The Evil Headmaster Read online

  “I was coming to see how it was going. Jessie is resting since she was injured today. Sloane had a vision about a student at the school and is meeting her tomorrow at a coffee shop. I guess the students have a plan about dispossessing the students. I’m not sure what else we can do tonight until we know who all is going to help us. I haven't heard back from Bryant, either.” Erik slouched realizing he wasn’t sure what he should do.

  “Caroline is in there calling friends in the area. We have friends coming from all over. We’ll have at least fifteen to twenty people coming, but most won’t be here until tomorrow. You might as well catch a few hours of sleep. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow.” Nick patted Erik on the back.

  “I guess. I just don’t feel like sleeping.”

  “How about a drink, then? I know I certainly could use one.” Nick walked toward the kitchen. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle of Highland Park. He poured two finger’s width into both glasses and slid one across the counter to Erik.

  “Thanks,” Erik took a drink from the glass. It was smooth going down. “So, how did you convince Caroline not to go to the school tonight?”

  Nick scoffs, “That’s what you want to talk about? Okay, Caroline is a reasonable woman. She knows if we go tonight, we’ll lose. She just had to see reason and have actionable steps to take. She’s making calls to everyone and arranging travel. She has something that will keep her busy and dull her thoughts about Nicole for the time being.” Nick shrugged.

  “Good, I wasn’t sure she’d be persuaded. We might have to tie her down or something.”

  Nick laughed, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

  “Would you like to take a look at the blueprints we have for the school? I can go over what we discussed on the best way to go into the school. I’m not sure if it will still work considering Sloane will be meeting with one of the students tomorrow, but it’s something to do. I’m too wired to sleep, yet.”

  “Yeah, I’d like to take a look. Caroline and I were going to send Nicole there at one point. If we were still together, she’d probably be going to school there.” Nick looked down and shook his head.

  Erik could hear the pain in his words but didn’t ask about them. When they got to the plans, Erik sat and pointed to the West Entrance. “We think it’d be best to go in here undetected. We thought we’d talk to Magnus about getting a delivery truck, so we’d be able to blend in when we arrived. Mike said he thought Magnus would be able to help us get the truck. We could load everyone in the back. The delivery entrance has the fewest people. We also thought it would be unlikely any of them would be possessed like the people in the office.” Erik explained.

  “That’s not a bad idea. You think Magnus can get the truck by tomorrow? I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold Caroline off much longer. We should have enough people joining us by tomorrow afternoon. If we can get a truck by then, we’d be all set to go by late tomorrow afternoon. Does anyone know the delivery schedule or anything?” Nick asked.

  “I’m not sure. Sloane could ask the girl tomorrow, or we see who we can find on the inside who might know. I can do some scouting in the morning. If I can listen to their thoughts about who they’re expecting, we can match the truck or stop the truck before it goes to the school. That could be an option, too.” Erik pulled out his phone. “I’m going to send a quick message to Magnus. I think it’s weird my father hasn’t called me back, yet.” Erik typed a message about getting a truck to Magnus and asked if he had any people, he could spare to help them tomorrow. He included the details about Sloane meeting with one of the students to elicit help from them.

  “I’m going to go inform Caroline of what’s going on and see what she may know about the school and deliveries. I think we have a good start for tomorrow and she’ll be appeased by this information. You should try to get some rest. I think it’s a good idea for you to a scout who they may be expected tomorrow, which means you may need to be at the school around six am. You might want to catch at least a few hours of sleep before then.” Nick placed a hand on Erik’s shoulder and looked at him, before standing to go back to Caroline. Erik sighed. He wanted to be with Jessie, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he’d want to let her go once he had her in his arms. Today scared him more than he was willing to admit. He let out a heavy breath and trudged up the stairs. He longed to wrap Jessie in his arms and hold her close to him. He also feared how close he came to losing her today. If that bullet had been a few inches over, she’d be dead. He couldn’t think about that. He needed to hold her. Forget about today and relax, knowing she was safe.

  He quietly opened the door. He took off his shoes, jeans, and t-shirt and slipped into the bed next to her. She moaned softly when he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her tightly against himself. He’d missed being this close to her after he’d broken it off. Today was a reminder of his reasoning, but he could never bring himself to do it again. He’d just have to get better at protecting her. He couldn’t stand the thought of being away from her again. He rested his head on the pillow and blew a heavy breath over her neck. She placed her hand over his arm and rubbed.

  “Erik, it’s okay. I’m here.” She snuggled closer to him. The friction of her hips against his boxers elicited an immediate response. He couldn’t help it. He always had the same response to her closeness. He wanted to be insider her even now, sharing this tender moment. Every nerve in his body was excited by her closeness. He felt her like an electric current through his body. She turned and placed her hand on his cheek. “I’m glad you finally came to bed. I missed you.” She kissed him gently at first but then with growing need. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled her flush to him, she wrapped her leg around his waist, and he lowered his hand to skim her bare thigh. Their mouths moved with frenzied passion. She splayed her hands over his bare chest and rubbed her fingers over the light hairs on his sternum, scratching lightly. He laughed against her lips.

  “Playful, are we?” He looked into her eyes lit with fire.

  “Well, it took you so long to get back here.” She smirked and scratched his chest again.

  “I slept a while. Now, I want to enjoy being alive, with you.” She captured his lips and clutched at his back with one hand while the other gripped his hair. She was fierce and hungry in her embrace. He was more than happy to give all of himself to her. He needed to feel her vitality as much as she needed to give it. He nipped her lip and went to memorizing her skin with his lips. Tonight, he wanted to cherish every inch of the woman he loved.

  Chapter 20

  “Oh coffee, how I love thee.” Sloane gripped her mug in both hands and took a sip. Mike rolled his eyes at her but took a drink from his mug.

  “Maybe, if you slept more, you wouldn’t need coffee so much,” Erik said as he stood in front of the stove, stirring the scrambled eggs in the pan before him.

  “Shut up and finish breakfast. I’m starving.” She smirked.

  “Hey, don’t talk to him like that. He’s making us all breakfast. You should be nicer to him.” Jessie walked behind Erik, pinching his butt. She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I appreciate you making us breakfast.”

  “Thanks, babe. Sloane can make her damn breakfast.” He scrunched his nose in her direction.

  “Whatever, Erik you know you love me and would miss me if I were gone. Besides, who else here is going to give you shit? I’m just trying to keep you humble, little brother.” She squared her shoulders.

  “Humble my ass,” Erik muttered under his breath.

  “Okay, so let’s get our morning straight. Sloane and Mike are going to Cariboo to meet Chloe. Erik and I are headed to the school to see what deliveries they’ll be expecting. Then, we’re meeting Scott at nine to get a truck. We will all rendezvous back here at say, ten to plan how we’re going to the school. Caroline is meeting her friends and making sure everyone gets here. Anything I’m missing?” Jessie asked.

  “What about Nick?” Mike asked.

  “He’ll be helping Carol
ine and meeting with the people Magnus is sending from Denver. He’s been on the phone all morning according to Erik.” She leaned against the counter and met Erik’s eyes.

  “I still can’t believe you woke us up before the sun to do this. Just because you have to be at the school by six, doesn’t mean I had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn. I don’t have to be to the coffee shop until eight.” Sloane huffed and took another drink from her mug wrapping both hands around it.

  “We all needed to be on the same page. The best way to do that was to be in the same room. Besides, Erik offered breakfast. I know you’d roll your ass out of bed for breakfast.” Jessie chided.

  “True, I do love breakfast and coffee.” Sloane took another drink. “Mmm, coffee.”

  “I think we can find something to do for a few hours, love.” Mike winked at Sloane.

  “Could you two not do that while I’m here? That’s my sister. I’d rather not think about that, like ever.” Erik dished the eggs onto six plates. Jessie opened the oven and took out a pan of steaming cinnamon rolls. She set it on the counter and began icing them. “Babe, you should wait a minute for them to cool first.” He bent to kiss her on the cheek, and she set the knife down on the lid and turned.

  “Whatever, I could hear Jessie all the way down the hall last night. What time did you two finally decide to sleep, or did you sleep?” Sloane narrowed her eyes at Erik.

  “Sloane, do you mind?” Jessie said, placing her hand on her hip.

  “Not at all, you sounded like you were having a good time.” She winked at Jessie.

  “Ugh, Sloane!” She turned and went back to icing the cinnamon rolls. Erik pinched her butt, and she jumped, then relaxed when she met his eyes. He bent and kissed her lips gently then moved to stand behind her, resting his neck on her shoulder, wrapping his hands around her waist as she finished.

  He whispered next to her ear, “I had a good time.” He nibbled her earlobe and backed away to put bacon on each of the plates. Jessie set a frosted cinnamon roll on each plate and walked two over to the table, setting them in front of Sloane and Mike. Erik took the other two and set them in the open spots. “I’m going to run two plates to Caroline and Nick. I know they haven’t slept and could probably use some food.” He walked down the hall to Caroline’s study and was back, sitting to eat his food.

  “Damn Erik, who knew you could cook?” Mike said as he shoveled eggs into his mouth quickly.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment since you barely came up for air to say it.” Erik bent to eat his eggs.

  “Yeah, bro this is delicious,” Sloane said, finishing off her bacon and going for the roll.

  When they were finished, Erik grabbed his leather coat and looked to Jessie. “You ready, babe?”

  “Yeah, I just want to grab a few things upstairs. I’ll be back in a sec.” She bolted up the stairs.

  “Mike, you’ll call if anything changes.” He looked to Mike expectedly.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll call you after the meeting.”

  “Sounds good,” He looked as Jessie came back into the room. “All set?”

  “Yep, see you guys later.” She walked out the door and to the car.

  “So, you feel up to this today?” Erik asked Jessie when they were alone in the car.

  “Of course, why?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Just checking, I know you put up a front to everyone else, but you can be honest with me Jess. If you’re not up to this, you can take it easy. No one would fault you for it.” Erik reached to take Jessie’s hand, but she pulled her hand away. He turned quickly.

  Her eyes narrowed, glaring at him. “Thanks, for caring or whatever, Erik, but I’m fine. I can handle myself, okay?” She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I know you can handle it, babe. You can handle anything. It’s just that sometimes I worry you push yourself too hard for others. I want to make sure someone is taking care of you.” He placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed.

  Jessie dropped her hands and gazed into Erik’s eyes. “Thank you,” she breathed. “I’m fine though, Erik. I promise. I need to be able to help later today. I’m the only one who can freeze the students. I don’t want anyone to have to fight our kids. What the demons are doing isn’t right. I want to make sure that no one has to fight their kid.” She dropped her head and balled her hands into fists. Erik reached to take one of her hands. He understood. He couldn’t imagine being in Nick or Caroline’s shoes right now, and to think about them possibly having to fight their daughter. It was unimaginable. He squeezed Jessie’s hand and drove the rest of the way to the school in silence. He pulled up and parked in the lot nearest the loading docks. He wanted to keep an eye on who was coming and going. He would bring back notes to the others about how many demons were in the building.

  Jessie lounged back putting her foot up on the dash. Erik looked over at her foot and took a deep breath. He always hated it when girls did that. No guy would ever put his foot up on the dash. He had too much respect for his car. He looked back toward the building and began sifting through thoughts for something useful.

  He heard the kitchen manager was expecting a delivery from the food wholesaler and Pepsi to fill the vending machines. He took a mental note and continued to listen. They were both supposed to be there in the afternoon which he wasn’t too happy about. They usually received their food order early in the morning, so he could have it all put away before they had to serve. Now, the truck would be coming in the middle of the day. He would have to pull a few people off prepping for dinner to put the food away. He picked up the phone to see if Carlos could come in early to help. Erik knew he might have just found someone to help them.

  He looked to Jessie. “Text Magnus and let him know the food truck is delivering late today. Sometime late afternoon. Also, text Nick and ask him if he can find out who Carlos is. He works at the school. He’s coming in early to help put away the food. If we come in that truck, maybe we can get Carlos to help us so that we won’t be noticed. If he’s already expecting the truck and coming in just for that, it’ll be perfect. I don’t know how we got so lucky, but we did.” He squeezed Jessie’s hand.

  Jessie reached for her phone and typed messages to the two. Erik continued to listen for how many demons were in the building. It was harder to tell since many of the people here were still sleeping. He slipped between dreams to see whose thoughts may be off. The demons wouldn’t influence sleep, so they’d be dormant. He wouldn’t have a good number until everyone was awake. No one had even come into the office, yet. The only people who were awake in the building were the kitchen staff and the cleaners.

  “Jessie, I know this may sound crazy, but what if we went in and planted some bugs around the offices? Especially, say, Mr. Hall’s office, so we could hear what was going on even away from here.” He looked over to her, and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

  “How would we do that? Aren’t there people in the building, right now?”

  “The only people in there are the kitchen staff and cleaners, and just as we thought, they’re not possessed. We could slip in undetected before anyone else wakes up.” His eyes were lit with excitement.

  “I guess we could. Do you even have any bugs in here? We didn’t exactly plan for this.” She shrugged. “I don’t think we’d have time if we had to go back for them.”

  “I have a few in my duffle in the back. It’s the same one I always take when doing any recon. I keep bugs in there just in case. Today that will come in handy. It has come in handy a lot. It’s why I always keep a stash of them in there. They are connected to my laptop so that I can listen in as far as ten miles away without interference. You up for it?” He looked over at Jessie. He was worried about her, but her face wasn’t ashen and pale like it was yesterday. She had gotten rest and seemed to be doing good. He didn’t want to put her in any unnecessary harm, but he could use her skills if he wanted to make this a quick run into the building.

  She could easi
ly freeze anyone as they went. It would be easy with her help. “Yeah, I’m up for it. We could easily slip in and out as long as all the people are out of the offices. You’re sure that no one is in there? We won’t have any surprises?” She focused her attention on Erik.

  “I don’t hear anyone. They could be wearing amulets, but it’s not even seven yet. My bet is they’re all still sleeping. We could sneak in easily, plant the bugs and be back in the car before anyone notices. It’ll take ten, fifteen minutes, tops.” He studied Jessie.

  She nodded her head. “Alright, let’s do it.”

  He took the key from the car and slipped out toward the trunk. He grabbed the bugs and tucked a 9mm into his waistband. He never went into a building without a weapon. He had another tucked into this boot. Jessie did the same, pulling her jacket down over her back. He looked her in the eyes.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yep,” she responded, nodding her head once.

  “Alright, let’s slip through the employee entrance. Mike was right; it’s the easiest way to get into the building without being noticed. It’s also the only door unlocked at this hour. If you see anyone, freeze them. It’d be nice not to have to answer any questions as we go.” He took her hand in his.

  “Got it.” She squeezed his hand and walked alongside him to the door. He dropped her hand to open the door for her. No one was on the other side, so they walked down the hall. When they were approaching the break room, Erik reached his hand out to take Jessie’s. He jerked his head to the side, and she nodded. She froze the few that were in the room and unfroze them after they’d strode by. She did the same when they walked by the doors to the kitchen. They made it to the stairs, and they both hustled up, Erik taking two at a time.

  They reached the door to Mr. Hall’s office. Erik reached for the handle, but it was locked. He swept his hand out giving Jessie space to work. She took two pins out of her ponytail and put them in the lock, twisting until it clicked. She opened the door, and they both slipped inside. Erik closed the door and let out the breath he’d been holding.