He paused. “Maybe I should come with you.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll be less than a hundred feet away,” she said. “And my shadow is around here somewhere.” She figured it was best if she didn’t give Derek’s identity away, in case someone was listening.
“I’m painfully aware of that fact,” he said. “I’ll come find you in fifteen.”
Bryn joined her friends and noticed Ivy wasn’t wearing her bracelet. “Did you forget your jewelry tonight?” she asked.
“No, the clasp on the bracelet Clint gave me broke, so it’s at the jewelers being fixed,” Ivy said, like that was the truth rather than the story they’d come up with to throw any Silvers off her trail.
“That’s a bummer.”
“It wasn’t the most expensive bracelet in the world,” Clint said. “It’s not like I have access to Bryn’s grandma’s jewelry vault.”
“No one has jewelry like my grandmother,” Bryn said. “We should sneak in there one day and play dress up.”
“So, half of our senior year is over, and we have half to go,” Clint said, changing the topic.
“It’s funny. Finishing your senior year in the human world means you’ll either get a job or go to a different school for college. It’s weird to me that I’ll be here for college, too.”
“Our way makes more sense,” Clint said. “You can take pre-college courses that lead right into your major, like your Medic classes.”
“True.” Bryn looked around. “That reminds me, I haven’t seen Janelle yet.”
“Maybe she decided not to attend, because honestly, if this wasn’t your thing, I’d be in my room eating pizza in my PJ’s,” Ivy said.
“I understand.” Bryn checked the time. “Jaxon will be over here any minute to sweep me away for exciting small talk.”
“You’re such a lucky girl,” Ivy said.
Bryn checked the table where she expected Jaxon to be. He wasn’t there. A strange uneasy feeling tiptoed down her spine, giving her goose bumps. “You don’t think history could be repeating itself, do you?”
“Let’s go see.” Clint stood.
Bryn made a beeline for Quentin. “Excuse me, not to be rude, but how long has Jaxon been gone this time?”
Quentin narrowed his eyes. “Let’s take a walk and see if he needs our assistance.”
The four of them headed for the restrooms. Clint and Quentin went in and came right back out. “No blood, but no Jaxon either.”
Derek came stalking down the hall. “Bryn what’s wrong?”
“We’ve lost Jaxon,” she said. “This is where he was ambushed before.”
“I saw him head out the dining hall doors a few minutes ago.”
“He better not be using himself as bait,” Bryn said.
“What do you mean?” Derek asked.
“He has something the Silvers want,” Bryn said.
Derek pulled out his cell phone and made a call. “We should stay here. Other guards have been alerted.”
Yeah, that didn’t work for her. “Do you plan to physically restrain me?” Bryn asked. “Because that’s the only way I’m not going to look for him.”
“If it were my choice, yes,” Derek said. “But it’s my job to follow you. So let’s go.”
“Did he say he was going anywhere?” Bryn asked Quentin.
“No. He just excused himself,” Quentin said. “I thought he was going to meet you. Maybe I should return to our table in case he comes back. He could just be running an errand.”
“True. If he shows up go to a guard and have them call me,” Derek said.
Quentin returned to his table while Bryn, Clint, Ivy, and Derek casually walked toward the front door. Bryn’s heart rate ratcheted up a notch as worse-case scenarios played out in her brain.
When they made it down the steps of the dining hall Bryn wasn’t sure where to go. “No sign of him. Did any other guards see him?” Bryn asked.
“No one reported seeing him after he exited the building.”
“Let’s check the Blue dorm and the library.” Bryn shifted. “Derek and I will fly up to my terrace. Clint, Ivy why don’t you check the library?”
“Got it,” Clint said. He and Ivy shifted and took off.
Bryn launched herself into the sky and powered past the treetops. She landed on her terrace in a stumble step because she didn’t have time to gauge a graceful landing. Her terrace window was wide open. That was wrong.
Derek landed beside her.
“I didn’t leave that window up.”
Derek stepped in front of her and entered the hallway. She followed, a ball of fire ready in one hand and ice in the other.
Her bedroom door was open, and her room was trashed. Someone had searched through all her things, tossing clothes and shoes all over the floor. The door to the spare bedroom was open. The mattress was pushed off the bed and the drawers pulled from the dresser.
“What were they looking for?” Derek asked.
“I don’t know.” In the living room, they found the same thing. “Whatever it was I didn’t have it.” She headed out her door to the hallway and ran to Jaxon’s room. She knocked and of course he didn’t answer.
“Step aside,” Derek said. He rammed the door with his shoulder twice, and it splintered down the middle. One more hit and there was a hole big enough for Bryn to climb through. Jaxon’s apartment had suffered the same fate. After a quick check to make sure he wasn’t in any of the rooms, Bryn turned in a circle and threw her arms up in the air. “Now what?”
Jaxon’s phone rang. “That can’t be good.” She picked up the receiver.
Derek came and put his ear next to the phone so he could hear, too.
“Hello, Bryn. This is Adden.”
“Do you have Jaxon?”
“I do. Your friends Clint and Ivy popped by, too. You should come join us.”
Derek stepped away and dialed his phone. Hopefully, he was calling for reinforcements.
“I’m hosting a party right now,” Bryn said. “Maybe I could stop by another time.”
Adden laughed. “Come now. There’s something you should see.”
“I’ve never been fond of surprises. Why don’t you tell me what it is?”
“If you’re not here in five minutes, I’ll drain the life from your friends.”
Bryn slammed the phone down. “We need to move.”
“Other guards have been alerted. They’re converging on the library. We’re staying here.”
“If a psychotic asshat didn’t plan on draining the life from my friends, that might work for me.” Bryn headed for the terrace window.
“We’re supposed to stay here,” Derek objected.
“No. You’re supposed to follow me.” Bryn threw open the window, climbed out, and shifted. He could follow her or not, but he couldn’t keep her from going to her friends. She dove off the terrace, aiming for the library. Derek joined her. They landed on the front steps, shifted back, and entered the building.
Miss Enid stood at her desk. “It seems we’ve been here before,” she said. “Adden is waiting for you in the vaults.”
“Why? I can’t open them any more.”
“We’ve kept them open by stationing guards inside,” Miss Enid said.
“Bad idea,” Bryn growled as she hurried past Miss Enid into the room with the trap door in the floor. She descended the narrow staircase, knowing Derek would follow.
At the landing she saw the doors to the main room were open. Adden stood there with Jaxon, Ivy, and Clint. He was holding her elemental sword. And that annoyed the crap out of her.
“I want my sword back,” she said.
“Then you shouldn’t have given it to me.” He gloated. “Oh, that’s right, you expected me to die. Sorry to disappoint you.”
Jerk. She turned to Jaxon. “What happened to meeting for small talk?”
“Sorry.” Jaxon shrugged. “I stepped out for some air, and Adden suggested I join him in the vaults. He’s such a sparkling conversationalist, I couldn’t refuse.”
Right. She doubted Adden snuck up on Jaxon. This had to be some sort of plan. A plan he’d neglected to tell her about.
“So many jokes,” Adden said. “So little control over your fate.”
“What do you want?” Derek asked.
“Finally, someone who gets straight to the point,” Adden said. “I want the other artifacts. They’re down here somewhere and you’re going to help me find them.”