8. Isla
Chapter 8
Isla
SUNDAY
C assius had been silent since the lecture hall, delivering no dry commentary or snarky remarks as my friends and I checked out our classes and grabbed some dinner. Even Wells’ continued presence didn’t draw him out.
His silence disturbed me more than I wanted to admit, and I started to get worried without his voice in my head. Now that I was alone in my room, I was hoping to get an idea of what was going on.
‘Cassius?’
Silence.
‘Cas? What’s wrong? Who was that guy?’ I tried again, hoping like hell he couldn’t tell how worried he had me even though I knew that was an impossible wish. Cassius always knew my feelings better than I did.
‘Beastie.’ He sighed, and the shakiness in his tone made goosebumps cover my skin. ‘It’s–’
I cut him off as I sat down at the window seat to look out over the misty forest. ‘Don’t you dare say nothing.’ I stared at the dark green trees all around, watching rain start to fall. Smoke filled the right side of the massive windows, then Cassius’ body started to manifest in the darkness. He looked stressed, and he somehow had circles under his eyes that I could see even with the designs inked on his face.
Dark eyes studied me as I looked him up and down, and a pang of loneliness hit me. We were so close yet worlds apart. Even as a child, when we didn’t get along, I always thought it was cruel for him to be alive, yet not, inside of my mind.
I never figured out what or who he was besides my Cassius. For as long as I could remember, he had been in my mind, a lingering presence, though I wasn’t sure if that was comforting or not. He’d never seemed inclined, and still didn’t now, to tell me much about himself.
With the tumultuous beginnings of our situation, I never mentioned him to my friends at the academy because they never even hinted at having something similar. He was just Cassius, and most of the time, that was enough.
Now, though, I wanted to know why he had that reaction to a man I’d never met before. A man he couldn’t have met before because I hadn’t, right?
‘I can feel your thoughts racing,’ he said, trying to break the ice, but his gaze seemed haunted and his forced laugh fell flat.
‘Silence tends to make me do that, which you already know,’ I replied tartly, shifting my gaze to the forest beyond.
He didn’t reply for a moment, but I saw some of the tension in his shoulders loosen before he shook his head the tiniest amount.
‘I’m not ready to talk about it, beastie.’
I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the wall. ‘Just don’t lie to me when you do.’
A whisper of a hand down my arm brought me some comfort, though it must have been my imagination. Cassius couldn’t actually touch me. It must have just been the air kicking on in the building or something.
‘I should get some sleep. My early class might be the death of me.’
‘It’s at nine in the morning. Hardly early,’ Cassius deadpanned, then he chuckled softly when I opened my eyes to glare at him.
‘You were listening! Besides, it feels early to me!’
‘Of course I was listening. Your shielding is terrible. Not that you really bother to shield in the first place.’
‘Any time I attempt to shield myself from you, Cassius, you get pissy.’
‘I do not!’
‘What about the time you took over my body and signed me up for a ballet class?’ I retorted, pursing my lips when his mouth twitched. ‘Mom made me complete the entire year despite the fact that I knocked down two girls and one broke her wrist during my first class.’
‘That was classic.’
‘All because I shielded during a test because you were interrupting my focus.’
‘I was trying to help you, beastie.’
I rolled my eyes at the familiar argument but was happy at the sense of ease between us now. Taking a shower and going to sleep would be the smart thing to do, but my nerves about starting classes made my stomach feel like it was in knots. I needed to get some of this energy out, or I’d never get any sleep.
As if fate knew just what I needed, there was a knock on my door.
“Yes?” I called out. It opened to reveal Echo standing there with a wide grin and mischievous spark in his gaze.
“You want to get out of here?”
“And do what?” I asked. A sneaky look at the window had me both relieved and sad to see Cassius was gone.
“Anything but staying inside. I’m getting antsy, but Aizel just wants to sleep before class tomorrow.”
“Let’s go,” I told him, excited by the prospect of doing something. Being outside with someone I half knew was better than sitting here in my room wondering how classes were going to be tomorrow. Plus, the prospect of getting to know my new friend was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up.
I stood up and grabbed one of my favorite black peacoats from the closet, then we were out the door. Aizel and Zhara were nowhere to be seen, so after a quick pat down to make sure I had my card to get back inside, we left the suite and made our way outside.
The night air made it cool, and a smile curled my lips the moment a breeze passed by, bringing with it the rich, welcoming smell of dirt, earth, and the ever-present hint of rain. The sounds of small forest animals filled the night—owls hooting, the chirp of countless crickets, the scurrying of small animals.
The place felt alive, and I wanted to sink into it. There was no way that could happen right now though. I didn’t want an audience when I connected with the earth. It felt like such a deeply private thing, and I was left completely vulnerable when I did it.
Some other students were outside too, with everyone talking in small groups.
“Are Aizel and Zhara together, you think?” I asked, peeking at Echo from the corner of my eye.
“I wouldn’t know,” he replied evenly, though I didn’t miss the slight twitch of his suppressed smile. “I’m not there.”
“So naughty,” I joked with a laugh. “Good for them.”
“Anyway… Where should we go?” Echo asked after clearing his throat.
Threading my arm through his, I started dragging him along. I needed to find the greenhouse from last night. There was no way I couldn’t take this opportunity to explore it further.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going and how much trouble we’re going to get in for being there?” He sounded more intrigued rather than the concern I expected. Honestly, how fucking refreshing is it that someone is letting me take the lead. Demir was always in charge at home, and my younger siblings had been adopted when I was at the academy, so my opportunities to take charge had been minimal.
“Oh, probably a lot, but I’m not exactly sure I remember where it is...” I trailed off in thought, heading to the far side of the grassy quad to where I thought the greenhouse had been.
“That’s not super helpful,” Echo replied, easily keeping up with my fast stride. “But I’m up for whatever. Being inside those walls was driving me nuts.”
“Not a fan of the indoors?” I teased, and I was surprised to find Echo’s expression was serious when he slowly nodded.
“This place is nice, especially considering how large our suite is, but being stuck inside for long just makes my skin crawl.” He shuddered, reacting to whatever memory his words had brought up.
Part of me wanted to ask, to find out what had put that haunted look in his eyes, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me. Hell, I wouldn’t tell some stranger something that could put that level of fear in my eyes either. Echo shifted his gaze to meet mine, a forced smile tugging his lips before a shaky sigh escaped.
“Sorry...”
“No need for sorry.” I shrugged, letting the moment go so he would feel comfortable. “We all have shit we don’t wanna talk about. Right now, though, I want to talk about this greenhouse I found last night before I ran into Zhara and you guys. I think it was over this way.”
“You didn’t see it during our tour earlier today?” Echo asked, his voice going up in question.
“No,” I replied, frustrated at the admission. “Even through the trees, I didn’t see a building that looked like it.”
“Sounds ominous. Let’s go find it,” he replied smoothly, not the least bit concerned about possibly getting into trouble. Maybe he was faking it for my sake, but I appreciated the fun nonchalance.
I burst out laughing at that, looking up at him with a wide grin. “I knew you were my favorite incubus.”
Echo’s answering laugh was deep, the sound honeyed with a touch of warm sensuality that I could almost feel enveloping me. It wasn’t aggressive though, nor did it feel like he was purposefully trying to seduce me.
It seemed like his power naturally responded to my praise. It shouldn’t be attractive or hot as hell, but something inside me stirred as his dark gaze met my own. Maybe I should have taken it as a warning to not make the mistake of thinking he wasn’t dangerous.
He slowed to a stop, and suddenly I was very fucking aware that I was with a practical stranger in the middle of the woods at a school whose mantra was basically fuck around and find out on your own .
What the hell was I even thinking? I was here to learn and live through it. Anything with sex needed to wait at least a few fucking days until I figured out what the hell I was doing. I only had experience thanks to a handful of ex-boyfriends in my academy years, so no way did I need any potential messy boyfriend or benefits situation to pop up in my life now.
‘So glad you have some boundaries, beastie.’
‘Oh, how convenient, you’re here for commentary now,’ I snarked as I cleared my throat, trying to break the heat between Echo and me.
“Let’s find your greenhouse, witch, before you compliment me too much for your own good,” he said smoothly.
“I didn’t realize friendly compliments were out of bounds,” I replied with a half-shrug trying to play it cool. “But duly noted. Let’s go.”
Releasing his arm, I stepped away from my new friend and moved ahead, keeping my focus on trying to find that greenhouse, but there was nothing. Not even a hint of the building that I had stumbled upon.
‘You need sleep.’
‘I need answers about this, Cassius. A building doesn’t just up and disappear.’
‘Isla, you could just be forgetting where it was. It was the middle of the night ? —’
‘Don’t try to gaslight me. I know what I saw. It should be around here.’
As I had my silent conversation with Cassius, Echo explored the nearby patch of trees before coming back to me with a slight shake of his head.
‘If you won’t give me anything and I know the conservatory won’t either... I need something.’
‘Beastie...’ he started to reply, but I could feel him stop himself from saying anything else. Frustration rose up. He was always like this. Somewhere inside, I knew that he was just trying to make sure I was safe or was attempting to make me feel better about not finding the greenhouse. But right now, it wasn’t working. I was being pitched into the middle of chaos at Greywood and told to just figure it the fuck out. Having yet another thing to figure out was my tipping point tonight.
Cassius didn’t say anything, but I could tell that he was holding back. There just seemed to be some kind of knowledge in his withdrawal as he tucked himself away in my mind.
Asshole.
“There’s nothing here.” Echo came to a stop near me. He didn’t seem the least bit annoyed by our excursion. If anything, he seemed more at ease than he had been all day. Some hidden tension was gone now that we were outdoors.
“It was here or around here,” I said back, instantly hating that I was lashing out at him. “Sorry. I just... I would have sworn it was here, and now...”
“Isla…” He started reaching for me in an attempt to provide comfort, but I stepped back, shaking my head. His face fell, along with his hand, and he turned away from me, refusing to let me see his reaction beyond the tension in his back.
I had messed up. Me rejecting his offer of physical comfort had hit a nerve. It hadn’t been personal, though I doubted he would believe me right now. When I was upset or angry, being touched was the last thing I wanted. No hug or simple touch to the shoulder ended well, which was something my brother had found out the hard way more than a few times. Demir always liked to push my buttons though, so that very well could have been on purpose.
The tension between us grew more strained the longer I said nothing, and Echo’s body language continued to become more distant, so I forced myself to clear my throat and tried to salvage the night.
“Sorry this didn’t end up being?—”
“It’s fine.”
I sighed at that. His anger was clear in both the way he kept his body angled away from me and the lack of warmth in his voice.
“No, it’s not. When I’m upset or frustrated, I tend to lash out first and ask questions later, especially when I get touched without expecting it. Ask my brother. He got more than one black eye thanks to trying to comfort me when I was pissed off. I don’t exactly want to deal with a pissed off brother and suitemate because I gave you a black eye right before classes start.”
Echo didn’t respond at first, but he slowly thawed. Looking at me out of the corner of his eye, he studied me, trying to gauge just how honest I was being. I gave him a weak smile, hoping he’d take the explanation as the olive branch it was intended to be.
“You have a brother?” he asked.
“More than one. I’m the second oldest of seven. No idea what my moms were thinking, to be honest. But anyways… Should we try to find something else to do besides relying on my awful sense of direction?”
Gold and green eyes warmed up, accepting my explanation and realizing that I wasn’t trying to be a jerk. The mischievous gleam that had been there earlier tonight came back, lighting up his whole expression in the process.
“I have a few ideas.”
This was going to go one of two ways… fun or so much trouble.
I hoped it was both.