I SCURRIED DOWN the hall to my room, the towel tucked tightly around me.  Sharing a bathroom was the worst part of dorm living.  Soon, I wouldn’t have to deal with it.  I’d be back in the apartment with the boys and Rex upstairs.  Well, if I made it past my eighteenth birthday.

Rex and I had walked to the cabin my parents and his were staying at yesterday for dinner.  It was one hella awkward time.  I could tell Portia was still wary of my parents but trying not to let it show.  Hunter didn’t act as if they were demons at all.  Rex was respectful to the point of annoyance.  It might have had something to do with the fact that we were, well, you know…  I was pretty sure he was afraid my dad was going to castrate him or something if he suspected. 

Me?  I remained quiet during dinner.  The only time I talked was when we started discussing Lorne and any leads we had.  It was zilch.  Alec hadn’t discovered much from his mom yet.  She was still digging around through her research.  Rex and Hunter had been combing through The Council’s archives, and my parents had been making calls to their demon acquaintances.

What we really needed were the details of this ritual.  If we knew the ingredients or some small detail that could prevent Lorne from doing it, then we were golden.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t some widely known thing.  In fact, no one had ever heard of it.  It was as if Lorne had crapped it out of thin air.  He’d never been an ordinary ferrum, and he was certainly no ordinary demon.  He could do things no one else could.

Maybe Aurora was the only person who could stop him, and if that was the case, we were doomed.

I quickly shut the door behind me, locking it.  All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep.  No.  All I wanted to do with sneak to Rex’s and curl up in his bed.

“I’ll take a terrycloth wrapped gift any day.”

I jumped at the voice and clutched the towel to my chest.  I’d been so lost in my head, I hadn’t noticed Kye sitting on my bed.

“Shit!” I hissed.  “You can’t just pop up in my room anytime you like.”

A half smile curled his lips, but it lacked the usual zeal.  “We’re ex-soulmates.  I figured it was okay.”

Rex would fly off the handle if he knew Kye was in my room when I was almost naked.  “Turn around so I can change.”  My eyes narrowed.  “And don’t face the window.”

He snickered and stood, going to the corner like a kid in timeout.  “How’s Rex?  Has he exploded in a jealous rage yet?”

I quickly pulled on some underwear and a bra.  “He’s fine and no.  He has nothing to be jealous about.”

A dark chuckle slipped from him.  “Right, because you don’t have a connection to me at all.”  There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice.

“Kye,” I hissed, my cheeks flaming as I thought of what happened at the gym the other night and what had started it.

“He’s jealous.  I knew it.”

I rolled my eyes.  “I’m done.”

Kye turned around, his gaze roaming over my tank top and sweatpants.  “You look as good in sweats as you do in a towel.”

I shook my head and tossed the towel on my closet doorknob.  “What are you doing here?  Come to tell me you freed the pureblooded ferrums that haven’t been turned yet?”

He made a face.  “No.”

“Kye.”  I crossed my arms against my chest.  “You have to free them.  They don’t deserve this.”

His nostril’s flared.  “Are you seriously telling me what to do?”

“Yes.” 

“This is crazy,” he muttered under his breath.  “A little teenager thinks she can make demands of me.”

I reached into my closet and yanked out a jacket.  “This little teenager is a chink in your otherwise evil armor.  So, yeah, I’m asking you to be less evil.”

A smile hitched up his lips.  “You used to be afraid of me.”  He paused.  “I definitely like this better.”

“I’m sure.”  I tossed the jacket on.  “What about the ferrums?”

He sighed.  “They’re fine and safe, but I can’t release them.  Not yet.  My associate will know something is up and I don’t want anything distracting me from my brother’s plans.”

“Who is this associate of yours?” I prodded.

“No one you need to concern yourself with.” 

I chewed on my bottom lip.  With Kye, I needed to pick my battles.  That was one I could win later. “Okay, but as soon as this shit is over, you’ll release them, right?”  Trey and Daniel said they’d been in a nice place and weren’t hurt.  I didn’t think Kye—not this Kye—was going to torture them to change. 

He didn’t answer.  Instead his eyes darkened.  “Your birthday’s getting close.  We have to do something, Kory.”

“I know.”  I grabbed a comb and began detangling my long hair.  “We’re kind of out of options at this point.  And I’m not turning into a demon.  I’d rather be dead.”

“You won’t just be dead,” he growled.  “Your soul will be shattered.  You’ll be gone.”

I sighed and dropped the comb.  “We’ll figure something out.”

Kye continued to stare, his eyes suddenly pensive.

“What?” I finally asked.

He shook himself as if he hadn’t realized he’d zoned out.  “It’s just weird knowing we would have been soulmates.”  He swallowed hard, an uncharacteristic vulnerability melting across his face.  “Do you think you would feel for me what you feel for Rex?”

I rubbed my forehead, trying to think of the right words.  “I don’t know.  It’s kind of hard to imagine.”

Kye sat on the edge of the opposite bed.  “Do you feel anything for me now?”

“Kye,” I groaned.  “We’ve been over this.  Rex is—”

He cut me off with a wave of his hand.  “I know Rex is your caetera now, but I’m asking about me.”

I sat across from him, staring at the wood grain in the floor and trying to piece together my thoughts.  “Before, I hated you and everything you did.”  My eyes cut toward him, his expression grim.  “You’ve done a lot of bad things to people.  You’ve done a lot of bad things to me.”  I sighed.  “But lately, you’ve changed.  I guess my soul is affecting yours.”

“So you don’t hate me anymore?”

I shrugged.  “I hate what you’ve done, but I can’t seem to hate you.”  Something inside wasn’t letting me.  It was the strangest thing in the world.  Not long ago, I would have done anything to end him.

“I’m really sorry for everything.”  His blue eyes glanced away, becoming lost in memories.  “When I think back, it feels like I’m watching someone else’s life.  I’m watching someone else torment you, try to break you.”  He shook his head.  “I know why I did those things.  I wanted you to be with me, and I thought the only way was to make you just like me.”

“You don’t think that way now?”

“You don’t want to be turned,” he said.  “Like you can’t hate me, I can’t hurt you.  Not anymore.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, confused on so many levels.  “What do we do then?”

The edges of his lips twitched, threatening a smile.  “I don’t suppose Rex would share you?”

I made a face.  “Not happening.”  Rex was already worried about that very thing. 

He let out a half-hearted laugh.  “Maybe.  Maybe not.  I’m very convincing, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

I shook my head.  “You’re impossible.”

“I shouldn’t have let him turn me.”  Kye’s words caught me off guard.  “I regret it more than anything.  It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Why’d you do it then?”  I’d learned about it in history, but this was Cassius himself.  Not everything was in our history books.

He ran a hand through his pale blonde locks, taking a deep breath.  “I was so angry with Aurora for taking Lucius away.  He lost his temper and killed someone.  It was an accident, and instead of helping him with his temper, she sent him away.  She took him from me, the only family that had truly ever cared about me.”  Pain flashed across his face.  “I felt so lost without him.”

My heart twisted.  I could literally feel the agony radiating from him. 

“When Lucius finally returned, I was just happy to have him back I didn’t think.  I was so angry with Aurora for taking him, I couldn’t see the monster he’d become.”  He rubbed his forehead as if the memories caused him physical pain.  “When he turned me, I let the darkness wash out everything good.  I let it rip away all the light I was born with.  I was a monster even worse than him.”  His eyes flickered up to me.  I’d never seen them look so broken.  “I never would have joined Lucius if I had known about you.”

“I know.”  My voice was barely audible, but he heard it.  All Kye wanted was someone to share his life with.  He’d been abandoned and hurt by everyone close to him.  I knew what that felt like.  I knew what it was like to be alone.

“We would have been happy.”  A dry laugh slipped out of him.  “You would have liked me back then.  I would have let you boss me around.”

My lips puckered.  “I boss you around now.”

His smile was real, and it almost reached those sad icy eyes.  “That’s true.  I can’t seem to help it.  You’re so damn demanding.”  His smile faltered.  “I’d really like to keep letting you boss me around, but I can’t do that if you don’t exist.”

I swallowed hard.  “I know.”

“We’re running out of time, Koralein.  I can’t promise you I won’t do something drastic to save you.”

My eyes narrowed.  “You said you wouldn’t turn me.”

“I never said I wouldn’t knock you out and take you somewhere safe.”

 

∞∞∞

 

My hand brushed Rex’s as we walked through the dark campus toward his suite.  His fingers wove through mine for a moment, squeezing.  The atmosphere around us was tense to say the least.  My birthday was the day after tomorrow, and we weren’t any closer to finding a way to stop Lorne or kill him.

If we didn’t have anything to go on by tomorrow, Rex was going to involve The Council.  It was a last resort.  The fewer people in this mess, the better.  And telling The Council about Lorne was going to send ferrums into a tailspin.  It was the same reason my parents never said jack to them.  The entire ferrum world would find out Lorne—A.K.A. Lucius—was alive and fall apart.

“I’m starting to reconsider Kye’s idea.”

“Are you joking?” I squeaked.  “You want him to turn me?”

He made a face.  “Not that idea.  I meant him taking you somewhere safe.”

My lips thinned.  “Not happening.”

Rex rubbed his chin, a five o’clock shadow covering it.  “Kory, we have nothing.  Lorne is coming soon.  It’s inevitable.  All we can do is keep him from snatching you.”  He shook his head, shadows bruising beneath his eyes.  “It’s not enough.”  He pulled the door open to the faculty suites.  “I feel like if I let you out of my sight, you won’t be there when I get back.”

“Rex.”  I sighed.  “You can’t think like that.  I’m a fighter, and so are you.  We’ll find a way out of this.”  Since when did I become the optimistic one?

“Hey, guys.”  Maxton appeared around the corner.  “Have either of you seen Alec?”

We shook our heads.

“Why?” I asked

He harrumphed and ran his hand along his perfectly gelled dark locks.  “He was supposed to meet me for training an hour ago.”  He shook his head.  “He’s probably off with a girl or something.”

I chewed on my bottom lip as trepidation sank through my gut.  “I don’t know, Max.  With everything that’s going on, maybe you should keep looking for him.”

Rex gave a quick nod.  “Try tracking his phone.”

I nudged Rex.  “Maybe you should help him look.”

His eyes darkened.  “I don’t want to leave you.”

I scoffed.  “I’ll be fine.  I’m in the faculty suites, and I’m not helpless.”

A muted growl rumbled through his chest.  “Okay, but if you feel or see anything weird, go to Ian’s room.”

I gave a quick nod.

Rex glanced up and down the hallway before pressing a quick kiss to my lips.  “Stay put, Koralein.  I mean it.”

I saluted him.  “See you soon.”  I swallowed hard as Rex and Max walked out the door.  I should be helping, but Rex would feel better with me safe in his room.  And Alec was probably fine. 

As I put the key into the lock—I had my own key now—a squeaking caught my attention.  My lips pursed as I marched around the corner.  The groundskeeper was wheeling a cart of tools down the hall.

“Mr. Karr?”  I hurried toward him.  “Isn’t it a little late to be working?”  It was nearly 9 PM.  Didn’t old people go to bed early?

He waved a frail hand in the air.  “There was a door needing fixing.  I fixed it.”  His voice was dry and scratchy.

My brows knit.  “I’m sure someone in this building could have fixed it instead of getting you all the way over here.”

He shrugged.  “It’s my job.”

He was a stubborn old man.  I hurried in front of him and opened the door.  “You haven’t seen Alec lately, have you?”

He stopped. “I saw Mr. Van Warren with the headmaster earlier today.” 

“Oh good.”  I closed the door behind us.  “I’ll go talk to him.  He’s probably in his office.”

Mr. Karr’s fingers latched onto my wrist.  “Perhaps you shouldn’t talk to him right now.”  His eyes shifted around the darkened campus.  Two hunters on patrol walked by, nodding in our direction.

“I’ll be fine.  It’s not far from here.”  Once I got there, I’d text Rex.  I could ask Ash to walk me back.

The groundskeeper’s eyes were glazed over, unfocused.  “It’s not safe.  You shouldn’t be out here alone, Cordi.”

Oh crap.  He was having one of those moments.  Instead of correcting him, I patted his hand and unfurled his fingers from my wrist.  “I’ll be fine.”  I flagged down one of the hunters.  “Can you make sure Mr. Karr gets back to his apartment okay?”

She flashed him a gentle smile.  “Sure.  Let’s go, Mr. Karr.  You can tell me about the food you brought for the goddess today.”

His eyes watched me as she gently pulled him away. 

 

I chewed on my bottom lip standing inside Ash’s empty office.  The lights were still on, and his phone laid on his desk.  He couldn’t be far.  Maybe he went to the bathroom.  I should leave a note about Alec and get back to Rex’s room. 

I snatched a pen and scooted around Ash’s desk, looking for something to write on.  My eyes lifted to the computer monitor, halting.  A file was minimized.  I recognized the name as the one I’d stumbled upon when I was searching for information on Cade.

Meracus.

I clicked on it, and it brought up the same list of names.  Several staff and students were present including Rex, his parents, Maxton, Trey, Daniel, Alec, and mine.  More were highlighted. 

A pattern began to emerge, and I slowly sat in Ash’s leather chair.  Every name I recognized belonged to a pureblooded ferrum.  Some of the highlighted ones belonged to the missing ferrums.  Maybe Ash was making a list of those who could be in danger.

I shook my head.  No.  That wasn’t possible.  This list was on Ash’s computer before we knew what Kye was doing.

A sick feeling twisted my gut.  Something wasn’t right.

Ash’s phone vibrated on his desk, and before I could think, I snatched it, reading the text.

Continue to put the plan on hold.  I mean it.  DO NOTHING.

My heart began to pound, shooting blood rapidly through my veins.  It wasn’t so much the actual text.  It was the sender.  The contact wasn’t saved, but I recognized the number. 

It belonged to Kye.