“You thought of all those things after, but none of that happened, right?”
“He saved me and I fucking left him,” Nick shouted. “That fucking happened.”
Dean stepped up beside her. “Dude, you feel bad, but it was the right call. He was safe for the meantime, you managed to strip the bitches of a stack more shifters, that means that everyone is safer than before. You went back for him when you could. That’s what you’re fucking meant to do.”
“He saved me …” Nick said hoarsely, tears starting to run down his face, leaving clear marks through the blood and dirt.
“And now you’ve saved him right back. You went back for him and got help. He’s going to be alright, it’s burns, you guys heal from that fast right? I mean, I didn’t know that anything could burn you, but you heal fast.”
Slowly, Nick nodded at him. “Yeah, if the hellfire doesn’t kill us, then we heal from it.”
Melody pulled his face down and kissed him gently, mindless of the gore on his face. “You saved him right back, Nick. Look …” She turned around and pointed to where the other shifters were disappearing with Justin’s prone form between the buildings, heading for the healer’s hall.
Nick trembled against her. The awful crushing feeling in her chest was gone now, replaced by a fatigued numbness.
“Come on, we’re sleeping in the gym tonight, let’s go get set up and get some rest. We can check on him in the morning.”
She tugged his hand and he followed her, quietly. This was not the Nick she knew. The cool and calm man who always had the right answer in a crisis. On one hand, it was a little disconcerting to see him like this. On the other, she was glad he trusted her enough to let go and feel what he needed to right then.
He pulled her to a halt. “Why are we sleeping in the gym?” Something stirred in her chest, a curiosity. A need to know.
Silently, Melody pointed to their cottage, leaning drunkenly to one side. Nick nodded, the numbness returning.
It was alright. She would look after him. She’d look after them all.
33. Melody
Harsh whispers intruded on her sleep, bringing her mind rushing to the surface when she heard her name practically snarled.
“It is all her fault, and no, I won’t lower my voice,” Shawna was saying as Melody’s eyes cracked open. “She’s letting her coven in, I don’t care what anyone says, she’s the reason they were here.”
She might not have been shouting, but she was no longer whispering.
Melody sat up groggily, judging by the light in the gymnasium, it was well past dawn. Shawna and her cronies were hovering at the other end of the gym, staring at her.
“Goddess, what a frightful thing to wake up to in the morning, and she’s got four? Those poor beasts, they must be terrified,” tittered one of the others.
Melody ignored them, she had a lot more on her mind, like Justin, how was he?
Nick was still asleep in a cot beside her, but the others were empty and there was no sign of the men. Oz and Ryan had refused to leave her, so everyone bar Justin had slept together in one place.
As if her thoughts had summoned them, they barged through the main doors, one of them swinging back and slamming into a witch who cried out in pain.
“Whoops, so sorry,” Ryan said, jauntily, juggling an armful of parcels.
“You did that deliberately,” the witch squealed, rousing Nick who sat up with a start.
“How the fuck would I even know you were in the way? You’re completely insane.”
He kicked the door closed behind him as Oz walked ahead, a tray of steaming mugs held before him.
“Then why are you smiling,” accused the witch.
Melody could see Ryan’s eye roll from there, even as Oz grinned with his back to them.
“Because I’m not truly sorry, I’m just saying it to be polite. The truth is, if I’d known you were there, I would have hit harder.”
The woman’s jaw gaped, and Melody had to hide her grin behind her hand, her eyes opened in feigned horror.
“Are you going to let him talk to me like that? You should have better control of your familiars,” the witch shouted, stomping towards Melody.
Without moving, Melody set up a ward behind the guys, which the woman smacked into, falling flat on her ass.
More students were arriving, several in time to see the confrontation, and they laughed. They really were a fickle and vicious bunch. As long as someone else was getting hurt or humiliated, they didn’t care who, they just enjoyed the show.
Ryan threw a look over his shoulder at the sound of the witch hitting the floor and chuckled.
“Fuck, I love magic,” he said obnoxiously.
Oz snorted and held the tray in front of her. “Yours is closest to my right elbow,” he told her.
Melody smiled her thanks, and Oz moved to set the tray down at the foot of her cot.
“Aren’t you going to discipline him?” the witch persisted.
“No, I’m not.”
“You say you’re so strong, but you let them walk all over you.”
“Firstly,” Melody said, swinging her legs to the ground and gratefully taking a breakfast sandwich from Ryan. “He’s not my familiar. So, I can’t discipline him, he’s not mine.”
Ryan grunted, frowning.
“Secondly,” she continued, ignoring him. “It was an accident, he apologised, and you were a bitch about it. As far as I’m concerned, if he was rude back, you earned it.”
She put her coffee on the ground and peeled back the foil. Melody had no idea where she was supposed to be and how many classes she’d missed, but waking up with half of her year in her temporary bedroom and her familiars missing was not the best way to start the day.
Mrs Hardinger threw the door open, another one of Shawna’s crew getting hit. Melody couldn’t help it, she laughed aloud as the witch cried out, holding her tongue when
