Page 37 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

J arred was worried about Wayla. After the shielding lessons, which had been another utter failure on her part, she had looked pissed off at herself. He had talked her into staying over and having pizza with the rest of them, but even then, she had been quiet and left home early.

Now, Jarred was driving around aimlessly to clear his head. His phone chirped, and Jarred parked the bike and pulled out his phone.

“Chrissy?” he answered.

“Is Wayla with you?”

“No. She left to go home almost an hour ago.”

“Shit, shit, shit.”

Jarred had never heard Chrissy curse. “What is it?”

“Okay. I’m so going to get in trouble for this, but she’s not home and…”

“Chrissy!” Jarred barked.

“You need to find Wayla. Like right now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m hoping nothing, but she’s not picking up her phone, and Elena has been picking up pace with her attacks.”

“What attacks?” Jarred’s voice turned deadly.

“Yeah, trouble,” Chrissy mumbled to herself and then blurted it all out in a rush. “Elena and her minions have been picking on Wayla ever since the party. We have our place warded tight thanks to Ginny, but if she was walking home alone, like I begged her not to do…”

“I’m looking. Have you called Salis?”

“Yeah, he’s also looking.”

“I need to call Hel—”

“You can’t!” Chrissy shrieked and then repeated more calmly. “You can’t tell anyone else. I get that’s not how you usually operate, but Wayla will kill me for telling you. She claims she can handle it, since she’s taking shielding lessons with you guys.”

Now it was Jarred’s turn to curse. She couldn’t pull up an internal shield and insisted on taking on Elena Flameward by herself. And why hadn’t she told them Elena was still giving her grief?

“I have to go, Chrissy,” he said and ended the call. The bike roared to life as he sped back toward the house. He would give Wayla fifteen minutes, and then he would call in all the reinforcements.

He drove past the house and tried to think what path she would take by foot. Maybe he should just change and track her by nose. The hell with anyone having a problem with a jaguar taking an evening walk. It wasn’t like he was feral or something.

Decision made, Jarred drove back, parked the bike and got off. Justin stepped out of the front door just as he prepared to change.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m going to find Wayla, and you can help. Two noses are better than one.” He could trust Justin to keep silent. Twins had each other’s backs, and it would cause less fuss if it came out, and Justin already knew.

“Is she missing?”

“Chrissy can’t get a hold of her, and Elena has apparently been targeting her. Not that she has said anything.”

Justin bit his lip. Habit from childhood when he was nervous.

“What?”

“I kinda knew.”

Jarred’s jaw dropped. “You what?”

“Irish—”

“You are not still talking to that asshole?” Jarred couldn’t believe his ears.

“No,” Justin shook his head, looking sad. “But he’s been sending me messages every now and then. He knows I’m the only one who’ll read anything he sends. Elena has been pestering Wayla since the party, and Risha has been trying to keep her safe.”

“Fuck.” The growl that broke from Jarred’s throat made the air vibrate.

“But honestly, Red. I thought you already knew and were just keeping it quiet.”

“It’s all right, Tin,” Jarred hurried to assure Justin. “This is my fuck up, not yours. She’s been so goddamn determined to learn to shield like Marc does, but I never stopped to wonder why. I… haven’t even asked if she’s doing all right at school.”

It felt like a mountain landing on his shoulders. He would have to step up his game. But not now. Now he needed to find Wayla and make sure she was all right.

Justin’s phone chirped. Jarred had never seen him pull the thing out so fast. Sheepishly, he glanced up. “That’s from Risha.”

“Well?” Jarred wanted to grab the phone from Justin’s hands.

“He has Wayla, she’s all right.”

Jarred pulled out his phone and called Wayla. After a couple of rings, she answered.

“Precious! Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” She sounded normal, calm, and collected.

“I heard about Elena. Are you sure you are fine? Do I need to come over?” Now, there was a long silence on the line, and Jarred pulled the phone back to see if it still was connected. “Wayla?”

“You don’t need to come over,” she finally said. “His highness has graciously offered to escort me to my humble abode. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” The line went dead.

Jarred stared at the phone, stupefied. What just happened? Was she mad at him? Quickly, Jarred picked out Chrissy’s number.

“Irishen has her. They are heading home, and heads up, she knows I know.”

“Thanks for the heads up and letting me know,” Chrissy replied, sounding relieved. “I’ll try to take some heat off of you if I can. Just… don’t jump on her about not telling you, okay? Wayla is not big on sharing, and I’d like her to be my friend even after this.”

“I’ll do what I can, but no promises.”

“Thanks!”

“Hey, on that note. Did she tell you she’s going to visit Marc’s family this Sunday?”

“What? No!”

“She needs clothes for the trip, and it would be handy to have something for her at our place too. You know, practice and all that…”

“I know all about all that,” Chrissy said, now sounding delighted. “I’ll get back to you after I see her tonight, okay?”

“Deal.”

“She’s here, gotta go!”