Page 67 of The Night Calling
RAIKA
When I wokeup the next day, I thought it had all been a crazy dream. A crazy, hot, delicious dream.
Shane in my bedroom, the things he told me, the way he looked at me, the way he touched me.
What we had done in the bathroom.
My cheeks heated up and my body tightened just remembering it.
Yeah, definitely not a dream.
But like a dream, it had been amazing. Shane’s hands on my body, his lips on mine, the way he held me, his hot body pressed against mine … we would have gone all the way, if Conri and the witches hadn’t come back to the house.
My body tightened and heat pooled low in my stomach. Shane was sure experienced, but I wasn’t. Being the omega in our pack, it wasn’t like I had many prospects. No one had looked at me that way before. I hadn’t even kissed anyone until Shane, let alone had sex.
And I was freaking twenty years old!
I had used my hands before, though, several times. I had thought that was good, but Shane had blown that out of the water. What he had done to me—his face buried in the middle of my legs, his tongue lapping over my clit, his fingers inside me—dear moon, that had been amazing. Exquisite. Incredible.
Pushing thoughts of Shane and his hot body aside—there was no way I could get rid of them entirely, and I didn’t even want to—I went on with my day. There was a lot to do and I had to get everyone ready before Shane and his allies attacked.
Today, I chose ripped skinny jeans, a belt with the same spikes on the bracelets over my shackles, just to match them, and a fitted black tank top. I put on my black booties, and let my long hair loose down my back. To top it all off, I picked up a large leather jacket from my closet and filled the inside pockets with all the potions Shane had brought last night.
Ready for battle, I commenced my day.
Thankfully, the witches were nowhere to be seen, and I invited Minsi to have breakfast downstairs with me. After breakfast, she got ready and we headed to the library. I loaded her up with lessons, then went to the school a little earlier than usual—I had stuff to do.
When Rue arrived, she smiled at me. “You’re early again.”
I nodded at her. “Just a tiny bit.”
We moved with ease around the kitchen; the demons stationed by the door barely paid attention to us. When Rue halted by my side at the big working table in the middle of the kitchen, our backs to the demons, I slipped a piece of paper and a small glass vial toward her.
Rue’s eyes widened, but she didn’t miss a beat. She pocketed both the paper and the vial, and went on with her chores. We prepared the food and served the plates. We placed it on the cart and headed to the classrooms where our pack was imprisoned.
The demons watching the door in the middle of the corridor stopped talking to each other when they saw us coming. They stiffened and opened the door for us. One thing had changed after Shane killed the demon outside the barrier: Now Phell and Berth went in with us. The door was locked again from the outside while Phell and Berth leaned against it on the inside.
At the first classroom, Rue passed along the plates while I grabbed one of the papers from my jacket’s inner pockets, along with a couple of vials. I let my head fall to the side, using my long hair as a curtain, and passed the papers and vials to Vianna, a widow with two children under ten. The other six children in the pack were in the room with her, and I hoped her motherly instincts kicked in and she took care of all of them when it was time to act.
At the next classroom, I called for Tyren. He ignored me at first, but when Rue used her teacher’s voice, he dragged his feet to the door.
“What?” he snapped at me.
“Here.” I handed him the paper cup with water, and tucked in my hand were the paper and a couple of vials.
His eyes bugged, but he moved swiftly. He grabbed the cup and hid the rest. “Don’t expect thanks,” he snapped again, though this time, his gaze was softer.
We moved to the next classroom and I gave the note and potions to Roman, who like the others, quickly hid them. He gave me a slight nod of his head, as if he wanted to tell me he was ready for anything.
Next was Jay, the healer apprentice. With his trembling hands, he almost dropped the potion and note, but stashed them away and tried to act normally.
Rue and I went on like that from cell to cell, always choosing someone we thought would handle it right, who would read the note explaining everything and hide the potions until it was time.
In the last classroom, I passed it all to Lucille.
She stared at me, just as surprised as the others, though she knew I had been planning something. She didn’t know with whom. With a nod, she pocketed everything.
As Rue and I left, a sense of mission accomplished filled me, even though I knew this was just step one of a long list of things that had to go right, or we would fail. But now, our pack was armed with a potion to melt their shackles and the door locks, along with two potions that acted as bombs, which they would use on the demons guarding the corridor. All they had to do now was to wait five days for the signal—it was all written on the notes I had passed along with the potions.
I probably should have waited until it was the last day to hand the potions to them all, but I was afraid that if something went wrong, if something happened to me, or if the signal came sooner than expected, then they wouldn’t be able to act.
Rue and I returned to the kitchen and I felt energized. Hopefully, in a couple more days, I wouldn’t have to clean this damn kitchen and cook for so many people ever again.
It was all coming together now.
Soon, we would all be free.