“Oh my gods,” Deacon said, coming to his feet as he raised his voice. “Someone stop him! That was a compulsion!”

My stomach dropped. The guys had filled me on a lot of things during the last couple of weeks, and I remembered clearly that, even before the Breed Order was abolished, using compulsions on halfs was forbidden. I’d found it ironic that they could use it on mortals as long as it did not place them in danger, but I knew that what the Dark-Haired Guy had just done had been a major no-no, a huge violation.

Luke shot forward, getting in front of Shorter Dude and slamming his hands into the guy’s shoulders, but the guy kept trying to move forward.

“What the hell?” someone shouted—a girl. She came out of nowhere, all lean muscle and beautifully smooth dark skin. She shoved the pure back into the table and then snapped forward, curling a hand around the guy’s throat like a pro. “If you even try to pull that shit with me, I’ll break your neck. Undo the compulsion, asshole.”

“Screw you,” the pure grunted out.

Chaos broke out. Plates crashed to the floor. Bottles of water and soda toppled over. Tables were overturned as fists flew and bodies smacked into the floor. The double doors at the center of the room exploded as Sentinels rushed into the room, diving into the melee, and they were completely swallowed by the fighting group.

At the door, Luke was still wrestling with the half who was under a compulsion, and Deacon was with him. He had his arms around the half from the back, his sandaled feet digging in, trying to hold him back.

And then it turned horrific.

A flash of bright red went up in the corner, and someone screamed. The smell of burnt ozone and…and charred skin quickly filled the room. I jumped to my feet, my mouth dropping open as a human-shaped ball of flames ran out between two overturned tables, whirling and twisting. Shrieks erupted from the poor soul.

Oh my God.

Horror seized me in its grip and a part of my brain couldn’t process what I was seeing—witnessing a person being burned alive. I started forward, not sure how to help, but someone—a girl—rushed toward the person, holding a glass of water. She threw it into the air as she raised her other hand. The stream of water rapidly expanded, pulsing as it spread out like a web of water.

A hand landed on my shoulder, whipping me around. I tensed, prepared to go all ninja on someone’s ass. I didn’t recognize the guy, but he was tall and had stunning, jewel-like eyes, as all pures did.

His hand tightened on my shoulder, fingers digging in. “A freaking mortal. You belong here even less than those halfs do.”

Before I could say a word, his grip lessened, and then he pushed me back with enough force that I hit the chair and knocked it over. I didn’t stop to think. A month ago I would have, but not now.

I reached behind me and grabbed the heavy, ceramic plate. The Covenant didn’t do plastic or paper, and that turned out to be a huge benefit to me. I swung that plate right at the guy’s head. The impact jarred my arm, and the guy dropped like a sack of apples.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

The cold voice sent a chill down my spine, and before I could turn or grab anything else that could be used as a weapon, a hand fisted in my ponytail and jerked my neck back sharply, causing me to cry out.

“And you really shouldn’t have done that, asshole.”

Then the hand was gone, and I spun at the sound of Seth’s voice and my eyes met his narrowed gaze. His lips were thin, his cheeks sharp as he grabbed my hand. He was furious. “Let’s go.”

Whoever had grabbed me was in a crumpled heap on the floor, and he didn’t look like he’d be getting up for a while. “But—”

“This is not our problem, Josie. And it’s going to get worse before they stop. You’re getting out of here before someone sets your sweet ass on fire.”

I scanned the packed cafeteria, spotting Luke and Deacon still struggling with the half, and I started to dig my feet in, because it didn’t seem right to leave them, but Seth was having none of it.

Cursing, he spun around toward me and dipped low. I was tossed over his shoulder in a nanosecond, and then he was moving forward, easily dodging the flying chairs and bodies rolling across the floor.

Out in the hall, he didn’t put me down, and when I started to wiggle, his hand smacked down on my butt, causing me to yelp. “Hey! Seth, put me down!” When he didn’t answer and kept walking, I knocked my fists off his back.

“Knock it off, Joe.”

“Seth—”

“I don’t trust you if I put you down. You’ll probably run back in there and get yourself turned into a toasted marshmallow.” He kicked open the door, and I winced as cold rain washed over my back. “Shit back there isn’t going to calm down for a while.”

My fingers dug into his thermal as rain ran up my back and across my neck, causing me to gasp. “Oh my God, I don’t like you.”

There was an extra bounce in his step that had me cursing. Chuckling, he tightened his hold on me. “Hold on.”

I squealed as he took off, running across the rain-slick walkway with the grace and speed of a damn gazelle, but we were still soaked by the time he burst into the lobby of the dorm, and the bastard still didn’t put me down, not until we were inside my room.

The second he deposited me on my feet, I knocked the loose strands of hair out of my face and then shot forward, smacking his arm. “That wasn’t necessary!”