He glanced over at me and winked a microsecond before reversing their positions. He knocked
Cameron to the ground and crushed him with the force of his body landing with a knee to his throat. I didn’t care what Cameron was made of; there was no way he could survive a pulverizing blow like that.
Then Jared dropped and rolled, taking Cameron with him and literally throwing him down the hall.
The fight was like before. Supernatural. Otherworldly. Impossible for mere mortals. But last time I had been the only one to witness it. Jared had stopped time. This time, those who were still around saw everything, including Mr. Davis.
Tabitha sat sprawled on the floor, petrified. I couldn’t blame her. After Cameron once again crashed into a wall at the other end of the hall, Jared turned on Mr. Davis. The contempt sparkling in his eyes was primal. He was a predator now. And he was angry. There was nothing controlled or sane about his actions.
I broke free from Brooke and ran to intervene, taking a position between Jared and Mr. Davis. Jared smiled, but the gesture held no warmth, no hint of affection. Before I knew it, Brooke was beside me again, clinging to me, her eyes like saucers.
“Stay back, Jared,” she said.
A whisper of a laugh escaped him and he took a calculated step forward, mocking her.
I tried to push her behind me as I glared up at him. “Stop.”
His dark gaze landed on me, and he showed his palms in surrender. “I just want him to be with his brother,” he said.
Slowly, and with deliberate care, Mr. Davis wrapped his arms around us and pulled us back with him.
As we inched away, Jared watched, his expression humorous. We were mice and he was the jaguar, playing with his meal before he devoured us.
Just as he started to step forward, a sharp crack echoed down the hall and Jared spun around, jerking what looked like a tranquilizer dart out of his shoulder. Before he could do anything, another loud crack sounded. And another. He pulled out two more darts, one from his chest and one from his upper arm; then
Cameron was on him. With a rifle in both hands, he whipped the butt of it across Jared’s jaw. I was sure he would go down. Instead, he shook his head, then refocused on Cameron, his stance fierce, his expression so full of venom, I wondered who he was.
He took a step forward, then stopped and fell to one knee. When he looked down at his hands as though he’d never seen them before in his life, Cameron struck again.
I squelched the scream inside my throat with both hands as Jared went down. Cameron yelled over his shoulder, “Hurry, he won’t be out long!”
That’s when I noticed Sheriff Villanueva running toward us, carrying chains and shackles. Real shackles. Jared moaned.
“Hurry,” Cameron repeated. He tossed the rifle to the sheriff and grabbed the chains. As the sheriff reloaded the rifle, Cameron went to work. “I can’t believe it took that long to take effect. He should have gone down instantly.”
Mr. Davis was standing there wide eyed, not quite sure what to think.
Cameron spared him a quick glance, then said through clenched teeth, “Get them out of here.” When
Mr. Davis didn’t move, Cameron yelled, “Davis! Get Lorelei and Brooklyn to your car.”
Mr. Davis snapped to attention and, oddly enough, followed Cameron’s orders. He motioned us forward. I stopped to drag Tabitha to her feet; then we followed Mr. Davis out the back entrance to the faculty parking lot.
“Wait,” I said once Tabitha was sitting safely on the steps. “I have to go back.”
Brooke grabbed me, her nails biting into my already sore wrist. We were going to have a serious talk about her nails. “Absolutely not. Something is wrong, Lor. It’s not him.”
Mr. Davis grabbed me and I grabbed Tabitha again. He seemed more than happy to get the heck out of
Dodge, and Tabitha was in a complete state of shock. We climbed into his SUV and tore out of the parking lot.
Mr. Davis fished out his phone and was calling someone, probably the police.
Tears blurred my vision. I wanted to call my grandmother, but didn’t dare. Then my phone rang. It was her.
“Lorelei,” she said when I picked up, “are you okay?”
I wasn’t sure why I confided in her. It just kind of came out. “Cameron and Sheriff Villanueva have
Jared.”
“I know, sweetheart. Where are you?”
“You know?” How did she know?
“Honey, where are you?”
“Brooke and I are with Mr. Davis.”
A relieved sigh slipped from her mouth. “Thank God. Have him bring you to the Sanctuary. We’re getting everything ready.”
“Everything ready for what?” I asked, growing warier with every breath. What were they going to do?
“We just figured it out a little while ago, hon. We had to act fast. I’m so sorry we couldn’t get word to you, but we didn’t know where Jared was, if he would hear us or read a text if I sent one. There was just no way to know.”
“Well, he’s not here now.” Resentment hit and hit hard. I was out of the loop yet again. “What is going on?”
“Can Mr. Davis hear me?” she asked, and I glanced over at him. He was ordering someone to pull the fire alarm so the building would be evacuated completely.
“I don’t think so.”
“I can’t take the chance. I’ll explain everything when you get here, but for now, tell him you don’t know what’s going on.”
At least I wouldn’t be lying. I took in a deep breath that caught in my chest. “Fine.” I hung up.
“Grandma wants you to take us to the church.”
He looked at me, surprised. “I was thinking the sheriff’s station.”
“The sheriff is going to meet us there,” I said. He was confused and I was right there with him.
“Of course he is.” He worked his jaw. I could almost hear his teeth grinding from where I sat. “A tranquilizer dart? They shot him with a tranquilizer dart? Who does that?”
I looked back, scanning the area for signs of Cameron and the sheriff. “I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t.”
He was angry. And worried. I could see it in his eyes. That, and fear. When Jared mentioned his brother, I sensed a jolt of fear rush through him. Not that I could blame him. From what Jared told us before, Mr. Davis had looked right into his eyes that day as he was taking Mr. Davis’s brother. And he had never forgotten him.
Just as we pulled into the church parking lot, I spotted Cameron and the sheriff coming up from a back road. They pulled around the side entrance, their tires kicking up dirt when they skidded to a stop. Several members of the Order were waiting, and I wondered how many were in on this.
When we pulled up, I climbed out of the SUV and headed to the side entrance with Brooke right behind me. Tabitha was in the backseat, staring, while Grandma rushed out the front door. She headed off Mr.
Davis as he tried to follow us. I heard her talking to him, but didn’t stick around to find out what she said.
Out of sight of the main road, Cameron, Sheriff Villanueva, Granddad, and Mr. Walsh, one of the elders, carried Jared into the Sanctuary, down the stairs, and past the anterooms to the main rooms in the back of the massive underground structure. Jared was bleeding from the last blow Cameron had given him. He was bound from neck to ankles in industrial-strength chains with metal shackles that looked like something from a horror movie.
“Granddad, what is going on?”
“Lorelei,” he said, surprised, “get back. Are you crazy?” He looked around and spotted another member just coming into the anterooms. “Get her back!”
Betty Jo, Grandma’s best friend, rushed forward, took me by the shoulders, and started to drag me away.
