Fallen University: Year Three

The man stood up shakily and started pushing his cart down the alley. “Don’t know nothing ’bout nothing. Good day, figments.”

“Wait, you can’t just—”

“I said good day!” The man flipped his blanket like a cloak and scurried away with his cart.

“Holy shit. I don’t like the sound of that.” Kai’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at the man’s retreating back.

“Gavriel’s PR team must be working overtime,” Kingston said. “Spreading fear through humanity. The sooner we figure out where he’s coming through for his big attack and get the Custodians on board, the better.”

“How are we going to do that?” Hannah asked. “Figure out where he’s coming through, I mean.”

“We could ask the Custodians for help,” Jayce suggested doubtfully.

I shook my head. “We shouldn’t even talk to them until we have more information. Until we can give them something concrete and actionable—and even then, I don’t know if we’ll be able to make them listen. They’re supposed to kill us on sight, remember? We need another option. Dru isn’t even a safe bet, honestly. I don’t think he’d kill us, but he probably won’t help us.”

“My place,” Kingston said abruptly. “I haven’t spoken with my team in a while, but I don’t think they would have gotten themselves caught. They should still be with my company.”

“Great, so let’s port there,” Xero said. “We’ve been standing here too long already.”

“No porting.” Hannah shook her head firmly. “The Custodians will be able to sense the magic signature, and I’d bet that they can pick up on the banish mark too.”

“Then we definitely need to move right fucking now,” Kai said, his body tensing as he glanced around the alley like it was about to become overrun with Custodians. “We’ll figure it out on the way.”

Stepping out of the alley and onto the street was a shock. We were in my old neighborhood, and everything was obscenely normal. The same shops I used to go to were open and bustling with business. The same faces moved through their work days, utterly ignorant of the impending apocalypse. It was more unsettling than I would have thought.

“Oh look, Piper, it’s the bar!” Several minutes later, Hannah pointed across the street. “We met outside of it right before we were both turned,” she told the guys.

“I wonder if that means there’s a pattern of fallen activity in this area,” I said, trying to shake off the shell-shocked feeling of being back here. “We should move faster. And deliberately. Anybody have any ideas on how to get to Kingston’s place without attracting Custodian attention? I mean, I’m assuming it isn’t close enough for us to walk to.”

Kingston shook his head, then snapped his fingers. “I’m an idiot.”

Jayce grinned. “Agreed, but why?”

The dragon shifter ignored him. “I can just call for the jet,” he said. Then he scowled. “Damn it, my phone. You guys don’t… no, of course you don’t have phones. We need to find a phone.”

“There used to be a pay phone at the little grocery store up the street,” Hannah said. “I don’t know if it’s still there, but we can check.”

We followed her up a side street. As we moved, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

At first I thought it was because the last time I’d been on that street, I’d been running from a monster—but after a while I realized that it was because we were getting close to Colin’s place. We passed the spot where my car had broken down that day, and I wondered how long it had sat there before getting jacked.

Kai nudged my shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

“I’m fine. My ex lives around here somewhere. I was just… remembering.”

The toffee-skinned man beside me adopted a super casual posture. “Miss him?”

I grinned, a snort-laugh bursting out of me. “Not even a little bit. He’s a complete douchebag. Besides, how could I miss him when I have you guys?”

“Good point.” Kai took my hand and squeezed it briefly, sending warmth sparking up my arm.

“There it is.” Hannah pointed as we approached a small grocery story on the corner. A pay phone stood outside, with a piece of paper duct taped to the bottom of it.

“Out of order,” Kingston read. “Looks like it’s been out of order for years. Shit. I guess I can ask inside. You guys wait out here, or they’ll think we’re robbing the place.”

“Why would they think that?” Hannah asked, her eyes wide.

“Look at us.” I shook my head. “We’re pretty intimidating. I think humans could feel the power coming from us, and even if they missed that, we definitely don’t fit in. These damned clothes make us stand out too much. We look like we escaped from a mental institution.”