Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

41

I swalloweddown the bile but couldn’t keep my entire body from shaking.

“What the fuck?” Dash snarled, quickly turning me away from the carnage in my locker as he slammed the door.

My breaths came in quick pants as he held me.

Dash shifted, pulling out his phone. “Get to Leighton’s locker. Now.”

Then he was shoving the device back into his pocket. “I’ve got you. It’ll be okay.”

“H-how?”

The school was supposed to be safe. Protected. Colt had cameras. There was security.

“I don’t know,” Dash gritted out.

Footsteps thundered against the floor, but I didn’t look up from Dash’s chest.

“What happened?” Colt barked.

“Look in her locker,” Dash said quietly.

The squeak of hinges sounded, and then a whole series of curses filled the air.

“It’s Damien,” I croaked. “It has to be.”

“He has to have someone helping him,” Declan growled.

“More than one person,” Ronan said.

A light laugh lit the air, and my head snapped up to see Chloe, Mimi, and Grace walking down the hall. Chloe smirked. “Looks like quite the mess to clean up.”

Trace was in front of them in three long strides. Purple sparks shot off him. “What did you do?”

Chloe stumbled back a step. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Back off,” Mimi snapped. “You can’t threaten us.”

Purple fire surged in Trace’s hands. “I don’t threaten. I promise.”

“Y-you can’t,” Grace stammered. “You’ll be expelled.”

“Do you think I give a damn?” Trace snarled.

I quickly crossed to him, placing a hand on his back. “Don’t. They aren’t worth it.”

The moment my hand made contact with Trace, the fire in his palms leapt higher.

The girls squealed, scampering back.

“Shit!” I jerked my hand away, and the fire subsided.

Chloe’s jaw fell open. “Are you imprinting on her?”

“That’s not any of your damn business,” Trace barked.

“Trace,” Mimi whined. “You can’t.”

Chloe shot a dark look in his direction. “We’ll just have to see what The Assembly has to say about that.”

She flounced down the hall, her friends following in her wake.

I looked up at Trace. “Could you get in trouble for you and me?”

He shook his head. “You’re my mate. There’s nothing The Assembly can do.”

But I heard what he didn’t say. The Assembly wouldn’t be happy about it.

* * *

I huggedmy knees to my chest. I’d changed into sweats, thinking that would fight off the chill, but there was no luck. I shivered again, and Declan pulled me into his side, grabbing a blanket.

Ronan’s fingers flew across the keyboard of his laptop.

“I don’t see how it’s possible,” Dash said. “Someone should’ve seen something. And we’ve got a motion detector right above Leighton’s locker. That should’ve alerted while we were in class.”

I gaped at him. “There’s a motion detector at my locker?”

Dash shrugged. “It’s programmed to alert us during times no one should be there. Between classes, after school, at night.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I want to know what all you have in place.”

Colt patted my thigh. “That’s probably for the best.”

“Boys and their toys,” I huffed.

“Got something,” Ronan said, and everyone’s gazes moved to him.

A muscle in his cheek jumped. “The feeds were cut for twenty minutes during the last period of the day.”

“That should have triggered an alert on all our phones,” Trace gritted out.

Ronan nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know why it didn’t. I’m going to have our tech guy dig into it further. But all the cameras in that hallway, along with the motion detectors, went offline at 2:42 and they didn’t come back until 3:03.”

Dash glared at the computer screen. “Someone would have to know that we put those security measures in place.”

Ronan looked up at him. “They were installed at night. The only people who should’ve known were us and Headmaster Abrams.”

Trace let out a low growl. “Sounds like we need to have a little chat with Abrams.”

I sat up straight, eyes pinning Trace to the spot. “No torture.”

“Little Bird…”

“I said no.”

He huffed out a breath. “You never want me to have any fun.”

Declan choked on a laugh. “Why you gotta be such a buzzkill?”

I glared at him. “Excuse me for not wanting any of you to get expelled.”

Colt shifted on the couch. “We are going to have to talk to Abrams. If he’s turned, we need to know.”

I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to know what that could mean. If the headmaster was against us, the school would never be safe.

“Can you have a conversation without bloodshed?”

Trace gave me his best innocent smile. “Of course.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “Why do I have my doubts?”

“Because Trace’s idea of a conversation ends with us burying bodies in the woods?” Dash suggested helpfully.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Somebody help me.”

Ronan shot me a grin. “I’ll make sure nobody gets dead.”

I dropped my hand. “Like you’re much better?”

His grin only widened. “I only kill when someone strikes first.”

“Except insulting your outfit could be considered striking first,” Colt muttered.

“Hey,” Ronan shot back. “I have excellent fashion taste.”

I stared at him. “You wear nothing but all black.”

He shrugged. “It works for me.”

Declan choked on a laugh.

“I’m going to have to bail you all out of jail, aren’t I?” I groaned.

The sound of a phone ringing cut off any answers.

Colt swiped up his cell and answered. “Carrington.”

A pause.

“Go ahead.”

As each second ticked by, Colt’s features grew harder.

“Don’t let her out of your fucking sight,” he snarled, then hung up.

Everyone in the room stayed eerily quiet.

Colt’s jaw ticked. “We found out who brought Leighton’s mom here.”

“Who?” I whispered.

His eyes came to me. “The vamps.”