Torn (33 page)

"Jas what's
wrong?"

"Nothing. I
told you already. I'm fine."

I shook my head as we
launched into the last quarter of the song in a blur of steps that
only Isaac and Jess would have had any chance of matching, but Jasmin
steadfastly refused to meet my gaze. When she finally spoke again,
she was subvocalizing, much too quiet for those around to hear over
the music.

"You're going to
send her away tonight aren't you?"

It was my turn to miss
a cue, but it shouldn't have surprised me that she'd anticipate my
intentions.

"I have to.
We're going to die tonight and the only way to guarantee her safety
is to get her out of town."

"But you're not
planning on bringing her back if you win?"

I felt something
inside me wither as I realized Jas was right. I hadn't ever thought
that far because I'd never expected to survive the night, but I
couldn't bring her back, couldn't expose her to the level of danger
she'd be in once the Coun'hij found out about her.

Jasmin watched my
thoughts stutter across my face and then shook her head.

"Don't send her
away. She needs to be here as much as you need her to be here."

"Jas, you were
the one who said I shouldn't have saved her in the first place."

The song was nearing
the end, but Jasmin clung to me with incredible strength, momentarily
refusing to be led.

"I was wrong,
Alec. Sending her away would be a terrible thing for both of you. I
don't want to see you pining away after something you want more than
anything else, something you can never have."

There was a raw,
bleeding pain to her voice that I'd never heard from Jasmin. She'd
taken the worst abuse her father had been able to dish out and dried
the tears away as soon as the pain had left. This was something
else. Something new, or possibly just buried deeper than anything
else she'd ever shown me.

The music ended and
she released me, but her eyes pleaded with me to understand as she
turned and headed back to Rachel and Adri.

Brandon's pack chose
that moment to make their appearance. I'd overheard enough whispered
gossip at school to know Britney had finally conquered her Everest.
She was hanging off of Brandon like he was oxygen, and I spared a
moment to wonder if she'd started realizing he wasn't what he
pretended to be, or if he'd already addicted her to his touch.

Vincent and Cassi
trailed along behind their alpha, and it was obvious the date was
nothing more than a matter of convenience. Cassie had only ever had
one target since Brandon had manifested his power. Vincent would do
for an escort, and possibly even for more, but it was Brandon's arm
she so desperately wanted to be on. It was part of what kept the
rest of the pack in line.

Even if they hadn't
been scared of Brandon they would have been scared of Cassie and the
lengths she'd go to in order to secure his attention.

Jasmin muttered
something about an over-dressed trollop and then pulled Rachel to her
feet and gently shoved her towards me.

Adri was still looking
brave, if somewhat distracted by the other pack, and I felt the
briefest surge of jealousy as I led Rachel out onto the dance floor.
Every reasoning part of my being knew the elevated pulse was nothing
more than fear, but a niggling corner of my mind couldn't help but
point out just how easy it would be to mistake fear and attraction.

The music was big band
once again, and Rachel was an easy lead. For the briefest of moments
I managed to forget about Brandon, about needing to send Adri away,
about just how few hours of life I had left.

As the music ended
once again I noticed that Jess and Isaac had drifted off into one
corner where they could practice their air steps without taking
someone's fingers off.

Adri was done being
brave. Her head was slightly bowed and she'd given up any pretense
of conversation with Jasmin, who looked concerned when she wasn't
scanning the pavilion like she was expecting someone.

I escorted Rachel back
to the seats and then reached out and carefully pulled Adri's chin up
so I could meet her eyes.

"Dance with me?"

She smiled and nodded
as she allowed me to lead her out into the center of the crowd. It
was a slow song, and she leaned into me, wrapping her arms around my
neck with surprising strength. It was the wrong thing to do, but I
hugged her close to me, burying my face in her hair.

"I know you
don't want to hear this, but it isn't too late for you to change your
mind. Even now, it'd be a relatively simple thing to have you
halfway across the country by the time the challenge actually
occurs."

Adri cleared her
throat as though trying to speak, and then just settled for shaking
her head wordlessly. I wanted to press the point even as the rest of
me wanted to follow Jasmin's advice. Now wasn't the time though, not
surrounded by so many people, not with both packs present.

Instead of arguing
with her I held her close, enjoying the feel of her pressed up
against me as we swayed with the music.

There was no way they
could have planned it, but the entire movement came together as
though they'd been rehearsing it for days. I should have seen it
coming, should have warned Jess and Isaac about going off by
themselves. Not only did I not see it coming, I nearly didn't react
quickly enough to intervene in time.

Vincent and Cassi
appeared out of the crowded dance floor almost as if they'd been
invisible, and suddenly they were squarely between Isaac, Jess and
the rest of us.

James reacted exactly
right. He shoved past Vincent, knocking him into Cassie and clearing
the way for the rest of us. Jasmin was ahead of me, already cutting
through the crowd with Rachel in tow, and then it was only Adri and I
that hadn't joined the rest of the pack.

I picked Adri up,
rushing along behind Jasmin as Brandon and his fellows materialized
only a split second behind us.

We were moving with
more than human speed, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Isaac and Jess had chosen one of only two corners that actually had
enough walls to be trapped in, and if we didn't stand together
Brandon could cut us down individually.

Adri still hadn't had
a chance to fully grasp what was happening as I tried to set her down
without taking my eyes off of Brandon. I failed, and heard a slight
gasp of pain as Jasmin handed Adri back to Dominic.

Jess was the most
mentally fragile member of the pack, and being so nearly in Vincent's
power had done something to her. I could hear her sobbing quietly as
she rocked back and forth in the corner. I had a brief second to
wish there was something I could do for her, and then Brandon and
Vincent edged to within a hair of attack range.

Vincent was one of the
vilest people I'd ever met. There was very little he hadn't done,
and he was proud of every defilement or murder he'd achieved. I'd
always sensed that Brandon was his mirror, but never had true proof.

Brandon was cautious,
always presenting a good front, always careful to remain just to one
side of the law. Only there'd never been any way that he couldn't
have known what Vincent really was.

Somewhere along the
way since I'd last seen Brandon he'd begun shedding the facade.
There was a hunger for death, a yearning for destruction lurking
behind his eyes like paired black holes. He was just hours from
achieving his goal and stepping onto a path that was almost
guaranteed to land him on the Coun'hij, but there was a real risk he
wouldn't wait.

Vincent crowded in as
close to Brandon as he could get with Britney between them, while
Cassie rubbed up against Brandon's other flank, but my attention
momentarily flickered out to the rest of Brandon's pack and I saw
terror greater than even they should be forced to endure. They'd
always feared their alpha, but it was the safe fear of something that
could be avoided or somehow mitigated.

The safe fear was gone
now. He'd become an unpredictable force of nature. Several of them
were showing obvious bruises or otherwise moving gingerly, but they
pressed forward eagerly in the hope that doing so would save them
from further pain even for just a few minutes.

Isaac shifted ever so
slightly, pulling my attention back to the more imminent threat and
the unearthly level of power flowing back and forth between the two
packs. James and Isaac were crackling pillars of energy to either
side of me while Jas and Dom created a hum of background tingle just
behind us.

Brandon exuded a
white-hot torrent that left my skin tingling painfully as through I'd
been bitten by thousands of insects. I reached inside for my beast
but found a void instead of the answering rush of power we needed.

I could feel something
stir weakly inside me. I let my hand elongate slightly towards its
hybrid form, to verify that I hadn't somehow lost the ability to
change forms but the answering shift in my flesh did little to
reassure me.

My beast had always
been a half-feared specter that'd required a tight,
eternally-vigilant leash. Only now that it'd been subdued did I
realize just how strongly I'd leaned on it for the courage to stand
up to Brandon.

For a second it was
nearly more than I could do to remain where I was, but then I heard
Adri whisper something too faint even for my ears to make out and
there was no longer any choice.

I sunk down slightly
in preparation for springing at Brandon as his lips curled
back in anticipation.

"Break it up!
You kids back off!"

Mr. Paterson's voice
cut through the gathered onlookers with surprising effectiveness. He
hadn't been at the school long enough to understand the risk he was
running. Eventually he'd be like the rest of the administration and
faculty, like the police even. He'd eventually learn not to meddle
in Brandon's affairs, learn to fear something he didn't really
understand, but right now he was determined to make sure we didn't
ruin the celebration for the rest of the town.

Vincent was edging
ever closer. I didn't think that Brandon truly wanted the
confrontation here and now, but they were like sharks with blood in
the water. They'd scented weakness and had neither the will nor
inclination to fight the instincts demanding they finish their foes
while we were weak and vulnerable.

James and the others
sensed it too. Losing control and shifting in full view of the
gathered onlookers was as much of a death sentence as anything
Brandon might have in mind for us, but James had already picked up
the fine trembling of a shape shifter only heartbeats from changing.

I could see several of
the others on both sides start shaking as Mr. Paterson shoved his way
between the two packs. He didn't realize just how close he was to
dying and whirled back and forth between Brandon and me.

"I said break it
up!"

Things balanced on the
edge of a precipice, and in the instant just before they slipped off
the edge I felt my beast awaken with a roar of power. It sailed out
from me with an almost physical force that pushed Brandon and the
others' energy ahead of it. I heard a low, barely-perceptible growl
that demanded obedience, and it wasn't until the wolves on both sides
stilled that I realized it was issuing from my throat.

"This ends now.
I don't care who started what, you guys are done dancing. Alec, you
and your friends leave now. Brandon, you guys are out of here in the
exact opposite direction and I mean now."

Mr. Paterson looked
around expectantly, reacting as his training and fifteen years as an
educator told him he should, but he didn't have the expertise to deal
with this. Nobody moved. It was squarely in Brandon's court. We
couldn't move until his pack had backed away to give us room.

"I'm not talking
because I like the sound of my own voice people. If you leave now,
I'll forget this ever happened. If someone doesn't start moving in
the next three seconds, I'll see the whole lot of you expelled and
brought up on charges."

Vincent wanted to rip
Mr. Paterson's head off of his throat. I could feel the blood lust
radiating off of him, but Brandon waved him back and ever so slowly
the rest of the pack followed.

We exited in a tight
group, the hybrids on the outside in the most dangerous positions as
Dom, Jasmin and Rachel tried to help the other two girls out.

I picked Adri up as
soon as it was safe. Jasmin called the limo before we'd even hit the
stairs, and it screeched to a stop as we made it to the road. Adri
was trying to be brave but she obviously had a very nasty sprain.
She hissed a little as I lifted her into the limo.

I pulled the soft
pocket square from my front pocket and used it to blot away Adri's
tears.

"I'm sorry. I
didn't mean to set you down so hard."

Jasmin still looked
mad. She was slipping her cell phone into a small purse.

"Any slower and
you'd have been cut off from the rest of us by those mutts."

Adri still looked
confused. She'd been looking the wrong way and events had evolved at
more than merely human speed. Dom was helping Isaac, sandwiching
Jess between them, crooning something soft and reassuring in an
effort to calm her down. Dom looked up with unusual fire flickering
behind her dark eyes.

"Vincent and
Cassie cut Jess and Isaac off from the rest of us."

Rachel leaned in on
Adri's other side, whispering so quietly there was even a slight
chance that Jess didn't hear her.

"Jess is
terrified of what Vincent and Brandon will do to her if they get a
chance. She collapsed, and then everyone stormed the area."

We hit a particularly
rough spot in the road and for a second I thought Adri was going to
pass out. She even smelled hurt and I could only imagine the surges
of agony traveling up her leg.