Alpha Divided

Claudia stepped next to her twin, leaning on him a little. “Our coven has gone bad. We know what might happen, and we’re going into this fight ready to do what needs to be done.”

Donovan grunted. “It’ll be harder than you think. You’ll be armed with the spells for the vampires. Focus on those. We’ll try and cover the witches as much as possible.”

“I think they’re aware how hard it will be to fight la Aquelarre,” Cosette said. “But the answer is the same. They know what they’re doing.”

“And you’ve permission to fight as well?” Donovan asked. “I don’t want the queen to come calling if you get hurt.”

“Yes. You’ll be safe. For now at least.” Cosette shook her head, sending her blonde curls bouncing with the movement. “The fey aren’t always the most reliable, but Luciana’s magic is bad business for all of us so they’ll support the fight. It’s too short notice to get help for tonight, though.”

“Of course,” Mr. Dawson said. “We just don’t want any trouble with your people. We’ve got enough on our hands already.”

“I’ll handle that.”

This was getting us nowhere, and I had one more question. “What about the rest of the students? Has anyone warned them?”

Mr. Dawson crossed his arms. “I called them into a meeting while you and Dastien snuck away. When the alarm sounds, any seniors who choose to do so will join the fight. I ordered the underclassmen to stay in the dorms no matter what. I don’t want the younger pups getting in over their heads.”

I didn’t make a comment about me being new to the whole Were thing, too. I might have been inexperienced, but I wasn’t backing down from this fight.

“So, where are we supposed to be? I assume we’re waiting outside to ambush them?” Adrian asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Dawson said. “The loyal pack members will be hidden in the forest surrounding campus. They’ll try to cut down the number of vampires that make it to the quad. As the fight progresses, they’ll either press in or move out to cover our backs as needed.”

I nodded. “This sounds like a solid plan.” Although only a million or so things could go wrong. “I’ll be in the center of the quad. As soon as I see both Luciana and Mr. Hoel, I’ll smash the jars. I don’t want either of them no-showing because I got my powers back too early. Which means I’ll be vulnerable for a time.”

“I’ve got your back. Always,” Dastien said, and I knew he was telling the truth.

“Luciana is too strong to fight while she has access to my powers. No one should approach her until the jars are broken.”

“What happens if you get caught up? If you can’t break the jars?” Meredith asked.

That would be bad fucking news. If I didn’t break the jars, they’d be using my powers to fight against us. Not even a little bit acceptable. “I have to break them.” I checked the clock. “They’ll be here in less than an hour. If we’re all set, then I’m going to go change into something with more pockets.” Last thing I needed was to run out potions mid-battle.

“I think we’ve covered everything,” Mr. Dawson said. “Everyone okay?”

There were a few yes’s and some nods. I took that as a sign that it was okay to go. I slipped the backpack with the jars over my shoulders and headed for the door. “Meet everyone on the quad.”

I caught Dastien’s gaze as I left and once again I felt sad. So sad. I had to make it through tonight, but if I didn’t, I needed to know that he’d be okay. I wasn’t so sure that was the case.

Dastien caught up with me in the hallway. “You were scared about something earlier, and just now, you looked at me and you felt sad. What aren’t you telling me?”

I kept walking. “I’m scared about fighting. That’s all it was and it’s totally natural.”

“No. That’s not what I felt from you a second ago. Fear. And resignation.” He grasped my hand, pulling me to a stop. “What do you know that you’re not sharing?”

I thought carefully about how to word it—I couldn’t give Dastien any information that would put him off his game tonight, and my potential death definitely fell in that category. “Look. I’ve seen what’s going to happen—or what might happen—and it’s bad. Really bad. I did my best to avoid all this, and it’s still coming anyway. So, yeah, I’m afraid, but resigned to the fact that it’s going to happen whether I want it to or not.” That was at least part of the truth, and giving him any more details wouldn’t help.