But to see that. To have reality slap me in the face with the truth was a bit much to bear at the moment. Was he just doing it to be cruel? If so, why? What had I done?

I tried to tear my eyes away when his mouth slanted onto hers. Tried to disengage myself when she melted against him. Against us. Tears burned the backs of my eyes. I pushed against his rock-solid hold in vain.

“Going dark side on us, Azrael?”

I stopped and turned to Cameron, my humiliation complete.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he asked.

Before I could blink, Cameron crashed into the wall opposite us. I didn’t even see Jared move. The Sheetrock cracked as the two-by-fours holding the wall up bent beneath the force. The moment Cameron started to catch himself, Jared was in front of him, a hand around his throat. He slammed Cameron into the wall again, his head making an indentation.

But Cameron was just as fast and just as strong. In a movement too quick for my mind to register, he broke Jared’s hold, grabbed him by the throat, and smashed him to the ground. It shook the floor and rattled the windows. I heard a scream from Tabitha as she stumbled back, and I realized I had fallen as well. Then I felt Brooklyn by my side, tugging me to my feet, trying to pull me out of harm’s way.

I had seen them fight before. I had seen the devastation left in the wake of their aggression. And the trauma of it had sent me into a state of shock. This time, I was already in shock. I was confused and hurt and frustrated.

Then a male voice, loud and threatening, boomed from down the hall. “What is going on?”

I looked over and saw Mr. Davis rushing forward. If he saw them, if he saw how fierce they were, how inhuman, he would have one more piece to add to his puzzle. One more link that would place Jared in his past.

“Lusk!” he yelled when Cameron picked Jared up and slammed him to the ground again.

A part of me began to worry for Jared. He wasn’t himself, and beating him to death would not right it. I started forward, but something stopped me. Something dark. That’s when I saw it. The grin on Jared’s face. The smirk of satisfaction.

He glanced over at me and winked a microsecond before reversing their positions. He knocked Cameron to the ground and crushed him with the force of his body landing with a knee to his throat. I didn’t care what Cameron was made of; there was no way he could survive a pulverizing blow like that. Then Jared dropped and rolled, taking Cameron with him and literally throwing him down the hall.

The fight was like before. Supernatural. Otherworldly. Impossible for mere mortals. But last time I had been the only one to witness it. Jared had stopped time. This time, those who were still around saw everything, including Mr. Davis.

Tabitha sat sprawled on the floor, petrified. I couldn’t blame her. After Cameron once again crashed into a wall at the other end of the hall, Jared turned on Mr. Davis. The contempt sparkling in his eyes was primal. He was a predator now. And he was angry. There was nothing controlled or sane about his actions.

I broke free from Brooke and ran to intervene, taking a position between Jared and Mr. Davis. Jared smiled, but the gesture held no warmth, no hint of affection. Before I knew it, Brooke was beside me again, clinging to me, her eyes like saucers.

“Stay back, Jared,” she said.

A whisper of a laugh escaped him and he took a calculated step forward, mocking her.

I tried to push her behind me as I glared up at him. “Stop.”

His dark gaze landed on me, and he showed his palms in surrender. “I just want him to be with his brother,” he said.

Slowly, and with deliberate care, Mr. Davis wrapped his arms around us and pulled us back with him. As we inched away, Jared watched, his expression humorous. We were mice and he was the jaguar, playing with his meal before he devoured us.

Just as he started to step forward, a sharp crack echoed down the hall and Jared spun around, jerking what looked like a tranquilizer dart out of his shoulder. Before he could do anything, another loud crack sounded. And another. He pulled out two more darts, one from his chest and one from his upper arm; then Cameron was on him. With a rifle in both hands, he whipped the butt of it across Jared’s jaw. I was sure he would go down. Instead, he shook his head, then refocused on Cameron, his stance fierce, his expression so full of venom, I wondered who he was.

He took a step forward, then stopped and fell to one knee. When he looked down at his hands as though he’d never seen them before in his life, Cameron struck again.

I squelched the scream inside my throat with both hands as Jared went down. Cameron yelled over his shoulder, “Hurry, he won’t be out long!”

That’s when I noticed Sheriff Villanueva running toward us, carrying chains and shackles. Real shackles. Jared moaned.

“Hurry,” Cameron repeated. He tossed the rifle to the sheriff and grabbed the chains. As the sheriff reloaded the rifle, Cameron went to work. “I can’t believe it took that long to take effect. He should have gone down instantly.”

Mr. Davis was standing there wide eyed, not quite sure what to think.

Cameron spared him a quick glance, then said through clenched teeth, “Get them out of here.” When Mr. Davis didn’t move, Cameron yelled, “Davis! Get Lorelei and Brooklyn to your car.”

Mr. Davis snapped to attention and, oddly enough, followed Cameron’s orders. He motioned us forward. I stopped to drag Tabitha to her feet; then we followed Mr. Davis out the back entrance to the faculty parking lot.

“Wait,” I said once Tabitha was sitting safely on the steps. “I have to go back.”