Chapter 127

KATHERINE.

This was it.

Thunder came like the prelude to a great song, startling me as the impetuous rumbling permeated the air. It seemed to crack the air, as if the very sky might split apart, and rolled like the ash cloud of a volcano. It was about to rain.

“Blake!” Theo called out and even though the sky was loud, Theo's voice carried across the clearing so Blackwood must have heard it too. “We know you're in there. How about you bring Lenore out?”

My gaze slid from where Theo and Priyanka stood to the building and waited for any indication that there was someone in there but there was none. We knew he was in there though; Theo and Priyanka could smell him when we got here, so right now he was probably panicking because he definitely knew that we'd found out the truth… or he was planning how to kill us all. Well, not ‘us all' because I was currently hiding.

They had insisted I do that so that after he and Priyanka drew Blackwood out of the building, I could sneak into the building and find Lenore and the other missing students while they kept him ‘busy’. I was hiding quite a distance from the main building and since it was about to rain, Blackwood wouldn't be able to sense my presence with the rain hiding my scent. That meant I would be able to slip past him easily.

Soon, it began sprinkling. Little droplets of water drenched my skin, clothes and hair through the wooly hat on my head. The water droplets began growing larger and falling frequently.

There was a mutter of thunder as the wind tore leaves from the trees, and finally, the doors of Renfield Hall opened before Blackwood walked out of it. I was quite a distance away but I could still see him clearly and even though he was still a beautiful boy, he had this deadly aura around him that made the hair on the back of my neck rise.

It must have been pretty easy for him to take the students he did. He was good-looking, popular, and charming; anyone would have fallen for the act and trusted him. My heart tightened in my chest as I realized that the first time Chelsea had interacted with him was when she'd been with me. I wish I could go back in time and change that but I couldn't. She was gone, and it was all because of ‘him’.

“Vermin,” I heard him mutter and I glanced past him at the building, wondering where he could be keeping Lenore in there. Theo hadn't been able to scent her but she was definitely here and since Renfield Hall had a lot of rooms and hidden rooms, I was going to take quite a while to find her.

I wished Hunter and Josie were with us because certainly needed the help but we didn't know where Hunter was and Josie’s loyalties might get a bit skewed because even though Blake wasn't Blake, but Blackwood, she'd still recognize him as her soon-to-be Alpha. Theo and Priyanka didn't want to put her through that.

My attention snapped back to Blackwood as he raised his hand while walking towards Theo and Priyanka, and boulders shot out of the ground before he sent them hurtling towards them. ‘He’s an elementalist?!’ I thought while my heart slammed against my chest, but thankfully, Theo and Priyanka moved out of the way before it could hit them. After that, an all-out fight involving elements and close combat with super speed broke out, and saying a quick prayer to the moon goddess that Theo and Priyanka would remain okay, I began to move toward the building.

The ground had turned into thick, slushy mud and I had to make my steps firm so I wouldn't slip. When I finally got into the building without Blackwood noticing, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and didn't hesitate to start my search for Lenore and the other missing students.

Theo was sure that he hadn't killed Lenore yet because he seemed to be living with Blake's emotions so he wouldn't be able to hurt her. I hoped he was right and I'd find her alive. I hoped I'd find the other students alive too but a voice in the back of my head told me that was unlikely since they'd been missing for three weeks.

Theo had also assumed that she must have found out he wasn't ‘Blake’ and that was why he took her.

When five minutes passed without me finding any signs of Lenore and the missing students being here, I began to panic because Theo and Priyanka were still outside with him.

‘What if they're already dead?’ My heart threatened to burst out of my chest at that thought and even though I couldn't afford any distractions, I took a quick look outside through the window. A relieved breath escaped me. They were fine.

‘They might not remain that way if you don't move your ass!’

A rasping noise from my right drew my attention and I glanced there just as old man Ernest walked around the corner and fixed his gaze on me. The time when Theo had talked to him and he led us to Lydia after a ghost kidnapped her and Lenore came to mind, and I decided to try it out because we could ‘really’ use the help.

“Do you know where my friend is?” I asked and several moments passed with no reaction from him. Just as I was about to think talking to him was a waste of time, he nodded and my eyes went round while he turned around and began to move at an alarming level fast pace.

I immediately followed him and less than a minute later, he led me into the hidden room Lenore was in which I definitely wouldn't have been able to find on my own. “Oh my God,” I muttered as I rushed to her side.

Thankfully, she was fine, just unconscious and it wasn't hard to figure out the reason was the glowing necklace around her neck. I didn't hesitate to get rid of it and almost instantly, she startled awake, her eyes wide as if she thought she was in danger.

“Hey, hey, it's me,” I said in a rush before recognition crossed her expression and she glanced around.

“Where…” Her head suddenly snapped in my direction, her eyes wide once more before she scrambled to her feet. “Oh my God, Blake! Something's wrong with him–”

“He's possessed.”

“I know.”

“By Blackwood,” I added and surprise washed over her face

“What?” She opened her mouth to speak again but paused and drew her brows together as she ran what I just said through her mind again. “What? How?”

“I'll explain later. We need to find the other students,” I said before she glanced past me and her eyes widened just as someone grabbed my neck from behind.

“You really don't know how to mind your business, do you?”

“Blake–” Lenore was cut off as he pressed a finger to her forehead when she moved towards him, and she lifelessly dropped to the ground before slamming my head against the wall.

Pain radiated through my head and I also dropped to the ground when he released me. ‘Oh my God… Did he kill her? Why's he here? What about Theo and Priyanka? What did he do to them? …Did he kill them?’

Blackwood walked over to Lenore and brushed her hair away from her face while the expression on his face randomly switched from annoyance to tenderness. That told me that she wasn't dead and that his emotions were at war with Blake's.

‘Is Theo alright?’ was the thought that kept bouncing around in my head as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

“You're one sick bastard, you know that?” I said with a laugh while my whole body buzzed. It felt like I was drunk, but I didn't drink anything before coming here, so it was a bit confusing. “You're pathetic,” I added because did he really think he was just going to waltz in and steal someone's life, then steal a couple of other lives, and that everything would be okay? That his life would be perfect and he'd end up with someone that wasn't meant for ‘him’?

I couldn't help but laugh at that while my head throbbed and my body still buzzed. ‘God, I really hope Theo is alright…’

Blackwood scowled at me and got to his feet, heading towards me, but strangely, I didn't feel scared of what he could or would do to me. I was just pissed.

As he wrapped his hand around my neck and began to hail me up, I felt it. That spark I'd felt with him the day of the picnic and now that I thought about it, I felt it the first day of Elemental Science class when he was my partner. Oh well, that didn't matter right now. It seemed like the sparks were occurring everywhere in my body and I concentrated, willing them to my fingertips, just as he completely hauled me to my feet.

“What did you say?” he hissed and I placed my hand on his arm. I'd never done this before, and by ‘this’ I meant use my element which I was pretty sure was electricity right now, but I knew that it'd work. I was sure that it'd work.

“Eat a dick, Blackwood.” With that, I released what felt like a massive jolt into his arm and it sent him flying away from me and through the wall opposite me so fast that I'd have missed it if I blinked. “Oh!”

My heart was pounding away in my chest and the pain in my head was beginning to subside as I leaned away from the wall, staring at his unmoving body on the floor. He remained unmoving for quite a while more and just as I began to wonder if I'd killed him, he stirred.

‘Shit.’ I glanced at the doorway, then at Lenore. I didn't want to leave her here, but I obviously couldn't handle him alone. I needed help. I needed to find out if Theo was alright.

Blackwood shakily got to his feet and as he fixed his gaze on me, someone appeared next to him. It was Hunter. What Theo said about loyalties skewing came to mind, but before I could worry about it, Hunter placed his hand on Blackwood's face and muttered something that sounded like a spell. Then he dragged his hand down his face and Blackwood dropped to the ground once more.

“What did you do?” I asked when Hunter turned around. He didn't look threatening; he just looked like a worried friend so I remained where I was.

“I expelled him.”

“So it's over?” I asked and he glanced around before returning his attention to the unmoving body on the floor.

“He's not here anymore,” he replied and my shoulders sagged in relief.

For now, at least, it was over.