It was locked.
“Dammit,” I muttered. If only I knew how to pick locks. Wait. I didn’t have to know. I could use air to move the tumblers. It was a gamble, calling this close to Spencer and risking him picking up on the scent, but I had to get closer. Whatever reason he had for sneaking off to a shady warehouse couldn’t be good. This could be the proof I needed to convince everyone he was the dark one, not me.
I called only enough air to unlock the door and immediately killed my call once the tumblers clicked into place. I turned the knob and slowly, carefully opened it a sliver. It didn’t make any noise, so I opened it just enough to slip inside and silently moved along a grated platform until I was close enough to pick up the voices.
“Yes, I’m quite sure I wasn’t followed.”
Think again, dickwad.
I couldn’t hear the other person, only that the voice was distinctly male. It…sounded familiar. Gravelly. Like the owner had gargled glass. My heart rate kicked up as memories of that voice haunted my thoughts. No. It couldn’t be. I had to get closer to be sure and descended a set of short stairs that led to another platform, careful to stay low as I moved to a better position.
“No,” Spencer went on, his haughty accent grating on me. “They suspect nothing. They even included me in the search. It was quite amusing watching them run around. If that girl hadn’t given up the professor’s position, they would have never found her. She lives, but barely.”
Stace was alive? The relief coursed through me, lifting my spirits and bringing a smile to my lips. I’d jump for joy and pound my fist into the air if I weren’t currently hiding from and spying on my handler.
“And what of the prophecy?”
Oh shit. That voice. It had to be him.
I froze as the man I’d defeated and supposedly killed last year walked into the light. The same greasy black hair curtaining his narrow face. The same sharklike orbs for eyes. The same scar bisecting his right cheek. A shudder of fear ripped up my spine. I’d nearly died defending my world and with four powerful elementals on my side. I’d lost battles against the man now partnering with the darkest of dark elementals. Those two together would be impossible to beat.
He still wore that full-length leather duster and heavy black boots, looking like he’d just come from an Assassin’s Creed cosplay event. He had a leather glove covering the hand I’d taken from him, and I wondered what he had inside it, filling out the fingers since he no longer had any there. “And the quint? She lives?”
“She wasn’t alone.”
Alec slowly walked in a circle around Spencer, who stood at attention and stared straight ahead. No question who remained the grand poohbah of dark elementals and who was just poo. “I didn’t ask for excuses.”
He stiffened and gave a curt nod. “Yes, the quint still lives.”
Alec held up his hand and squeezed the air. Spencer’s eyes suddenly grew wide, rounded, as he grasped at his throat and dropped to his knees. “That’s the second chance I’ve given you to destroy her. You’ve disappointed me yet again.”
Holy shit. Was he about to kill Spencer? I mean, it would save me some time and effort since I wouldn’t have to kill him, but wow.
“Alec, stop!” The high-pitched voice was unmistakable. Julie Bailey rushed to his side. “Baby, please. You promised.”
Baby? Eww. Apparently, the depths of this woman’s stupidity still had no bounds.
Alec lowered his hand, and Spencer fell forward on his hands, coughing as he dragged in deep breaths. Jules helped him to his feet. “What about my sister? How close have you gotten?”
As close as disgustingly possible and then some. I shuddered again, this time for an entirely different reason than eavesdropping on my mortal enemy, his new pet minion, and his misguided girlfriend.
“I’ve broken her,” Spencer replied in a hoarse voice. “She’ll follow me anywhere, even to our side.”
Our side. He’d called it our side, which confirmed my suspicions. Spencer Dalton was as evil as Alec von Leer. And now I had two powerful dark elementals to battle to save my world.
Well, isn’t that just freakin’ peachy.
“Return to the academy,” Alec ordered. “Continue weakening the quint.”
“She’s healed the cut. I don’t quite understand how, but I’ll need to hit her with another powerful spell to reopen it.”
Shit. He saw that? So much for keeping it from him and giving me the advantage. I still planned to figure out how to ward myself from dark magic so he couldn’t do it again. I didn’t understand why the cold continued to take over even after the magic had disappeared. Then again, my hand did glow, first at the wards, then again in the fog, so something was still in me.
“It will require her using light on me again to weaken her.”
Alec nodded. “Keep attacking the boyfriends. She’s blind when it comes to them and won’t even see it coming.”
Wanna bet, asshole? Now that I had proof Spencer was dark and working with Alec—awesome tidbit there—I needed to get back to Clearwater and tell someone. But who? Stace was in no state to go to the Council. What other connections did I have?
I had a boyfriend who now worked for the Council. My decision made, I concentrated on the academy.
And teleported out.
20
News of Stace’s attack spread around the school like a wildfire in high winds. Students I’d never talked to stopped me to ask if I knew anything. Being her TA gave me an in with her.
I walked into Ignis and took the stairs to
