Page 74 of Moody as a Minotaur

“T… Tammy? What… What’s going on?” The girl’s face contorted in hurt and fear.

“Did you think you could fool me?” Tammy laughed.

The guy who’d been flagged as a supe snarled. The masked asshole called him a wolf shifter, even though he hadn’t shifted. And the asshole was right. The supe’s eyes flashed in a way that a human’s never would. In the last few days, I’d seen the same thing happen to Hayden’s eyes and Adrian’s.

I needed to do something. I needed to stop this because I had zero interest in witnessing some underground supernatural fight club. I didn’t like fights to begin with, but when the participants were unwilling, it was so much worse.

Fin was clinging to my arm now.

“We have to do something.” Fin’s urgent whisper echoed my thoughts.

But what could we do? Was Nelson back with us yet? I glanced around the room but didn’t see any abnormal shadows.

Someone had to stop this. It couldn’t be Levi. We couldn’t draw attention to him and risk exposing his supernatural side, or they’d shove him in that cage too. Holy crapola. This was so incredibly bad.

I had my gun, but it was no match for this many people, particularly when some of them were also armed.

I needed a damn plan.

My priority was getting Levi and Fin out of here, but could I really leave those four young supes behind? No, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t know how to live with myself if I did that.

But if something happened to Levi and Fin, my world would shatter completely.

I was fucked.

I was surprised Levi was still standing. Given how paralyzed by fear he’d been the night the hunters broke into his house, I knew he had to be barely hanging on. If we were going to get out of here, I would have to act.

Tammy spun toward us, wearing a maniacal smile. “The true form of the monster that lives inside them will burst out soon. Watch closely, because it happens fast. They shed the shell of their human skin as quick as a blink. You don’t want to miss it. I still remember the first time I saw a monster’s disguise ripped away. It changed my life. I knew from that moment what my calling was.”

The man whose girlfriend had been identified as one of the so-called monsters was trying to get her away from her captors.

Tammy shook her head and sighed like she was disappointed the guy was trying to help his girlfriend. “There’s always at least one monster-fucker. Sometimes they’re fooled by the monster. I can forgive them then. But sometimes they know, and that’s reprehensible. Damn traitors.”

“How do you know they are monsters?” I asked. “What if you’ve made a mistake?”

“We know. We have ways of finding out these things.”

The amulet. Nelson had said something about a magical amulet. That had to be it. But why hadn’t it flagged Levi?

“You use something or someone with magic to find other people who have magic?” Levi asked. Since we already knew about the amulet, I figured he was fishing for more information.

“Exactly,” Tammy beamed at him like he was a star pupil.

“But why would they betray their own kind?” I asked, pretending like I didn’t know what had really happened.

“It isn’t a person,” Tammy said. “Our organization is very old. Ancient even. And our founders discovered a rare artifact that reveals magic to us. It glows in a monster’s presence. Different colors signify different types of monsters.”

“So, you know magic is real?” Fin’s voice broke as he asked his question. “You’ve seen magic?”

“The artifact is infallible,” Tammy confirmed eagerly. “I’ve advocated for taking the artifact into the world to expose the truth. People need to see the monsters to know how much danger they’re in. But our leaders say it’s precious and must be protected. That’s why we hold our meetings here, in a controlled setting. For now, at least. Change is coming, though. Soon.”

Jesus. All she was missing was the evil cackle at the end of that endearing speech.

And her precious artifact wasn’t as infallible as she thought! It had misidentified Levi. But obviously, she didn’t need to know that. Thank God, though, that shehadn’t brought that thing to Willow Lake. It would have lit up like the goddamn sun.

Fin was squeezing my arm so tightly he was cutting off my circulation. Levi, on my other side, was almost the picture of calm. Only his flared nostrils betrayed him.

Another of the supernatural students was fighting for freedom now, drawing Tammy’s attention from us. None of them had shifted yet, though.