Chapter 251: A Father’s Wrath.
An Hour ago...
Renn sat alone in the quiet cafeteria, waiting. Miss Valois had asked to meet him one last time. He already had a feeling about what she wanted to talk about. Maybe she would say it wasn’t her fault they were separated, or that he had been too harsh with her. Whatever it was, he wasn’t ready to listen.
He had been there for thirty long minutes, frustration growing inside him. He pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket to call her when he saw her walk in. The place was empty except for the two of them. All the students were in the hall, leaving the air still and heavy.
"You can’t keep me waiting this long when you’re the one who called me here," Renn said, his voice edged with anger.
"I’m sorry," Miss Valois said softly. She stood there with her hands behind her, her face pale and filled with sadness. Something about her eyes made his heart tighten, but before he could speak again, she pulled out a gun.
The sound of two gunshots broke the silence. Renn gasped, falling to the floor as pain tore through his legs. He looked at her in disbelief, his mind refusing to accept what had just happened.
Miss Valois walked closer, her eyes wet with tears. Her voice trembled as she whispered, "I have to do it for us. I can’t let them kill me for her. I will call your cousin, Dave to get you to the hospital."
Renn stared at her, confused and broken, feeling his world collapse right in front of him.
*****
Kaito headed for the principal’s office and when he got there, he knocked, but no one answered. He pushed the door open and found Hiro sitting on one of the chairs inside. A wave of relief washed through him when he saw his brother.
"What’s up, man?" Hiro stood up as they shook hands and shared a quick hug. "You got an invitation too?"
"Yes, a few minutes ago," Kaito answered, looking around the office. He sat beside his brother and asked, "Where’s Principal Valois? Did you meet her?"
"I did. She left not too long ago, maybe four minutes ago." Hiro took a sip from the wine in his glass. He had served himself since the principal didn’t offer. "She’ll be back in fifteen minutes, so we wait and chill."
"I know for sure you weren’t offered that drink," Kaito said with a chuckle, looking at him.
"Principal Valois never offers me anything when I come to her office, so I take care of it myself," Hiro replied, leaning back in his seat. "Do you know why she invited you this morning?"
"No, but I also wanted to see her, so this is a good opportunity," Kaito said.
"What’s happening?" Hiro stood up to get an extra glass.
"I won’t drink. We have a long day ahead and I already have a bad feeling about it," Kaito told him.
"I’m still confused, Kaito. What’s happening today?" Hiro asked as he sat down again. His eyes moved around the office, wondering if it was safe to talk. There could be cameras hidden somewhere.
"Damn, I forgot to inform Taros and you about it," Kaito said, slapping his knee in frustration and leaning forward. "Last time we talked, Angela made a decision. She’s going to meet Marcus today."
"Marcus? You mean her father?" Hiro’s brows pulled together in confusion. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. "No way. How could you let that happen?"
"Yes. Marcus Malynster," Kaito said quietly.
"No way," Hiro muttered again, setting the glass back on the table. The thought of drinking suddenly felt wrong. "You’re joking, right? Why would you and Renn even agree to that?"
"If I didn’t accept it, she would’ve gone without telling anyone. I didn’t want that," Kaito said. His voice carried the weight of helplessness. "The decision is already made. All we can do now is protect her. We have to make sure Marcus doesn’t harm her."
"Damn it," Hiro said, running his hand through his hair as he paced around the room. His mind was a mess, full of worry and anger. "I’ll talk to her. She has to change her mind. She can’t go to him."
"You shouldn’t. Principal Valois is planning to hand her over to Marcus. That’s why I want to talk to the principal, so she would make it possible for father and daughter to have a discussion instead of the plan she has."
"Wow... there’s so much I need to know because I feel like a fool," Hiro said with a fake smile. He walked to the door and opened it, but when he tried to go out, he hit an unseen boundary. He couldn’t move past it. "What the fuck is that?"
Kaito stood up at once and went to the door. His eyes narrowed when he saw wolfbane spread along the frame. A deep frown formed on his face. He stepped out without effort, breaking the barrier with ease.
"I forget you can break these boundaries," Hiro said as his brother cleared the line. Now he could also walk out.
Just then, the fire alarm rang. Kaito stopped when he saw gas filling the hall. From the sharp smell, he knew exactly what it was. Anaesthesia gas.
"Go back inside!" he shouted to his brother. Hiro rushed back into the office, and Kaito came after him, slamming the door.
"What is going on?" Hiro asked, his voice shaking.
"It’s a trap," Kaito growled. "Principal Valois is playing a game." His voice was filled with anger and rage as he kicked the wall in frustration. "I have to figure this out. What the hell is going on? I have to find a way out."
"Kaito," Hiro called softly, almost afraid to speak. There was no answer. His brother kept muttering to himself, pacing back and forth. "You’re bleeding... your nose."
Kaito stopped and touched his face. His fingers came away wet with blood. "It’s Angela," he said in a low, trembling voice. "She’s hurt... Fuck."
His eyes burned with fury. The fire inside him began to rise, his energy building as he called it forth. Flames of power circled him as he prepared to break free, to get his brother out, and to save his mate.
He would find Angela, and Principal Valois would learn a lesson she would never forget.
*****
Marcus woke with a heavy head and the room spun around him from too much drink the night before, the party still clinging to his thoughts because he had started drinking long before he left to meet Principal Valois, and now he tried to remember what promise she had made but the memory slipped like smoke through his fingers.
"You said you had something to tell me, but you were too drunk last night and we could not talk," Bellezza said as she crossed her arms and stepped into the room, watching her brother as he pushed himself up to sit and tried to piece the night together.
Marcus let the meeting play again in his mind, the same images running over and over until the truth hit him and burned, "she played me," he said under his breath.
"Who?" Bellezza asked, her face hard as she moved closer because anyone who dared to play with her brother would pay, and the thought made her blood run cold with anger.
"That stupid principal, for crying out loud," Marcus snapped as he swung his legs off the bed and went toward the wardrobe, hands shaking, breath coming fast because he felt the burn of rage like a fire in his chest, a fire that told him he could hurt many people if he let it loose.
"What business do you have with that woman?" his sister asked, surprised but not shocked, because she had always hated Principal Valois too and she liked the fierce light that began to show in Marcus when he grew angry.
"The foolish woman has my daughter," Marcus said, throwing a shirt on without brushing his teeth or washing his face, not caring about how he looked because nothing mattered more than getting his child back.
"What?" Bellezza whispered, then steadied herself as she thought of the chance to let the beast in her brother loose, a chance they had been waiting for a long time to take revenge on Principal Valois.
"Get the boys," Marcus ordered, his voice flat and cold and full of a rage that made his hands clench. "I will bring my daughter home today."
"What if Principal Valois refuses? What if she will not give my niece?" Bellezza asked, knowing the question would push Marcus further, wanting him to show the monster they kept buried.
"She has her, and if she does not hand my daughter over, I will burn the entire academy to the ground," Marcus declared, the words leaving him like a threat sharpened by years of pain and the rules that had kept them quiet for too long, and for once he did not care about mother or her rules about keeping the peace.