Page 53 of Shattered Darkness
As we expected, classes were called off today, and none of us were exactly sad about it. In fact, I was pretty relieved because it meant that they were acknowledging that someone had died, which hopefully means that it’s being dealt with properly and not swept under the rug. Having said that, all of us have been on the lookout today for the Enforcers, and they are yet to turn up, which is not reassuring in the slightest.
“Promise me that you’re going to be extra careful?” I ask Jax as I chew on my lip nervously while watching him get ready to go out for a run with Hunter, Nate, and Kyle.
He stops what he’s doing and pulls me into his arms, gently pulling my lip out of my mouth and then soothing the teeth marks that are left behind with a flick of his tongue and a soft kiss.
When he pulls back, he rests his head against mine and says, “I promise that I will be extra careful. We’re going to stick together. I only need to be in the water for a short amount of time, but I do really need to go; I’m starting to feel unwell.”
Instantly, my worry increases because he hadn’t mentioned before that he felt unwell. I pull back so I can study him, “Are you sure that it is because you haven’t been in a natural water source?”
He nods, “Yeah, my magic is telling me that’s what I need.”
“Okay, I know you need to go, but I really wish that it was safer and that we were sure that it wouldn’t be classed as practicing magic after hours and get you in trouble,” I reply.
He kisses my forehead, “I know we won’t be gone long.”
He kisses me again, and then Hunter takes his space, “I promise that we will keep an eye on each other, we’re going to remain vigilant and we won’t stay out longer than we need to.”
I nod, “Stay safe.”
“We will,” Jax says, and I can see the excitement thrumming through him at the prospect of refueling and getting in the water.
As he opens the door, Nate and Kyle appear outside of it with a worried looking Erin. She walks through and comes to stand next to me.
“I’m going to stay with you and worry, because I’m going to drive the others mad worrying if I stay at home and I know that you’re going to be worrying just as much as I am so we can do it together.” She explains.
A wave of relief goes over me, “Yes, that sounds really good to me. We can eat our weight in snacks while we worry.”
“Perfect,” she replies.
“Honestly, you two, we’re going to be fine, and we can stay in contact using the Bond Lines. If anything goes wrong, then you will know immediately,” Kyle points out and then adds, “but we’re quite capable, and even if we did need backup, we could hold our own until you guys all arrive.”
Erin smirks, “Yes, we know, but we love you, and it’s our prerogative to worry about you.”
“What she said,” I agree, my head buried in the cupboard and my arms already loaded with comfort food.
Hunter’s voice is amused as he replies, “We’ll be back soon. You guys enjoy your snacks. Love you, Sage.”
“Love you too,” I reply around a mouthful of cake as I dump my armful of snacks next to Erin, and she immediately dives in.
As the door closes, Levi comes over and drops a kiss on the top of my head since my mouth is still full of cake, “They will be fine, and we’re all ready to go if they sound the alarm.”
I nod, “I know. I’m just even more anxious than I normally am, thanks to everything that’s happened recently.”
“That’s understandable,” Maverick replies this time, his nose buried in a book.
“What are you reading about?” Erin asks, around a mouthful of food.
“Mav?” Kai asks when he doesn’t reply and just carries on reading, clearly completely absorbed in whatever it is that he’s reading.
Mav looks up to find us all watching him and seems completely confused as to why we’re all watching him.
“What?” he asks.
“What are you reading?” Erin asks again with an amused smile.
Realization crosses his features, and he smiles, “Oh, sorry.” He apologizes and then jumps straight into the explanation about what he’s reading excitedly, “So, I had an idea earlier, or overnight. The amount of power that the object has to hold in order to keep constant and continuous control over the teachers in the academy is immense, especially if you take into account how long it’s already held control over them and that they have no intention of letting go of that control any time soon right?”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Levi replies for all of us as he takes a seat next to me and reaches over me to steal some snacks, which earns him narrowed eyed stares from both Erin and me.