Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
IRIS
The trees blurred together as we sped away from Ashcroft, their dark shapes streaking past the windows. The heavy rain smacked against the windshield as we sped down the cliff path.
I felt numb.
Cold.
It was as though my body had decided it was easier not to feel anything at all than to risk feeling everything.
‘Are you okay?’ Rory whispered.
I swallowed, but the words wouldn’t come. If I opened my mouth, I wasn’t sure what would spill out – or whether I’d be able to stop it once it started. So I stayed silent, staring straight ahead. I didn’t trust myself to speak without falling apart.
‘We’re almost at the docks,’ he said when I didn’t respond. ‘Not much further now.’
The water came into view as we turned the corner onto the cobbled road, a few small boats bobbing gently on the waves and the first rays of sun cresting over the horizon.
We were too early, it turned out – the ferry wouldn’t be in for another ten minutes.
Rory pulled up beside the pier and turned off the engine. For a while, we just sat in silence.
I finally let it all sink in… that I was leaving. I squeezed my eyes closed at the pain, my sadness turning almost physical in my gut. The place that had allowed me to grow into myself. Accept myself. Learn to love myself and others.
And now it was just… gone.
Taken from me.
I didn’t know where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to do. I was hoping Keir would help me with next steps, because I felt too empty to do anything myself – like whatever part of me was supposed to be able to make decisions had been left behind with everything else.
Archer.
My heart broke at the thought of never seeing him again.
The man I had tried so hard not to fall in love with – and yet failed so miserably.
And my friends… I cursed my fate for having so little time with them. I looked over at Rory, his eyes searching the docks.
‘Thank you for driving me down,’ I croaked.
‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘How are you holding up?’
I shook my head, my hair falling into my face. I didn’t even have the energy to tuck it back.
‘I feel like a fool. I was too busy worrying about who they’d choose – even you and Adora flashed through my mind a few times – that I didn’t stop to think about the possibility they chose me. I should have known…’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I guess I’m quite similar to Isobella in a lot of ways… I have no money, no family to search for me if I were to disappear.’ I rubbed my eyes. ‘I should have been more careful.’
‘You said Archer was last year’s chosen initiate? That he was told to kill Isobella?’
I nodded. ‘Yes. Why?’
‘I was just thinking… who is this year’s initiate?’
‘I was thinking the same thing…’ I murmured. ‘And I think I know.’
‘Who?’
‘Theo Whitmore,’ I admitted.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. The wind and rain pressed against the windows, growing more and more restless. My mind snagged on memory after memory, rearranging them until they made sense.
I thought back to how Archer had been unable to get Theo removed from the school with no obvious reason as to why – I just assumed it was because the Whitmore’s had money.
I thought that maybe his family had written a cheque big enough to make Draven forget whatever line Theo had crossed.
I considered how when he came back, he seemed different.
Something about him had shifted – he stood taller, impossibly more cocky.
More confident. He’d walked in as if he owned the place.
How he didn’t even balk at the death stare that Archer pinned him with.
How his eyes had instantly scanned the room…
for me. ‘It’s him,’ I said again, quieter this time.
The truth settled heavily in my chest. ‘He hates me. Always has done. It makes sense he wanted me to be the one…’ My words faded away as all the pieces clicked into place with a sickening clarity.
He wasn’t just a rich arsehole, he was dangerous, and I had been too naive to see it.
Just then I saw a flash, and jumped.
‘What is it?’ Rory asked, his voice just louder than a whisper, but alert. His eyes instantly began scanning the dark beyond the windshield. The sun had begun its accent but the world was still shadowed.
‘I thought I saw something,’ I whispered. My fingers tightened around the edge of my seat as I leaned forwards, peering through the glass.
Then suddenly another flash moved in my peripherals. But it wasn’t white like a ghost. It was dark, like a person.
Solid and unmistakably human.
‘There’s someone out there,’ I warned quietly.
Rory straightened, squinting into the darkness. ‘Where?’
‘Over there, near the trees. It moved.’ I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.
‘I’ll go check it out,’ Rory said, already reaching for the door handle.
My heart lurched. ‘No! Don’t.’ I grabbed his arm before he could move. ‘It could be someone following us.’
He glanced at me, giving me a small, reassuring smile. ‘I’ll be fine, Iris. Stay here.’
Before I could argue, he was opening the driver’s door. ‘Lock the doors behind me.’
‘Shit,’ I murmured under my breath as he left. I sat there, frozen, watching his figure move away from the car and into the darkness. Within seconds, the shadows swallowed him whole. The rain was so heavy now it was hard to see anything.
I waited and waited. I rolled down the window slightly, instantly getting drenched.
‘Rory?’ I called out. No response.
I could hear the ferry approaching. I couldn’t quite make it out through the fine mist clinging to the surface of the water, but it must have been close.
‘Fuck this,’ I said, and got out of the car. The coldness seeped into my very bones. ‘Rory, where are you?’ Panic gripped me when he didn’t respond again. ‘Rory!’ Fear laced my words. There was no way Rory would leave me.
He must be in trouble.
The boat was visible now, a warm light cutting through the darkness.
We were so close…
A twig snapped behind me and I whirled.
‘Who’s there?’ I called out.
And suddenly the whole world went dark.