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  Molly beamed. “I know she will.”

  The female guard led young Molly down the hall, and I sighed. People fought; even mates fought. It would pass. It had to because her honeysuckle scent haunted my dreams. No matter what human-me thought.

  8

  Sasha

  I smirked as we walked away. Fuck Lucan and his shit. He needed to start treating me with respect if he wanted to be a real mate. I blinked. I couldn’t believe I was saying that, even to myself, but it was true. I wasn’t my mother. I wouldn’t let guys dump on me just because they were sexy or wealthy or because they wanted to. No one was going to tell me what to do.

  Drew squeezed my hand. “You okay?”

  “Fan-fucking-tastic,” I said, and I could hear the low rumble of Poseidon’s laugh behind me. He was sexy as hell too, with his boulder muscles and six-pack abs, but I could tell he was another one who bossed people around, and I wasn’t having any more of it.

  Drew grinned. “You want me to come with?”

  “Naw,” I said and kissed him. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  He traced my cheek, then turned and strolled away.

  I watched his ass with appreciation as it disappeared down the hallway.

  Poseidon lingered nearby, talking into a small device he held in the palm of his hand. It was smaller than a cell phone but seemed to work similarly. When the conversation was over, he clicked it off and slid it into one of the pockets of his uniform.

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” he drawled.

  I groaned. Why’d I gotten stuck with this one? Couldn’t I have had the silent chick instead? It didn’t matter. I turned in the direction of the infirmary, but Poseidon stopped me.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. What the hell kind of name was Poseidon anyway? Did his parents want to make him an arrogant ass?

  “I’m to escort you to class,” he said.

  “No, I’m going to see my brother. He’s in the infirmary.”

  Poseidon shook his head. “Alex Wren was released this morning. He has returned to his former schedule as well.”

  “But he ran away yesterday. He wasn’t formally released.” I frowned. He’d wanted to stay with Molly yesterday, but we’d all insisted that he return to the infirmary. The headmaster had made the whole guard thing happen quickly, but would the doctor let Alex go so soon?

  “Well, baby, he was today,” Poseidon drawled.

  “Did you call me fucking baby?” I growled. Where did they find this creep? He was going to drive me crazy with his alternating flirtation and domineering pet names. My fire flared to life inside me.

  He snorted. “No reason to get your panties in a twist.”

  “My panties in a what?” Heat roared across my arms and my fingertips crackled. He needed to learn some manners. I reached toward him to singe his ass and found myself doused with water. A chill swept over me, and I trembled as I was now soaking wet. Again. Only I wasn’t looking at Cal’s sparkling eyes.

  Instead, Poseidon raised an eyebrow right back at me. “A firecracker, huh?”

  Had I been about to use my fire just like Chuck did? To hurt someone? I stared at my hands. What was I thinking? Bile rose in my throat. This wasn’t who I was. “I’m sorry,” I said, pushing back my dripping hair.

  “No worries, baby doll. That’s why I’m here.” He glanced around. “Let’s get you dried off before we try a class.”

  * * *

  A few days later, I sat in chemistry class while Poseidon loomed behind me. The man had a presence that was larger than life. It was hard enough focusing on schoolwork when I hadn’t been here in over a week, without Mr. Full-of-Himself lurking everywhere. He also had a bad habit of turning on the charm whenever a female was in the vicinity. Even though I hated his pet names, I did not speak for the rest of womankind. They fell over themselves trying to get a “baby doll” from him. Having a guard had turned out to be way more of a pain in the ass than I expected.

  No matter how much they worshipped Poseidon, the other students avoided me. I didn’t really care. Still, it was hard to catch up while not being able to ask where we were or what we were working on. Whenever I tried to ask, everyone including Lucan’s pack, glared at me.

  I still had Drew, of course, and he helped me in the classes we shared. I eyed Lucan, who was still giving me puppy dog eyes, but I didn’t know if I wanted to open that can of worms. He had tried to make it up to me, and maybe I was being a jerk, but I couldn’t face him. He was just as arrogant as Poseidon in his own way.

  I bit my lip. And there was still Chuck and his threats and my brother. I’d told Alex to stick close to Molly and her guard, Vera. He hadn’t made any complaint about it. The way he looked at her was so sweet. I’d never thought my brother would get a crush. Part of me wished he’d chosen someone other than a spirit shifter, but at least Vera was some defense against Chuck. Maybe better defense than the pack had been.

  “Would you like to join us in the classroom, Miss Wren?” Professor Harper asked, arching her eyebrow. Her gray eyes were steely and cold. I’d known we weren’t going to get along when I first met her.

  “No, not really,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” Professor Harper asked sharply. She’d scratched out some definitions on the board behind her.

  “Nothing,” I said, flipping some pages in my textbook. “Where were we?”

  “We were talking about . . .” Professor Harper began, and I let my eyes close.

  I was so tired. Watching over Alex and sleeping poorly had taken its toll, and I didn’t have the energy for all this right now. I needed a few days of vacation. I snorted. Like that was likely.

  “Do you have a problem?” Professor Harper asked.

  “Yes,” I said, standing and grabbing my bag. “I’m too tired for your shit.”

  Then I turned and walked out of class. I didn’t need to look behind me to know that Poseidon lumbered after me.

  The halls were peaceful and cooler than the classroom, as the autumn breezes rushed through them. I wiped an arm across my forehead, and it came away sweaty. I needed to cool off and considered the pools. They might be the solution for my body and mind.

  Hurrying forward, I started down the steps, but then stopped. I didn’t have a suit, and my jerk guard wasn’t the type to look away. I spun toward him. “Hey.”

  “Yes, babe?” he asked with a lazy raise of a shoulder.

  “I’m going for a swim.”

  “Great! I love the water.” He winked at me.

  “Look,” I said, feeling uneasy and not even knowing why I gave a fuck. But I needed some time alone and this was as handy an excuse as any. “There’s no one else down there. They’re all in class.”

  “So?”

  “So, can’t I just go by myself? There isn’t any other way out of the pools. Wait for me here.”

  He frowned. “I’m supposed to be keeping track of you—”

  “I don’t have a suit, okay?” I said, pleading with my eyes. Playing the innocent had never been my style, but it’d be worth it if it worked. “And I don’t know you well enough to go skinny dipping.”

  It wasn’t hard to force a blush into my cheeks with how heated my body was already. Damn fire phase sucked.

  He chuckled, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Fine. I’ll wait at the bottom of the stairs.”

  “Thank you,” I said, squeezing his bicep and smiling earnestly.

  Continuing down the steps, I let out a sigh of relief. Why couldn’t they have given me a female guard like Vera? Instead, I had to deal with this jerk’s “babes” and “honeys” all the time. Not that he was bad to look at—all that muscled flesh, brown hair that was auburn when the light hit it right, and that strong jawline.

  I crossed through two of the pool caverns before I settled on the third one. I didn’t want to take the chance that he’d follow me. Although it wasn’t like I’d ever been physically shy. Fuck
him. If Poseidon wanted to play peeping Tom, let him.

  Something about it made my blood boil, though. I couldn’t deal with anyone’s shit today. I don’t know why my temper was running so hot. Fire phase, I knew, but usually, I was able to control it. Now every little thing had been setting me off. I couldn’t even see straight.

  I yanked off my clothes and dived into the pool, the cool water sliding over my hot skin. This was what I’d been looking for. Pure heaven.

  Swimming across the pool, I slammed into something hard and soft and came to the surface sputtering. “Dammit, P—” I roared until a hand covered my mouth, cutting me off.

  “Shh!” Cal whispered, his blue eyes sparkling. “Don’t scream.”

  I glared at him mutinously but then nodded, and he let me go.

  “What the hell?” I muttered.

  He laughed, a gorgeous full-bodied laugh. “That’s what I was asking. Not every day a beautiful woman drops into the pool you were so innocently swimming in.”

  Rolling my eyes, I turned and swam away from him although everything in me begged to go back. Someone was talking to me and actually wanted to. “Sorry, I’ll choose another pool.”

  “Hey, Sasha,” he said. “Wait.”

  I glanced back. I could see his body outlined in the blue water: the sleek lines of his muscles meant for swimming and the jutting shape of his . . . I swallowed.

  Forlorn, Cal said, “I didn’t mean anything. Sorry if I ruined your alone time.”

  “Thanks.” I frowned. Here was the first decent human being I’d been around in days, besides Drew, and I was supposed to leave because my guard wouldn’t approve? That was ridiculous. Maybe Cal’s lighthearted banter was just what I needed right now.

  Turning again, I swam back toward Cal, and his whole face lit up like he’d been given a Christmas present. “So, fancy a swim?”

  “All right,” he said, starting to whoop then catching himself.

  Cal was great. He totally ignored my nakedness and did laps back and forth across the pool with me. We raced and played like little kids.

  At one point, I pushed him so I could cheat and jump ahead, and he grabbed my foot and pulled me back.

  “Let go!” I cried, giggling madly.

  We both froze at the sound of a slow clap. I looked up, expecting to see Poseidon, but it wasn’t him. Instead, Chuck glowered at us from the poolside.

  9

  Sasha

  “I see, Sasha,” Chuck said, “that you are working very hard at the task I gave you.”

  I glanced at Cal and found him floating face down in the pool, silent and still. After rushing over, I flipped him face up so he could breathe and felt frantically for a pulse. It was there, still steady. I sighed in relief, then turned to Chuck, “What did you do to him?”

  “Just a little tranquilizer so we could chat.” Chuck squatted down by the edge of the pool.

  My eyes went to the stairwell. “My guard—”

  “—is too distracted by his own reflection to notice,” Chuck said dismissively. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and tapped it against his palm as if he had all the time in the world.

  “I’ll scream,” I said. My hand closed compulsively over Cal’s wrist, reminding me that he was breathing.

  “Such a fuss,” Chuck muttered. “Listen to me, you fucking bitch. You can get more people killed or we can have a chat.”

  I nodded slowly, getting ahold of myself. I counted the slow beats of Cal’s pulse in my head. No one else needed to get hurt because of this asshole. I knew my anger showed in my eyes, but Chuck didn’t seem to care.

  He lit his cigarette and took a drag.

  “What am I supposed to do?” I asked. “I’m under guard. Molly’s under guard. The students are running scared, and their parents think Larkin’s nuts to let us stay. What more do you want?”

  “You’d think that would be enough, wouldn’t you?” His eyes rolled over Cal’s limp body. “But that Oracle bitch is fighting back.”

  I shook my head, growling, “How?”

  “The parents want you out. The board members are split. But she says you stay put and they’re all afraid of her.” He stood, pacing across the deck. His perfectly pressed shirt didn’t dare wrinkle in the humid cavern.

  Cal’s skin felt warmer under my hand, and I remembered why I’d come in here to cool off. My fire powers had activated. Hell, I was a fucking dragon. Maybe I could take out Chuck myself. I blinked. Wouldn’t that be a wonder? I inched my way toward the edge of the pool.

  “Someone needs to get hurt,” he mused. “In a way that there’s no doubt you did it.”

  “Like Poseidon?” The water had done its job at cooling me down, and I needed to heat back up again. I channeled all my anger toward my fire, trying to reignite it.

  Chuck snorted. “I want to fuck up that jerk as much as anyone, but I doubt you have it in you, little spirit shifter. He’s a trained warrior.”

  When I reached the side, I put my hands on the rock and focused my fire on it. Chuck could make fire appear out of thin air. Why couldn’t I? My attention on my power, I didn’t notice he’d strode back until two heavy boots came down on my hands, squishing my fingers.

  I squealed, concentration lost, my eyes darting toward the doorway. No Poseidon. What was he doing? Navel-gazing?

  “So, who do you think it should be, little shit? Who can you kill?”

  My eyes darted to him. Kill? He hadn’t said anything about murder. He was the only one on my hit list. I stared at him furiously, wishing I could shoot laser beams out of my eyes or flames from my mouth as I’d done as a dragon. Pushing my fury into fire, I stoked it beneath my breastbone. I just needed enough to scare him, to make him think twice about messing with me.

  “I wish I could get to that slut Oracle. She’s the real poison.”

  The one person who actually wanted to help me not go mad or die, who wanted to help all spirit shifters, and he wanted to take her out. I held back tears, gritting my teeth as he ground his feet on my hands. Fuck, fuck, fucker. Pushing my anger out, I set my hands alight. I stared at the flames dancing along his boots and inching toward his pant legs. I’d done it.

  A cruel laugh interrupted my mental celebration. “Don’t fuck with me, Sasha. I’ve been taking down whelps like you since before you were born.”

  I looked up, trembling despite myself.

  Chuck leaned down and pressed his hands against my measly fire. It died out almost instantly. Then he stepped back, revealing my battered fingers.

  I couldn’t move.

  He laid his hands over mine and let loose his own blaze.

  Agony seared through me. and I twisted and turned, splashing in the water as I tried to get away. My hands were on fire, raw and unprotected. A scream built in the back of my throat, but I couldn’t get my lips to part.

  “You idiot, you can’t win,” Chuck muttered. Then he let me go and stepped away.

  The release from the burning was almost as bad as the fire itself. My fingers wouldn’t numb. The pain ricocheted through me as I tried to focus.

  Chuck had started talking again.

  I couldn’t even make out what he was saying. My mouth opened to tell him to wait, to give me a minute, but no sound came out. My brain kicked into gear, though, because I heard his next words.

  “You look like a fucking fish, gaping at me like that,” Chuck said. “Like that bitch Larkin—always flapping her gums, but nothing to say.”

  Then he smiled.

  My heart plummeted. I hated his fucking smile. I was going to end up dead. I peeled my fried fingers off the stone. I dropped them in the salty water, letting it clean them. My eyes darted back to Chuck.

  His grin widened.

  Whatever malicious thoughts were swirling around in his brain were not going to be good. I had to fight back. I tried to pull up some more fire, something. When I really needed my power, I was empty. I couldn’t even generate a plume of smoke.

  Chuck squatted d
own in front of me again. The violence in his dark eyes swallowed my soul.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Yes, little Sasha, yes.” His voice was full of glee. “You’re going to kill the headmaster.”

  “No,” I gritted out. “I’m fucking not.”

  “Once she’s dead, Thornbriar will crumble,” he said. “Even the Oracle will shut up. No one will ever trust spirit shifters again.”

  “I’m not capable of murder.”

  Squatting down, he grabbed my chin, forcing it up so I met his dark, soulless eyes. “You’d better be, or your brother is dead.”

  “No—”

  “Did you see how easily I got past your guard? Do you think little Vera is going to give me any trouble?”

  I couldn’t catch my breath. Alex dead.

  “In fact, maybe I’ll take out his girlfriend too. Be nice to kill some spirit shifters again.” A self-satisfied smirk splayed across his face.

  Everything he said played out like a movie in my mind. I knew he could do it. Worse, I knew he would do it. Why couldn’t he kill Larkin himself and blame me? Like he’d done with Molly? But I knew staring into those malicious eyes that this was the fun of the game for him, making me do terrible things that twisted me up inside.

  He yanked my chin back and forth. “Do you think murder might be in your skillset now?”

  I closed my eyes, defeated. “Yes.”

  “Good,” he said, jumping to his feet. “I want that bitch dead.”

  My stomach swirled.

  “And Sasha,” he said. “You have two weeks.” Then he turned and disappeared into the caves.

  I stared after him, my eyes blurry with tears. Was there a way out through the caves? How had he gotten in? My heart rattled against my chest, and I screamed.

  10

  Sasha

  Poseidon rushed in to see what the matter was and found me, clutching my hands, and an unconscious Cal floating in the pool. He had his weapon drawn, a silver dagger that flashed in the lights of the cave.

  “What happened?” he asked, his brow furrowing.