I crossed my arms over my chest before turning back to watch Maximus and Mischa. The vampire had his hands wrapped around her biceps and I could see he was trying to coach her. He wasn’t a shifter, so couldn’t know the exact process, but he understood how to channel power.
“I’m confused also.” Jacob settled in next to me, arm around my shoulder. “At first I thought it was about getting us away from you, and then I thought it was about locking the four of us away so we couldn’t take over the council. But you’re right, it was sloppy, a reckless mess. So what the hell was the point of us being in there for a few days?”
I straightened, his arm slipping down off my shoulder. Was the point simply to have them go in long enough to find Nash? Had it been a set-up? We needed to figure out who this Nash was and if there was any connection to him and someone on the outside. Or was it about making sure we discovered there were possible dragon marked in the prison. Had this still been aimed at Mischa and myself?
The list of people who knew we were dragon marked was short: Jonathon, Lienda, Louis. I couldn’t imagine it being any of them. Of course Louis would be the most obvious. I didn’t know him very well. Maybe he had an agenda here? But still, what the hell would that be? I was supposed to go on a date with him tomorrow night. Maybe I’d ask a few pertinent questions.
“Yo!” We all spun around to see Tyson and Braxton coming at us.
Braxton’s voice was flat. “A and D starts in ten minutes, and we can’t miss it again.”
Right, we had an attack and defense class at 9am. Braxton looked tired, he’d barely stopped searching since we returned. His need to find Nash was eating away at him. Unfortunately we had to keep up appearances, and college was not going anywhere. We still had three years left of classes. And it was important for Mischa. She needed to learn about the supernatural world more than any of us. Despite the fact she’d been to human college and held a degree in arts or some bullshit, she was woefully uneducated in the important things. Maximus helped Mischa to her feet. She straightened her shirt and brushed the dirt and leaves from her hair. Alright, time to book it or we’d be in shit again.
We were quiet as we made our way through the streets and across town to the schooling block. We had to move at a fast jog, it was a fair distance. All of the different schooling levels were housed in this zone. The area was massive and the college spread out over most of this space. The buildings were old architecture, big, wooden structures that had plenty of space. We weren’t big on changing what still worked, and most had been standing for a very long time. I loved the character in each building, the scars from shifter fights, the black marks of misspells. History was recorded in and on the walls.
“I’m really not looking forward to this again,” Mischa said as we opened the door to step into the gym.
The smell was the first thing to hit me. I was used to it of course, but old sweat and blood was never my favorite. There were padded mats scattered around, to stop some of the hurt that was about to happen. In Mischa’s one and only A and D class since she’d returned to Stratford, well, she’d been a little dominated. Most of us had been fighting for years, and on the outside she’d been a cheerleader … which was in no way helpful here.
I couldn’t halt my smile. “Hopefully Lincoln – the teacher, big horse shifter,” I added at her confused look, “teams you up with someone less … vigorous … this time.”
She returned my smile with a narrowed eyed glare. Jacob and Tyson snorted with laughter as we crossed the room. What? It wasn’t my fault she’d gotten stuck with a jack rabbit shifter. The little critters were … enthusiastic. She was lucky it was fighting and not sex. There were some things that would never be a turn on. Rabbits were one.
The room was already filled with various supernaturals. Everyone was out on the floor and they were mostly already teamed up.
“Jessa, you’re with Candice,” said Lincoln with his bald head and perfectly white but a little bucked teeth.
With a half eye-roll I shook my head at the Compasses before crossing through the room to stand in front of the vampire female. Candice was taller than me, broad and strong looking. Her skin was tanned and her hair was golden blond. She had silent, watchful brown eyes and I knew it would be a mistake to underestimate her. Rule number one in battle: Always watch the quiet ones.