Big Bad Academy

He’s right, we’re one short.

Erin was with us at the swimming hole, but there’s no denying the fact that right now, she’s suddenly gone.

Fuck.

Chapter Fifteen

Heather

“Shit,” Lily says, running to the window when she hears the howls. “Something’s wrong.”

We can’t see the pack from the smaller castle, but she looks at me and nods.

“We’ve got to go,” she tells me. “We need to see what happened.”

Together, we take off out of the apartment. My not-so-secret bodyguard emerges from the shadows and follows after us, but both Lily and I ignore him and essentially pretend he’s not there. We rush down the hall, down the stairs, and out into the darkness. My body guard catches up and looks at me, but I shake my head at him.

“I’m not running away,” I tell him. “I need to see Flynn. Can you help me get there?”

He looks slightly uncomfortable with the fact that I’ve basically called him out, but he nods and takes the lead. He shows me quickly through the forest. Lily is already ahead of us as we move. By the time we reach the group, she’s by Maxwell’s side, and my body guard pauses at the edge of the group. Flynn sees us and his eyes narrow, but he comes over and I rush to him. I hug him, and he seems surprised by this.

“You’re okay,” I breathe out. He’s naked and muddy and sweaty, but he’s here and he’s fine. A woman comes out of the main castle and starts handing out sweats to everyone who needs clothes. Apparently, what happened was bad enough that nobody else wants to wander off alone.

“I’m fine,” he says, but he’s shaken.

“What happened?”

“Erin’s gone. Someone took her.”

Fuck.

My chest suddenly feels tight, and I can’t help but feel like this was all my fault. I sit down on the ground, suddenly, and Flynn is beside me.

“What are we going to do?” I whisper.

“You’re going to go back to the bedroom,” he tells me. “The adults are going to go search the woods. We should be able to pick up his scent.” Flynn looks at my body guard and nods. “You come with me,” he says. “Heather can be trusted to go back to the room.”

“I have to do something,” I say. “What can I do?”

“Nothing,” he shrugs sadly, and my heart hurts even more. “There’s nothing that can be done.”

I can’t believe that’s true, though. I can’t believe that after all of this, that’s all there is. I can’t believe that Erin has been stolen away because of my books, but then something hits me.

“The shifters,” I say. “The other shifters. Maybe there’s something about them that’s distinctive,” I tell him. “Maybe there’s a reason they were taken. If we can figure out a pattern or something, then maybe we can figure out where this guy is taking Erin.”

Flynn says nothing for a moment, and then he

nods.

“Lily!”

Lily breaks away from Gaston and they both walk over.

“I want you to go back to my room with Heather. Make a list of characteristics of the shifters who have gone missing,” he says. “Try to figure out if they appear in any of Heather’s books. You know her stories as well as she does, I’m guessing, so try to see if anything stands out. If they’re represented in any books, then maybe we’ll get a clue as to where they’re being held or why they’re being taken.” He shakes his head. “Who knows? Maybe this is all the work of a deranged fan.”

He turns and walks away, and Gaston turns to me.

“You two go straight back to the little castle,” he says. “No wandering off.”