On his arm,” he clarifies, pointing over his shoulder in the direction Blaze had disappeared moments ago.

“Oh, a wolf,” I admit, rubbing my lips together nervously, and the energy in the room shifts immediately.

“You’re going to have to give us more than that, Little Witch,” Wylder states, and I eye him nervously. I’m not delusional to the fact that he just outright demanded a fight with Blaze for everyone to see, but I’m going to circle back to that later. For now, he’s right, they need more than that.

“A wolf launched at me and Blaze got in the way. Their teeth sank into him instead of me.”

My heart races from the memory, the fear and panic flooding my veins once again.

“What the fuck?” Lincoln grunts, eyebrows furrowing as he shakes his head.

“Who the hell would do that?” Tatum murmurs, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I could give you one guess,” I say with a frown, hating to point fingers, but Wylder nods in understanding without me saying anything else.

“Bianca,” he grunts, voicing my thoughts, and I shrug.

“She wouldn’t be so ballsy, would she?” Asher mumbles, scrubbing at his chin, and I shrug again.

“You tell me.”

“Why are you saying it like that?” Wylder grunts defensively, and I turn to him with wide eyes, ready to remind him of the fact that every reason she has to be a bitch to me links back to them, but before I can utter a single word, Tatum is waving his hands in surrender.

“We all need to calm down,” he says softly, hoping to get a handle on the situation, and Lincoln grunts.

“No, we need to sort this out. Now,” he snarls, and my chest tightens with panic. His eyes are dark, the tick of his jaw beyond tight, and the anger that vibrates from him is palpable.

“Lincoln,” I breathe, and he shakes his head dismissively.

“I’m calling a pack meeting,” he declares, pulling out his cell phone.

“That’s not necessary,” I insist, stepping toward him, and his gaze cuts to mine.

“One of my own tried to hurt what’s mine. That doesn’t fly.”

My heart flutters in my chest at his declaration, but I force myself to brush it off. “Really, Lincoln. You don’t need to do anything.”

He ignores me as he taps away on his cell phone, leaving me to helplessly look around at the others, but none of them step in to help.

Dammit.

Instead, Asher clears his throat, settling my attention on him. “I’m assuming you healed him because you’re his bound?” he asks, and I nod. “He didn’t try to drain you, did he?” he adds, and I shake my head.

“No, it was, uhh…” Instead of trying to explain, I tilt my wrist for him to see the tiny scratch mark that remains.

Asher’s gaze narrows for a split second as he assesses me before offering one curt nod.

Silence descends over the room again as Lincoln continues to tap away on his cell phone, and a thought comes to mind.

“Where’s Minnie? Is she okay? I couldn’t find Bryony anywhere. One minute she was there, the next she was gone. That asshole, Foster, too,” I add with a grumble, and a slight grimace washes over Tatum’s face as I peer at him.

“Bryony is back at the medical center. Minnie is with her.”

“What? Why? Is she hurt?”

“I don’t know,” he admits, eyeing Asher for a second before returning his gaze back to me. “Same thing as last time, I think.”

“They have to find out what’s wrong with her,” I insist, worry tightening my chest, and Asher sighs.

“I think we all know what’s wrong with her.”

My eyebrows furrow as I gape at him. “Speak for yourself.”

He cocks a brow at me. “She’s struggling with being light-headed, feeling faint, and an unbearable pain in her head,” he rattles off as though that will make sense to me, but I’m drawing a blank.

When it’s clear I don’t get it, he rises to his feet and leans slightly so we’re eye to eye.

“I think she’s a center, just like you.”

My feet ache with every step I take as I rush through the medical center doors and barrel into the waiting room like a crazy woman, but I don’t care. My friend is…is she? I don’t know. All I know is that she needs me.

Tatum looks for someone to speak to, and I head straight for the next set of doors that lead to the medical rooms, but I barely make it two steps over the threshold before Foster is in my face. Rage consumes his features as his hands ball into fists at his sides.

“You’re not welcome here,” he snarls, but before I can say a word in response, I feel Wylder press against my back.

“Step the fuck back. Now. Before I do it for you,” he warns, and Foster gulps, taking a single step back as he folds his arms over his chest.

“There. Now, fuck off,” he grunts, unwavering on the matter, and a nurse rounds the corner a moment later. “Can we escort them out? They’re not part of the coven,” he states. She turns to look at me apologetically, and I quickly realize it’s the same nurse that helped me.

“Polaris, you’re looking much better,” she starts politely, but the way her mouth sits in a thin line confirms she’s about to agree with Foster.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you in here to see Bryony without consent from her coven.

I have a wolf in there, but as I said, coven approved,” she states, nodding toward Foster, and I shake my head in disbelief, even though I knew it was coming.

Dammit. “Unless you have proof of any relationship that may be able to aid you, bound or otherwise, then I will have to ask you to get comfortable in the waiting room.”

My shoulders sag with disappointment and I turn for the exit, but I can’t move because Wylder doesn’t get the hint. He remains exactly where he is, only now we’re chest to chest.

“I think we can clear this up, ma’am,” he states, glancing over my shoulder before turning his attention to me. “You have a bound contact, Little Witch,” he states, raising an eyebrow at me, and it takes far longer than I care to admit to put two and two together.

“Oh.”

Pulling my cell phone from my pocket, I search for the name Blaze said he stored his information under; Tuum. Weird, but it’s Blaze. I’m sure there’s a meaning there, but that’s for another time.

Clicking on his name, I type out a message.

Polaris: Hey, my friend is in the medical center, and her coven is refusing to let me see her. I think the nurse is hinting that you can help me out… can you?

Three dots immediately flash at the bottom of the screen, confirming an instant response.

Tuum: Done.

I blink at the message, surprised, and a split second later, the sound of a telephone ringing echoes around the room. I peer over my shoulder at the nurse who tries to hide a smile from her face as she hurries over to the telephone secured on the wall farther down the hallway.

I can’t hear what she says, but she only speaks for a brief moment before she replaces the handset and makes her way back toward us.

“I apologize for the delay, Miss Beauchamp. Access has been granted,” she states, and Foster gasps.

“What the fuck? She can’t overrule a coven,” he snaps, and the nurse shrugs.

“Unfortunately for you, she can,” she retorts, giving him a pointed look before turning her attention back to me. “Please, follow me.”

Foster refuses to move out of the way, but Wylder quickly sidesteps to place himself between me and the witch who hates me more than anyone else, and Foster quickly backtracks, clearing a path for us.

I hurry after the nurse, but quickly pull out my cell phone to tap out another message.

Polaris: Thank you.

Tuum: Always.

I shake my head in disbelief as I tuck my cell phone away. It’s insane that he was able to get me access as easily as that, but what’s more shocking is the fact that he did it without trying to get something out of me. Like, I expected a bargain between us, tit for tat, but there was none of that.

I don’t get to dwell on it for too long before we enter the medical room to find Bryony sitting up on the bed, rocking back and forth while Minnie struggles to run a hand up and down her spine in an attempt to comfort her.

“Bryony,” I murmur, and her gaze snaps to me. The pinch between her eyebrows confirms she’s not okay, her pupils like pin pricks as tears stream down her face.

“Polaris.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, glancing between my two best friends, but neither of them seem to have an answer.

Bryony sighs. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she mutters, glancing at everyone now in the room. The nurse has left us to it, but the crowd has grown from her and Minnie to the two of them plus Wylder, Lincoln, Asher, Tatum, Foster, and myself.

If Asher is right, this isn’t going to help her. Clearing my throat, I take a tentative step toward her. “Asher thinks he knows,” I admit, and her stare tilts to him for a brief moment before she latches back onto me. I gulp. “Do you trust me?” I ask, and her brows furrow deeper.

“Yes.”

Relief swarms through my body as I eliminate the remaining space between us, stuffing my hand into my pocket to grab my pouch of sand.

“Close your eyes,” I breathe, and she does so, deep lines remaining etched between her furrowed brows.

Scooping a handful of sand from my pouch, I press it into her palm, curling her fingers around it.

“Do you remember what Professor Juniper taught me in class the other day?” She tilts her head, unsure, and I clarify.

“You know, before I stormed out like a brat,” I add, and a wisp of a smile curls her lip for a split second before the frown falls back in place.

“That’s what we’re going to do now, okay? ”

She shakes her head slightly. “I don’t?—”

“Focus, Bryony. If Asher’s right, it’s going to help,” I insist, and she nods, relenting. “Focus on the room, on the energy. Tell me if you see any colors or outlines,” I murmur gently, hoping to guide her as silence drifts over the room.

I’m not sure how much time passes, but the markings between her brows ease just a touch until Foster sighs. “This is all bullshit. You need to get out, the coven is on their way,” he snaps, and any kind of progress that had been made is gone when Bryony’s muscles bunch in pain.

“Foster is red,” she grunts through a taut groan of pain, and I gape at her in disbelief before peering over my shoulder.

“Foster, you need to leave,” I say as calmly as possible, and he grunts, obviously not taking my order well.

“Like fuck,” he bites, and I sigh.

“You’re making her worse.” How I keep my voice neutral, I don’t know, but it won’t last for much longer if he doesn’t listen.

“Bullshit,” he calls, and my face dips as I try to take a calming breath.

“It’s just until you cool off.”

He scoffs. “You’re trying to come between us,” he snarls, and I shake my head.

“No, I’m trying to regulate her because she’s a fucking center,” I snap back, aware I’m not helping the situation, but him not listening isn’t aiding us either.

Meeting his stare across the room, I watch an array of emotions flicker over his features as he shakes his head. “That’s not possible.”

I sigh. “I know it feels that way, and I’m completely aware that I don’t know much about all of this, but Asher is right and she’s seeing you in her mind. She has mind magic,” I explain, hoping like hell it makes sense.

“How?”

“We can get the answer, just give her some space first,” I insist, and his nostrils flare as he looks past me to where Bryony writhes on the bed. Without a word, he turns for the door, forcibly slamming it behind him.

Wary looks pass around the room as we all look at Bryony.

“Polaris?” The word is nothing more than a whisper from her lips, and I reach for her hand, hoping to guide and comfort her the best I can.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” she breathes, before her body goes limp and she slumps back on the bed.