Fallen University: Year Three

Damn it. I need higher ground.

What if we had all been sent to different places? What if I was alone in this blustering, freezing, howling desert? I couldn’t handle that. The thought of wandering the underworld infinitely, searching for my tribe, made every synapse in my brain short-circuit with panic.

I looked around frantically and found a huge boulder. Higher ground. I pulled myself up, scraping my knees and fingers on the jagged stone. My heart clenched in my chest, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

When I reached the top, the landscape didn’t change. It went on and on, all gray and cold and empty.

No. Please, goddamn it. No. I can’t do this without them.

“Xero! Jayce!” My voice seemed to be snatched away from me by the wind, which scattered it uselessly across the threatening landscape. “Hannah! Kai! Kingston!”

What sound wasn’t scattered was drowned out by the howling of the wind through the stones. My voice wasn’t enough.

Calm down, Pipes. You can’t project when you’re panicking.

I sucked in oxygen, calling on every ounce of meditative discipline that Jayce had taught me, breathing into my center. There it was. My power was still there—just trapped and hidden under panic.

“Xero!” I called his name with my voice and heart at once, sending a beacon out across the underworld meant only for him. “Jayce!”

One after the other, I called their names again. Then again, and again, until I was hoarse. My heart sank. Just as I was bracing myself to accept that I was really and truly alone, I heard something in the brush below. Prepared for a fight, I watched the plants move.

Then I caught sight of the figure as it emerged, and it felt like all my bones dissolved as a sound that was half sob, half laugh fell from my lips.

“Xero!”

“Piper. Oh, thank fuck.”

Relief drenched his features, and I saw sharp fear leave his eyes. He’d been worried about the same thing I had.

Jayce, Kingston, Kai, and Hannah all found their way to us moments later, called to me by my succubus power. I had even managed to call Hannah, despite not having quite the same bond with her as the guys. I scrambled down off the rock and ran to them. I threw my arms around Jayce, feeling his heart race against my chest.

“You’re okay.” I pulled back and cupped his face in my hands, gazing into those warm, sky-blue eyes. “I would have died if you weren’t.”

“I’ll always be okay, Piper,” he said, brushing the hair off my face. “As long as I have you.”

I kissed him deeply, then felt Kai’s warm, strong arms around my waist. Laughing through tears, I turned to him and kissed him. “And you,” I breathed. “My voice of reason. My grumpy knight. Fuck, I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’d have let you find me again,” he said with a little smile. “And if you didn’t, I would’ve found you. No matter what it took.”

I reached for Kingston, and he came with a sly smile and a little swagger. “You know how dragons are about their treasure,” he said. “I could never lose track of you. Even if I wanted to. Which…” He raised his brows as if considering the benefits of such an outcome.

“Oh, shut up, ass.” I smacked his taut stomach as I laughed.

He grinned and kissed me, then twirled me like a ballroom dancer into Xero’s waiting arms. Xero kissed my forehead and cheeks and neck, then my mouth. He lifted me in his arms as if I weighed nothing at all.

“I’m sorry you’re back here,” I murmured. “But I’m glad you’re with me.”

He smiled, and there was pain in it. But there was truth in his voice when he said, “Anywhere you are could never truly be hell, Piper. If I’m here with all of you, it’s exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

He lowered me and kissed me again, threading his fingers through my hair. Then he set me down on my feet, and I held my hands out to Hannah. She stepped forward, her gaze flicking between me and my guys.

“I’m lucky you’re so patient,” I told her with a smile. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you to have me constantly surrounded like this.”

“Eh, it’s all right. They’re bearable creatures; I don’t mind.” She grinned at my bond-mates as she hugged me.

Xero was still frowning thoughtfully at the world around us.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.