Expulsion

Loch’s voice was a surprising comfort. I felt the faint pulse of the brand on the back of my shoulder. My heart beat faster. Though our reunion was only psychic, my whole being felt more alive now that our bond was open again.

“~Where are you?~” Hael asked. It was clear that he was struggling to conceal his emotion, a mixture of immense relief and ferocious anger.

I hesitated. It was nice to hear Hael’s voice—at least he sounded concerned about me. But my mates weren’t knights in shining armor; they were the evil dragons knights would slay.

This was my last chance to back out. I knew what was at stake if I went back to them. My virginity. My safety. My freedom…

But not my life.

The tattoo burned bright within me, and I felt a rush of desire flood through me.

“~Madeline~,” Hael said, his voice aching and seductive.

My lips trembled…

“~Mouse~,” Loch continued. “~We need you. Where are you?~”

I almost cried out with longing. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I wanted them.

“~Xander University.~”

“~As we suspected~,” Loch snarled. “~Xander and his sneaky little weaklings don’t know when to quit. You’re in for a world of pain if you’ve joined them, mouse…~”

“~She’s in for a world of pain anyway~,” Hael murmured. “~And pleasure.~”

“~I haven’t joined them~,” I insisted. “~They kidnapped me—~”

“~After you escaped~,” Hael reminded me. “~Your disobedience amuses us about as much as your lullabies, mouse. You’re facing severe punishment—~”

“~Big surprise~,” I said, pretending to yawn. “~Now, are you two going to help me get out of here or what?~”

“~Say please~,” Loch chided annoyingly.

“~I don’t have to~,” I reminded him, “~because if I die, you’ll be next.~”

The Dobrzyckas didn’t respond. I wished I hadn’t said that. Maybe I’d gone too far.

“~I almost forgot your willfulness, little mouse~,” Hael said with a hint of amusement. “~That’s the first thing we’ll work on when you get back.~”

“~And how’s that going to happen?~” I asked. I pictured Mason waiting for me in the courtyard. I knew I’d bought myself some time with my tampon excuse, but it had been long enough for him to start getting suspicious. Hopefully he didn’t know too much about menstruation.

“~You need to get off campus, mouse~,” Hael said. “~Freesia’s Rock prevents us from entering the school grounds.~”

I walked to the window, looking out over the sprawling courtyard. The campus seemed enormous. I had no idea how to get out of here. Nautica and Mason hadn’t taken off my blindfold yesterday until I was well inside the campus.

I saw the spires of Requiem City in the distance—Req Enterprise towered high above the others. One landmark with which I was all too familiar.

“~Okay~,” I told my mates. “~I’m on my way.~”

“~We’ll be waiting~,” replied Loch.

***

I slipped out of my room and walked down the hallway and out to the courtyard. I wished I could move faster, but I had to avoid suspicion. I tried to blend in as I kept moving in the direction of Req Enterprise, which unfortunately never seemed to get much closer.

~There must be an exit somewhere along the way, right?~

There was a campus map near a marble fountain of a slayer holding a dragon’s severed head. I stopped to look at it, searching for that little red dot that said, “You Are Here.”

There. The entrance gate wasn’t too far away. The only problem was, there was only one way out of here. Looked like the rest of the campus was surrounded by some sort of moat.

How the hell was I going to slip out the front gate? I had a feeling Xander had made the guards well aware that I wasn’t just your average XU student.

“Madeline?”

For a second, I thought it was Loch or Hael, but then I realized the voice wasn’t coming from inside my head. I turned around to see Xander moving toward me, his eyes squinting in bewilderment.

Sweat beaded on my forehead. I didn’t want to find out what Xander would do if he realized I was trying to escape back to the Dragon Lords. I also suspected playing the long-lost daughter card wouldn’t get me a lot of sympathy.

“What are you doing out here by yourself?” Xander asked in a tone that suggested he knew I was up to no good. “Where’s Mason?”

“Back by the cemetery,” I said quickly. “He was telling me all this interesting stuff about Freesia’s Curse, but then I had to change my tampon, so I went back to my room—”

“That’s a lie, Madeline,” he said, cutting me off in a low, serious tone. “I can feel your panic. Relax. Don’t try and run,” he added, noticing me searching for an escape. “This is the safest place for you. You must believe me.”

He pushed up his gold-rimmed spectacles without blinking. It looked as if he was trying to read my thoughts. For all I knew, he could have been. Who knew what powers he possessed?

“Why should I believe you?” I asked, getting an idea. “One minute you want to execute me, and the next, you want to set me up in a fancy guest room and give me a guided tour of your university. What’s with the sudden change of heart?”

As I hoped, my directness caught Xander off guard. “Because… I… Well…” He floundered for an excuse.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I already know,” I teased. “It’s because you’re really my dear old dad. Isn’t that right, Xander?”

Xander stepped back, reeling from the sudden revelation, completely speechless.

And that was exactly what I was counting on.

“Later, Pop!” I shouted, pushing past him as I sprinted away. I heard the clang of metal on the cobblestones. I glanced behind me to see a glinting dagger at Xander’s feet.

Bastard! He wanted to kill me after all.

I ran as fast as I could. The gate was in my sight, getting ever closer, and Requiem City beyond.

“~I’m almost there~,” I told Loch and Hael, breathless even inside my head.

“~Hurry up!~” they shouted together.

Ugh! Did nothing satisfy those two?

Something whizzed past my head. Xander’s dagger sank into a tree in front of me.

~That can’t be good.~

“Don’t let her leave!” the old man shouted behind me. “Dead or alive, I don’t care!”

Students suddenly turned to me, many joining the chase. I picked up the pace. My legs were screaming for me to stop, but I kept pushing.

“Stop her! Stop her!” Xander shouted as I drew nearer to the gate. Ahead, a group of students linked arms, forming a human wall blocking me from escape. I zigzagged around them, taking a loopy route around a few flower gardens before I doubled back to the gate.

The entrance gate was closing. ~Fast~!

There was no way I could slip under the big metal door before it shut.

I ran in circles as more students joined the chase. I was dead if they caught me.

Near the gate, I noticed a staircase leading to a high turret in the stone wall enclosing the campus. Without thinking, I hurried toward it, dodging my pursuers’ impromptu projectiles—books, backpacks, cell phones.

“~They closed the gate, mouse. Where are you?~” Loch demanded. “~You better hurry before a mage casts a spell to stop you!~”

“~I’m coming~,” I told them. “~And you better catch me, you scaley beast!~”

I ran up the stairs before the students could block my path, taking them two at a time. The spiral stairs went higher and higher and higher. The students’ voices echoed behind me. I was panting like a sick dog, but I kept going.

I finally reached the top and immediately flung open a rickety wooden door. It led outside, atop the turret. I climbed onto the wall, scanning the skies for Loch and Hael…

My heart stopped.

I didn’t see them.

“~Where the hell are you guys?~” I shouted through my mind.

Nothing. I heard the wooden door creak and turned to see students flooding onto the roof behind me. This was not good.

I took a step back, my heel loosening a piece of stone that dropped to the moat six…seven…eight stories below. I never even heard the splash.

I turned to look at the students one last time. Ten seconds more, and they’d have me.

I gulped. ~Here goes nothing.~

I turned away from the rushing students, spread my arms, and leapt off the wall. Time slowed down as I plunged toward the moat, cold air blasting my body. Each passing millisecond made it less and less likely Loch and Hael would swoop in to save me. I shut my eyes.

Had I made the wrong choice?

Suddenly, I stopped moving. It felt like I was suspended in thin air. I risked opening my eyes. Xander University was nowhere in sight. All I saw was a thick black mist…

~My mates!~

The mist hardened into a tail that wrapped tightly around my middle. I felt myself moving upward now, higher and higher. I clutched the tail for comfort, crying at its rough, scaly surface.

I hadn’t made the wrong choice. Loch and Hael rescued me. I felt safe and protected. Could there be hope for them yet?

I tried not to overthink it and just enjoy the moment. Nothing like facing death to make me feel more alive.

I looked ahead at the back of Loch’s enormous dragon head.

“~Thank you~,” I told him with my mind. “~Really.~”

“~I’m glad you’re grateful now, mouse~,” he said tersely, playfully tightening his tail around me. “~Because very soon you won’t be.~”

Right. My punishment. The thought punctured my elation. What did my diabolical mates have in store?

Reading my mind, Loch chuckled. His wings flapped faster. Requiem City shrank below us. The cold air stung my face.

“~Slow down!~” I begged, gasping for breath in the thinning air. Loch ignored me. A cloud of mist appeared next to him, quickly transforming into Hael’s dragon.

“~Hael, I can’t breathe. Make him stop!~”

Hael chuckled too. He flapped his wings faster, racing his brother. Neither one paid attention to my flailing body.

Lightheaded and breathless, I felt my consciousness…slipping away… Why were my mates so hellbent on disappointing me? If this was how I was rescued, how would I be punished?