Page 88 of Midnight of Ashes
I beamed as I slid off Cillian’s back. “Mad, it was amazing! I flew! We went to a waterfall and around the mountains and?—”
My words cut off as I took in Maddox’s face. There was no hint of levity in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He swallowed hard, looking to the men behind me still in their dragon forms. “The police were on campus. They want to talk to Hayden.”
45
HAYDEN
I twisted my fingers together in intricate knots as trees flew past the SUV’s windows.
“Let’s go over the game plan,” Cillian said from behind the wheel. His voice would’ve sounded calm to just about everyone else. But I could hear the tension wrapping around his vocal cords.
“We should get our lawyer on this,” Easton groused from the seat behind me.
Maddox shook his head. “If we throw our overpriced shark on this, the cops are instantly going to look harder at Hayden.”
My knuckles blanched white, all the blood leaving them.
Cáel covered my hand with his. “It’s going to be okay.”
I nodded, but there was nothing in me that believed him.
Cillian’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. As he took me in, a muscle in his cheek popped. “Mad is right. For now, we play innocent. If they want to talk to Hayden again, then we get the lawyer involved.”
There were several sounds of assent throughout the vehicle.
“Good,” Cillian clipped. “Knox will play the doting boyfriend.”
Knox shot me a smug grin. “That’s going to be a real hardship.”
Cáel sent a growl in his direction.
I squeezed his hands with my fingers. “Play. That doesn’t change what you are to me, too.”
He let out a little huff.
“I’ll be taking the role of overprotective big brother,” Cillian went on. “And Mad, the liaison to the university.”
“What about me and Cáel?” Easton asked.
“You guys are going to keep your distance. It would look weird as hell if all five of us showed up.” Cillian’s gaze flicked to Cáel through the rearview mirror. “And your dragon is too close to the surface after the ordeal with Brent.”
The snarl that left Cáel’s lips was more menacing than I’d heard before. I twisted in my seat, pressing a hand to his cheek. “Look at me,” I pleaded.
Cáel didn’t move for a moment.
I swiped my thumb back and forth across his cheek. “Cáel,” I whispered. “Come back to me.”
Slowly, his focus moved from Cillian down to me. His eyes were almost completely silver.
“We’re being strategic. That’s all. I’ll be perfectly safe. And then I’ll be back with you in an hour, tops.”
Cáel’s jaw worked back and forth. “I don’t like it.”
I let out a breath. “Me neither. But we’re going to get it over with so we can all move on.”
Cáel leaned down, pressing his forehead to mine. “You tell me if they hurt you.”
