Men and women in black Cerberus agent uniforms are headed straight for me, wands at the ready. The man in front has pale skin, black hair, and wrinkles on his face that make him look perpetually pissed.
Agent Dubois.
Shit. Terror shoots through me as I look for an escape.
But they're on me in an instant.
Two of them grab me so tight, I can hardly to breathe.
A third rips my backpack out of my arms and tosses it to the sidewalk.
Some of the papers fall out, and they seem to drift to the sidewalk in slow motion.
The agents shove me to my knees, and one of them yanks both my arms behind my back. I let out a yelp of pain as cold, metal cuffs close around my wrists.
Dubois is in front of me, his arms clasped behind him. His pale skin has a gray undertone to it, like he hasn't slept in a while, and his dark brown eyes are shining with a savage gleam.
He leans in close. "Don't try anything," he growls in my ear. "You so much as think about using magick, and these cuffs will deliver the worst pain you've ever felt in your life."
"I doubt that," I say through gritted teeth.
Dubois straightens with a smirk. What's he so damn satisfied about?
My eyes are burning as I dart a glance around at the Cerberus agents surrounding me. The man and woman who hunted me in Port Ashford are part of this new team, and they look as pleased as Dubois does.
The crowd of students has gone silent, staring. Vivian's been pushed off to the side, and she's hugging herself, her eyes wide behind her glasses.
I can't read Caelum's expression, but Esme's still hanging off his arm, and she looks goddamned delighted to see me like this.
Dread's like an anchor in my gut, and my whole body has gone cold.
"Lyric Hart." I swear Dubois is loving this. "You are under arrest for the murder of Amanda Logan, an adult member of the Siren Collective and the Shifters' Alliance."
"Go to hell." I say it with as much disdain as I can muster, despite my fear.
His smirk only deepens, and if my hands weren't cuffed behind my back, I swear to God I'd punch that look off his face.
What's he so proud of? It's not that impressive, catching a seventeen-year-old girl.
Easy prey.
Not this time.
I let out a yelp as two agents grab my cuffed wrists and drag me to my feet.
"No!" I struggle against them. My pulse roars in my ears as I let my legs go limp, dragging the agents down. They tighten their grip, hauling me higher, and I go wild.
I headbutt the one on my left and start kicking.
Dubois grabs me by the throat. "Walk or I'll activate those cuffs." He lets me go, and the agents try to drag me away again.
Dubois means his threat. And I don't give a shit.
"Screw you!" I let out a guttural scream and throw my body around as hard as I can, kicking and howling like an animal.
The agents grunt as my kicks make contact, and two more agents come to their aid.
One of the women makes the mistake of putting her arm too close to my face.
I bite down. Hard. Something crunches between my teeth.
She lets out a yelp and jumps away from me as another agent takes her place.
My knee makes contact with his crotch, and he falls back with a grunt.
They've dragged me several yards through the crowd, and we're heading in between the buses.
"Let me go!" I struggle harder, kicking and screaming.
They suddenly release me. I land on my side, and all the air rushes from my lungs on impact.
A low buzz is reverberating through my body, emanating from the cuffs.
Dubois is standing beside me looking grim, waving his wand in the direction of the cuffs.
Dammit.
The buzz intensifies, and I let out an involuntary moan.
My whole body stiffens, electric shocks screaming through all my nerves. It feels like my jaw's wired shut.
Tears leak from my eyes.
It goes on and on and on.
Dubois hovers above me, seeming to enjoy my pain. I press my lips together, determined not to let him hear me scream.
Black dots dance across my vision, and I close my eyes. I picture Redwoods, sending me love and soothing me. I won't scream.
I won't.
I don't know how long the torture lasts, but when it lets up, I'm panting, and my cheek's pressing painfully into the rough sidewalk.
I'm staring at black boots through blurry vision.
These cuffs hurt like hell, it's true. But they've got nothin' on the blood pact torture switch. And they've got nothing on my mother.
"You ready to walk?" Dubois barks, standing over me.
I grin up at him. "Nah. I could do this all day."
His face wrinkles into a scowl. "Carry her."
Two agents haul me to my feet again. I'm so dizzy, and all my muscles are so weak, I wouldn't be able to stay standing anyway.
They begin to drag me away, toward the gap between two buses, and I go limp, doing my best to slow them down.
The woman I bit is clutching her arm to her chest. Good. At least I got some revenge before they execute me.
"Stop!" Someone is shouting, but I can barely hear.
I'm practically numb, and all my senses feel like they got fried by the cuffs.
"Stop. Right. There!" The voice yells, closer now.
My captors come to an abrupt stop, and I look up, blinking to clear my blurry vision.
Red hair, blue eyes, pale freckled face flushed with anger. She's out of breath, and there's an enormous blue purse slung over her shoulder.
Chloe.
Hope blooms in my chest. I never thought I'd be so happy to see her. The crowd of students parts so she can finally reach us.
"What do you think you're doing?" Chloe hisses at Dubois. "Lyric is an Atlantis Academy student! Release her right now."
The two agents holding me tighten their grips. They're squeezing my arms so hard, I have to press my lips together to keep from crying out.
Dubois is back to smirking. He plucks a folded piece of parchment from his vest pocket and waves it at her. It looks like something official. Like the Atlantis Academy invitation.
"I can't release her." The expression on his face tells me he's enjoying all of this way too much. What a dick. "I have a new warrant... Guardian O'Connor."
Chloe flares her nostrils, snatches the parchment away, and noisily unfolds it.
My heart's hammering a staccato beat against my ribcage, and I'm beginning to shake a little. The students around us are whispering, but I keep my eyes on Chloe, willing her to fix all this.
But hope's draining out of me with every passing second. Chloe's flushed face has gone pale again, and she's just staring down at the paper.
"If you have any objections," Dubois says haughtily, "you can take it up with any of the four ArchGuardians who signed that warrant. Miss Hart will remain in Cerberus custody until she receives her sentence." He tries to take the warrant back, but Chloe snaps it away from his grasp.
"Hand over the warrant," he says in a low, dangerous tone.
"No. I won't." She folds the warrant back up and drops it into her blue bag of holding, where I hope it disappears forever.
"That's obstruction of justice," Dubois growls.
"Uh-huh." She shrugs and speaks so softly I can hardly hear her. "Then I guess it's a good thing Guardians don't abide by your laws."
Dubois's eyes flash with anger, and he takes a step toward her, his hands clenched into fists. My heart rate goes up even more.
He looks like he'd win in a fight, but my money's on Chloe anyway. If somebody would uncuff me, I'd join in too. I'm ready to bloody this shithead up.
"See, I think you're confused." Chloe gives him a polite, fake smile, seemingly unbothered by his aggressive stance. "None of those four ArchGuardians have jurisdiction on this campus."
Dubois shoots a look at the other members of his team. "I'm following my orders. And my orders—"
"Are irrelevant." Chloe closes the distance between her and Dubois. She looks up at him, and he maintains eye contact, his fists still tightly clenched.
"Say good-bye to your career, Dubois," she says in the same low voice. "I already knew you didn't have much talent, but you're clearly a moron as well."
Go, Chloe, go! I can't help it, I'm smiling.
Dubois is totally gonna punch her. Hope he tries it. I bet horrible things happen to people if they punch a Guardian.
Chloe raises a brow at him. "Do you know who's in charge on this campus?"
A vein pops out on Dubois's neck, but he still doesn't respond.
"Chancellor ArchGuardian Visconti. And you didn't clear this arrest with her, now did you? I know you didn't, because she wouldn't have condoned it... at least not like this. She's going to be very displeased with you for creating such a scene. And on Orientation Day, no less."
"I know she'll approve this arrest." Dubois is looking at her with open hate on his face. "I—"
"Will go in there right now," Chloe spits, pointing back at the main building, "so we can ask the chancellor herself." She raises her voice, gesturing to all the other agents. "The rest of you... You will release Miss Hart and return to your vehicles. You are not welcome on this campus, scaring our freshman students and causing trouble on their very first day."
The agents look to Dubois and wait for his order.
He grinds his teeth, and after a long moment, gives them a stiff nod.
The two holding me let me go, and I bite back a sigh of relief. My arms are aching so badly, but that's nothing compared to the pain in my cuffed wrists.
All the agents except Dubois disappear, heading back to wherever they came from, beyond the line of waiting buses.
"Well?" Chloe snaps her fingers at Dubois. "Uncuff her."
"She's a danger to everyone." Cold rage radiates off of him in waves. "And I have orders to arrest her. So until those orders change—"
"Believe me, they will." Chloe's the one smirking now. "Come, Lyric."
I shuffle forward, pain shooting through my oddly bent arms.
"Please clear the way," she says, raising her voice.
The crowd of gaping students parts before us, and as we pass them by, the murmurs grow louder. Soon the entire crowd has erupted in a loud roar of chatter.
Murderer.
That's what they're saying. I hear the word echoing through the crowd.
I'm coming out of my daze, and reality is starting to set in.
My face gets fiery hot.
I just acted like an animal back there... like a cornered cat on crack. In front of pretty much the entire freshman class.
I thought I was fighting my last fight. I thought I was dead and on my way to an execution. I didn't really expect to see any of these people again.
I keep my flushed face down, staring at the sidewalk as Chloe makes way for us.
Whatever. Let them all talk. Let them all hate me and treat me like shit. That's how things were going anyway, even before this.
I'd rather be an outcast at this school than be freakin' executed.
I swallow back the bile creeping up my throat.
We're climbing the stairs now, and my brain's trying to figure out what's gonna happen next. Chloe's acting like the chancellor will let me stay.
Dubois seems confident she'll hand me over to Cerberus.
Panic's starting to overtake me again, and I'm breathing too fast.
As we reach the front doors, I glance up through the Redwood canopy and pray the only way I know how to.
Higher power... God... Goddess... Spirits of the trees.
I swear I'll never murder a siren again. It was an accident.
Please.
Help.