I nodded.
“Try to remember details,” he urged.
I closed my eyes against the flashing gate energy and cast my mind back. All those shadows—seen from behind a bush, and from Trix’s low perspective, it was hard to recall anything clearly.
“Were the blokes naked?” Matt coached.
Skin had gleamed as the gate activated. “Yes! Yes, they were.”
“So they be not all Dragons,” Sebastian’s voice was almost a snarl, and my heart sank. Talakai wasn’t off the hook. He could have recruited help from the Dires.
Dires.
My memory flashed an image of Aaron standing in the hall outside the staff quarters. Raising his hand to his ear and muttering.
Activating a comm to talk to who?Darius.I’d bumped into him outside Kitani’s quarters.
“Darius,” I snarled. It had to be him, and not Talakai. But then I remembered that Talakai had also been there. Talking with Aaron?
My heart sank. No way they could be working together. The Dragon hated the alpha. Didn’t he?
“Pretending to hate Darius would provide the perfect cover,” Matt muttered, “and maybe you were part of the deal, too.”
My gut twisted. Surely Talakai would never agree to Darius grabbing me as well?
Sebastian’s gaze flashed to me. “Thewhobe going to have to wait. For now, we need thewhere.” He strode to Bess and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Immediately, the glow around the gate intensified.
At first, I thought that was the reason for the shiver that ran over my skin. But Sebastian spun, facing back toward the academy.
“Someone just opened the meadow gate,” he snapped.
Neil and Alex left so fast I didn’t see them move, just a blur of fur and claws.
“Got it,” Bess said, and the gate fluoresced, before an image popped into view beneath the archway. A street, in a city...
Sebastian cursed again.
“We have to go after them,” I stated, taking a step toward the gate.
For just an instant, I witnessed frustration in the Bellati’s gaze.
“You cannot do this alone,” I said.
“Yes, I can. Certainly, when the alternative be taking two untrained recruits.”
“Going alone is not wise,” I pressed. “I get that if you take us, we will be at risk. But if you don’t take us, you might be risking the lives of those girls.” When his eyes flashed at me, I added, “At the very least, you can use us to carry a message back to Bess, while you continue tracking them.”
Matt squared up to Sebastian. “She’s right, mate. And we are not without resources.”
I winced—but it was true. More true than Sebastian knew.
The Bellati’s brows drew down. “You will listen to me. Without question. If I tell you to run, you will run.”
“I run well,” I replied.
Something flared in his eyes, the briefest instant of rapport, before he turned to Bess.
