Smoke and Survival (Best Wishes Book 2) Read online

  “But what, Love?” Logan prompted, looking concerned at my sudden change of demeanor. I ignored him, my sole focus on checking my phone, and wound up fumbling with the device, almost dropping it when I finally got it out of my jacket pocket because my hands were shaking.

  Unknown Number: hello, Lucie baby

  My phone slipped from my numbing fingers as my vision blurred, and the noises around me started to sound far away. Oh god no…

  “Hello, Lucie baby…” His voice was cold as his hand wrapped around my throat, the pressure cutting off my air…

  Logan

  Lucie’s phone slipped out of her trembling hands, dropping to the table with a thud. Her eyes widened with fear as her pale skin took on a sickly sheen with a green hue. Hudson and Cam immediately snapped into action, assessing her and how bad her panic attack was.

  “Whatever she’s seeing isn’t here.” Hudson’s voice echoed through my head, keeping his observation to only us at the table so those around us wouldn’t hear. I reached over and snatched up her phone. Cam’s voice echoed within my head with another observation, his head tilted as he discreetly sniffed the air.

  “Whatever she saw terrified her; the smell of fear is wafting off of her in nearly suffocating waves.” I unlocked her cell while Hudson and Cam attempted to soothe Lucie out of her flashback. I felt my blood boil at the words I saw on the screen.

  Unknown Number: hello, Lucie baby

  Fury burned through my veins, knowing instinctively who it was. I felt my lip curl back in a snarl as I stared at the text. The pinpricks across my scalp and fingers, signifying the growth of my claws and horns, shot through me the longer I glared at the words, my Rage drowning out everything else. The smell of sulfur and smoke filled my nose, the acrid scent snapping me out of my haze. The Rage pulled back, my ears no longer ringing in the midst of my meltdown. I had accidentally conjured my hellfire, the slip-up betrayed by the blackened handprint burned into the top of the table. I took several deep breaths, my eyes falling shut as my daemon claws retreated into my human looking nails.

  When I opened my eyes, everyone was looking at me with wide, fear-laden eyes. It was rare when Landon or I would use our hellfire, but it wasn’t impossible, especially when The Rage was close to the surface. Get control of yourself, I lectured, Lucie needs you, not a daemon in Rage. She was slowly returning to herself when I looked at her, Cam coaching her through breathing and grounding exercises like the ones that Charlie had done early in the semester.

  “It’s him,” I ground out between clenched teeth. The tension around the table climbed to staggering heights at my announcement. Landon’s hands flared with hellfire, his daemon side coming forward, enticed by my words and the strength of my still-lingering Rage. Grigori squawked in anger, and Nik’s face became hard, his blank expression giving way to stone. Cam’s fangs were on display as he snarled in my direction, and Dante was curling and uncurling his hands into fists, his muscles rippling with the urge to shift. Hudson’s lips curved into a severe frown while anger burned in his eyes.

  “He always called me Lucie baby or babygirl.” Lucie’s voice was small and trembling. She was back with us and out of her flashback, her pale skin coated in a light layer of sweat and her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “That came in last night, but I didn’t really read it when I was changing into my pajamas since I was so tired. I only remembered because you asked about my eating.”

  She looked at her food and pushed it away from her as she dry heaved. She threw a hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. Someone as amazing as her should never have to suffer, especially not like this, I thought, holding at bay my instinctive urge to tear apart the room.

  “It’s all right, Firecracker, we’re here. We’re going to keep you safe. We need to go to Dean Renaud’s office. He needs to be notified.” Dante slipped seamlessly into his unspoken role of leader, his words steady with authority despite the continuing rippling of his muscles.

  Anger had my own stomach unsettled, turning what I had already eaten into a lead weight. Dumping Lucie’s and my trays, I grabbed our bags. She curled under Cam’s arm, her face pressed into his coat while Nik held her hand. It was some of the only physical contact he’d had with anyone other than Cam in years, and it didn’t escape my notice, even in my anger, that he slowly walked closer to her with each step. Grigori had shuffled away from his normal perch, down Nik’s arm, and over to Lucie’s shoulder.

  The familiar rubbed a feathery wing against her cheek to comfort her. Grigori cares about Lucie just as much as we do, I noted with surprise. He hadn’t sat on anyone else’s shoulder other than hers, and that included us. Hell, he didn’t let anyone touch him other than Nik, and now Lucie. It spoke volumes of how much Nik cared about our girl. Lost in my internal musings, trying to distract myself from my anger, it didn’t take long to reach the front door of the Administration building.

  “Good morning, boys, how may I…” The older gentleman at the front desk trailed off when he saw Lucie crying between Cam and Nik. “Oh my goodness, Lucie, I’ll call Mr. Renaud right away, so he knows you’re coming.” His wobbly, creaking voice was frantic when he glanced at the beautiful girl who looked defeated between them. I nodded my head and responded with a quick ‘thanks’ as I followed Landon toward the stairs. Lucie, Cam, and Nik trailed behind us with Dante and Hudson bringing up the back of the group.

  When we reached the fourth and final floor of the building, the dean’s office door flew open, Dean Renaud standing on the other side. My steps faltered with how terrifying he looked: light blue eyes burning, feet apart, shoulders pulled back, and the hand not holding the door open was in a white-knuckled fist. His power audibly crackled in the air as he shifted out of the way and waved for us to enter. Once we were inside the spacious office, he closed the door firmly and walked to the front of the group, standing near his desk.

  “What happened?” His voice was clipped but not overtly angry, his power softening to a dull hum, likely so he wouldn’t scare Lucie. I handed him Lucie’s phone for him to see the text himself. As he read it, his brow furrowed. His eyes scanned the screen multiple times before responding. “Is it safe to assume this is Noah?” He looked at us, watching intently as I nodded an answer.

  “Yes, it came in last night, but no one read it until this morning at breakfast. Lucie told us that was what he always called her. We came straight here,” Dante explained.

  Dean Renaud ran his free hand through his gelled hair, messing it a bit. He nodded slightly, lost in thought while still looking at the phone. His jaw tensed every few moments, the quiet growing around the room as we waited for his response. It was easy to remember how powerful he was when his eyes burned in fury.

  “All right,” he finally said in the tense silence. “We’re going to do what we discussed this past weekend. You will keep close to her. If these continue, then we’ll have one of you with her at all times, but for right now just stay close.” He turned his attention to her. She had stopped crying and was standing up straight. “Lucie, will you be all right with the same phone number, or do you want me to get you a new one?” Her jaw was set, and her hands were fisted at her sides. Her eyes hard with determination. There’s our Lucie.

  When she spoke, her voice was strong and precise. “I’ll keep this number unless it gets worse. If it does, I’ll look into getting a new one. We can monitor any incoming messages or calls if I keep this phone active.” She didn’t avoid Dean Renaud’s eyes as everyone else did; in fact, she honestly looked like a shorter version of him in her stature and determination. “I’ll let my mom and my best friend who’s at UW know to keep an eye out for him.”

  “That sounds like a good plan, Lucie,” the dean praised proudly as he looked at her with a small smile, his anger receding the longer she spoke. “How are you handling all of this?”

  “I had a flashback when I read it and looking at my breakfast almost made me sick, but I’m all right now,” she answered softly, her eyes shif
ting to one of the many bookshelves in the office.

  “Do you mind telling me about the flashback?” He sat down in his highback office chair as he motioned for her to sit in one of the leather chairs. “I’m not a professional, but I would like for you to think of this as a safe location to talk about what had happened. Together, we can try to work through some of your anxiety.”

  Before she started talking, she took the seat in the right chair as the rest of us got settled. Dante claimed the left one with Hudson perching on the arm. Nik took his usual preference of leaning against something, this time against one of the many shelves, positioning himself behind Lucie’s chair. Grigori shifted off Lucie’s shoulder when Nik stepped back from her. Landon and I kneeled on either side of her while Cam stood behind the chair where Dante and Hudson were seated. I took her left hand in mine while Landon put a hand on her knee.

  She took a deep breath, her hands trembling ever so slightly as she started explaining. “He had just moved into his apartment. I don’t remember what he was upset about, but he came up to me and said, ‘Hello, Lucie baby’ and he…” She swallowed hard, shadows flashing in her eyes. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, trying to keep my anger under control. Don’t burn Lucie. Whatever she was mentally telling herself was working, and her spine straightened like she was physically gathering her strength. “He choked me until I passed out.”

  “That fucking bastard,” Landon sent over our mental link.

  “I’m going to kill him,” I sent back. I saw Landon nod in response, his Rage boiling so close to the surface that his eyes filtered between normal and blacked out.

  “Very good, Lucie, you’re doing well. I know I’ve told you before, but my office is always open for you.” He nodded at her approvingly. “That goes for you too, gentlemen. If you need anything, you’re more than welcome to come to me at any time.” His attention moved from Lucie to my brothers and me. It felt odd to have such a powerful supe being so personable. Not saying that most supes aren’t personable, but this is one of the most powerful supes around.

  “Is this weird? This feels weird, right?” I mentally shot to Landon.

  “Having a Transcendent basically telling you that you can come to his office whenever we want? Hell yes, it’s weird. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him being so accommodating,” Landon responded.

  I nodded slightly, turning my attention back to our girl. Her skin was finally starting to look normal, the sickly green tint fading. She glanced at her phone during the lull in the conversation and climbed to her feet, essentially cutting off any more discussion.

  “Thank you for everything, Alex, but we have class soon, and we have our debate today.” She gestured to Dante, Cam, and Nik. The dean stood and led her to the door with his hand lightly resting on her upper back.

  “I completely understand. Thank you for coming to me with this as soon as you were aware. Let me know if it continues or escalates.” She nodded and turned to him before passing through the door, and my brothers and I stood behind her, waiting to exit the room. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, Lucie,” the dean told her with a small smile as he held open the door for us, each of us saying goodbye as we left. We filed down the four flights of stairs with Lucie leading the way, her stride filled with determination, her back straight and head held high. She strode confidently through the lobby with a wave and warm smile to the front desk clerk.

  “Bye, Jonathon, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” His face wrinkled in a smile, and he sent a croaked ‘be good’ as she pushed open the front doors. The weather was still chilled, but the sun had poked through the clouds as we made our way to our respective classes. Hugs and waves were exchanged before we went our separate ways throughout the quad.

  2

  November 1st

  Thursday Morning

  Lucienne

  The first debate teams were closing their second rebuttal. Professor Crest reminded us at the beginning of class that this was more of a practice debate to get a feel for how the process would go. Learning how to conduct research, the steps of the debate, and getting a feel for the time limits to help prepare us for our larger debate that would occur during the spring semester. We had a speech that we needed to write and present to the class individually before winter break started to help us ‘learn to persuade others.’ I wasn’t looking forward to that one since it would only be me instead of with a partner, but there was nothing I could do about it. We were picking out topics for those speeches at the end of class today.

  The other debate finished quickly, so Cam and I, along with Dante and Nik, moved to the front of the classroom and sat at our respective tables—Affirmative for Dante and Nik, Negative for us. Dante was the first to go for their team. His deep, melodic voice carried through the room with confidence, his head high with his shoulders drawn back. The dominant, alpha vibes I was getting from him captured my attention as well as almost every girl in class. I pulled my attention from my blatant staring to get focused on our portion of the debate and not on the sexy, tanned shifter addressing the class. Head in the game, Lucie, focus and don’t drool.

  “Our debate today is on the topic of whether supernaturals are superior to humans. My partner and I have come up with multiple reasons why this statement is true. First would be that the majority of supernatural creatures have some type of power or powers. These skills give them the ability to perform feats that humans would never be able to duplicate.

  “An example would be that it takes a fairly large group of human firefighters to stop and put out a fire, as well as to save someone from the destruction. It would take one, possibly two, water or fire elementals to extinguish the fire and a supe with the ability to fly or reach high locations to save the person trapped. The group of human firefighters are not always able to achieve the end goal. Sometimes fires continue, and sometimes they are not able to save that individual. This is because the fire is too much for humans to control, while it would be easily contained by supernaturals.”

  Dante continued with several different examples of situations where supernaturals’ powers would be more effective than what humans could do. I jotted down bulleted points of what he was saying so Cam and I could create our rebuttals during the intermission. Once Dante had reached his five-minute time limit, he sat back at their table next to Nik. I was presenting the first of our points, so I collected my notecards and stepped up to the podium. Deep breath. I inhaled deeply before speaking, willing my voice to be steady.

  “As Dante said previously, we are discussing whether supernaturals are superior to humans. My partner and I have several points which will show you this statement is false. Throughout our society and our history, both human and supernatural, we have multitudes of differences: hair colors, sexual preferences, powers, skin tones, intelligence levels, athletic ability, artistic ability. The list goes on.

  “Why would one of the differences be superior to others? Those who are great artists are held in high esteem, and their stories and art are carried through generations, propelling that piece of history, but that does not mean they are superior to others who lived during those times. Athletes, both human and supernatural, are in a similar situation. They are placed in the spotlight due to their efficiency and athletic ability in whatever sport they compete in. They are looked up to by children as role models. These children want to follow in their footsteps, but that does not make these athletes better or superior to us,” I explained. When I finally reached the end of my speech, I had only three seconds to spare before the five minutes were up. I smiled slightly at no one in particular before sinking into my chair, making sure not to plop down like I wanted to.

  Nik explained their second point, essentially that an elitist view would be beneficial to the structure of society. I know it was just a mock debate and that none of my guys or any of my friends in the supe community felt this way, but my stomach rolled at the thought of anyone actually believing these viewpoints. I grew up in the human community and had spent m
y entire life, until five months ago, believing I was a human. I had gone to human school, had human friends, a human mom. Well, a human adoptive mom, who turned out not to be my actual mother. She found me in the alley of her workplace one night when I was just a baby. I still felt like an outsider in the supe community unless I was with my guys, Sadie, or Benji. Even Alex made me feel like I belonged, but I still got wide-eyed and speechless when someone did something significant with their powers.

  I refocused on the debate as Nik finished his first point. His voice had to be spelled to be heard throughout the room. The longer he talked the more I saw him swallowing and drinking from a water bottle I’d never noticed before. My heart clenched painfully in my chest, the urge to take notes on what he was saying vanishing with the growing struggle he had with speaking. Oh, Nik. I quickly blinked away tears as he finished up his speech, Cam’s movement next to me pulling me out of my stupor. Turning my attention, I scanned through Cam’s notes on Nik’s presentation so I could have proper counterarguments prepared. Cam made quick work of our next point which included that humans can do great things as well even without powers. That famous storming on D-Day? Yup, all humans.

  Finally, over twenty minutes later, after Dante and Nik’s final rebuttals came to a close, we were able to return to our normal table. Thank god, I hate public speaking. I slumped in my chair, exhaustion seeping into my bones. Along with my healing, the flashback this morning was zapping all my energy. It didn’t help that I had noticed people throughout the room sneaking glances over at our table. The news of Justin’s attack had spread quickly over the weekend, but I had been holed up in my dorm since then so I didn’t fully realize that I would be the center of the gossip. Ugh. I rolled my neck trying to loosen the knots that had gotten worse in the recent weeks. When I stopped, Cam’s warm hand cupped the back of my neck, rubbing gently on the knots. A small groan rumbled in my throat catching the attention of my guys around the table.