“No!” Adrian, Chris, and Meredith all said at once.
Meredith pointed a finger at me. “We let you go once, and we took care of your mate while he was half-crazed, but we won’t do it again. I’ll throw you in the cages this time. And believe me, I’m one hundred percent serious.” Meredith’s eyes hardly glowed before I got rid of the curse, but right then, they were so pale and bright, I took a step back. “You will not leave campus again until I say it’s okay.”
The power behind the command took my breath away. She had to have been borrowing some alpha energy from Donovan. He stepped forward, squeezing her shoulder. “I think Tessa understands that we’re all against her putting herself at risk again, love.” Donovan turned to me. “We’ll keep an eye out for this Daniel, but he might not be trustworthy if Luciana is his mother.”
“He’s trustworthy,” Raphael said. “He doesn’t like his mother any more than we do.”
“Are you sure about that? Could he be lying to you to get in with you?” Donovan asked.
Raphael opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut.
“That’s what I’m sayin’. It’s mighty convenient that he went missing just as it was time for you to leave.”
“He has a point,” Cosette said. She tucked a piece of blond hair behind her ear. “The timing was too convenient. We would’ve arrived right behind you, but we were waiting on him.”
“I find it interesting that you’re in Texas,” Donovan said.
Cosette grinned. “The queen said things were getting interesting down here. I came to assess the situation.”
“And what did you find?”
“La Aquelarre and its allies are evil. The fey will be backing you,” she said.
“I thought you were only part fey,” I said.
She shrugged, but didn’t look the least bit perturbed. “I’ve been many things, but at the core, I’m fey.”
Was I missing something? “But you said you were a witch.”
“I have some witch in me down the line, but that’s only a small part. We don’t lie, but there are many shades of gray.”
Right, but I would’ve felt more comfortable if she’d just be honest. “Claudia, if you wouldn’t mind helping us out with some more of those vials for vampires—”
“Vampires?” Claudia shouted. Then her cheeks reddened. “I thought we were fighting the coven,” she continued at a much more normal volume.
“We are. But the vampires will be here first.”
The scent of fear hit the air, and I knew she was scared.
“I think we probably have all of the ingredients, but I’m not sure if I’m putting the spells together correctly. Would you mind showing me?” Adrian asked.
“Not at all. Let’s all go. I’m happy to share what I know about fighting with potions,” Claudia said.
As we headed through the quad to the school building, I knew that this was what I was here for. The supernatural community was fighting, but it was also changing. Witches and wolves working together to fight evil.
We had eight hours to prepare, but when the first vampire stepped on campus, we’d be ready. We could do this. We had to.
Even if I died trying, I’d stop Luciana here tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sun was setting as we finished filling vials. Donovan had been gone for a while. He was with Sebastian and Muraco, finding a way to single out the bad pack members as soon as they joined the fight.
“These potions should be enough for us brujos,” Claudia said as she gathered up the little glass vials. “The rest of you will be shifting, right?”
Adrian nodded. “Yes. I think we’re all shifting.”
I shook my head. “I’m not.”
“What? Why?” Meredith said. “You’ll be much safer as a wolf. Are you still afraid of changing?”
That wasn’t it at all. “No. I just have this feeling that I need to be human. I need to be able to talk to the witches. I need to be able to command the wolves. I can’t do that as a wolf.”
“But you’ll be without your magic and you won’t have the protection of teeth and claws that you’d have as a wolf,” Chris said. “Not changing is a big mistake.”
In my vision, I’d been human. My gut told me that if I shifted, the fight could get even worse than I’d dreamt. I wasn’t about to ignore that feeling. “Trust me. I need to be human.” I shrugged. “Plus, I’m not even sure if I can shift. With the jar and everything…”
