Chapter Twenty-Five
It’s different here; the air is much thinner.
There is no cool breeze, but it’s cold, and I have goosebumps.
I glance over at Ryder, who is finding his feet on the nonexistent ground.
It is just like on my visit. We are walking, but there is no solid flooring.
I spin on my heels, taking in my surroundings; Ryder was right; it is just a whole lot of nothing.
“Come on, this way.” Ryder leads the way into the midst of darkness, each footstep sounding like an echoed drum.
I follow closely behind him, trying not to peel my focus away to a separate reality. Seeing as we have a little time on our hands, I should try to distract myself.
“So, sky serpent venom?”
Ryder turns back to look at me and shrugs his shoulders before continuing his walk towards where River may be.
“Isn’t small talk for people that haven’t reached first base yet?” He smirks, and I feel my cheeks heat slightly.
“That was not first base.” I scoff at his remark. It wasn’t even real; it was just a scene to trick an audience, an audience I didn’t see coming. “Sorry if I wanted to take my mind off of everything and just have a simple conversation.” I continue in annoyance, and a brief silence follows.
“The healers didn’t think I was going to make it. They said it should have killed me.” He sighs. “Guess I was just lucky.” Looks like he changed his mind about the small talk.
He continues traipsing through the black ether. I notice the hair band floating ethereally and pluck it out of its orbit to place it back around my wrist.
“Do you remember much? Oriah said you’ve been to this place before,” I ask, knowing that I may be pushing my luck.
“No, not really, but when I saw it through my hawk’s eyes, it felt…familiar. I don’t really know how to describe it.” His voice trails off, and silence encompasses us, but the echoed footsteps of our boots remain.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” I ask curiously.
“Depends, am I gonna like what I am asked?” He raises an eyebrow as he looks back at me.
“What was your childhood like?” I hold my breath after asking. I am sure he will bite my head off, but he doesn’t.
“You mean after my parents left me for dead?” He laughs a little, but I know he is hurt by the thought.
I see him scratch the back of his neck, indicating that this is a sensitive subject for him.
“It was… messy. No one wanted to foster the kid with the weird arm, so I ran away from the orphanage and wound up in some man’s garage.
Just so happens that man turned out to be my father now. He and his wife took me in.”
“What are they like?” I ask, taking advantage of his current vulnerability.
“My father is tough, very strict. I mean, the leader of the Xoro army has to be. He enforced a lot of rules, but he took me in and gave me a roof over my head, so I am thankful for that. My mother, she was beautiful.” He smiles as he says this, but I hear pain in his voice.
“She passed away when I was young, which only made my dad tougher.” He grits his teeth at this; clearly, his mother’s passing made a significant impact on him.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, feeling the hurt in his story, and he gives me a small smile, but I can see the pain behind his eyes. We walk in silence for a few moments, but another question pops into my mind that I just have to ask.
“Your dad, he knew my dad… My real dad. Did he ever say anything else about him?”
“Luca, your father, was training to be a voice for the victims of war. He was one of the best veil shifters that Moon Sovereign had ever seen… My father and he fell out shortly before he died, but he always questioned the stories.” He frowns.
“Not everyone can handle the Gift of Mourna, always hearing people from the other side. In the end, they just assumed that the voices drove him mad.”
Ryder walks a few steps ahead of me, still leading the way. I watch him roll his shoulder and give it a squeeze as if he is trying to ease aches from a vigorous workout. “That’s all I know. Can I ask you something now?”
“Anything,” I say, catching up to him slightly.
“What happens when we get River out? Are you gonna go back to kissing him?” Of course, he asks about River. I roll my eyes at his question.
“Why, are you jealous?” I taunt as a smirk forms on my face.
“What if I am?” He stops in his tracks and stares back at me, his eyes sparkling with promise. I definitely was not expecting that response from him.
“Well, what about you? You think I didn’t hear that Moon mention a Mikayla earlier?” I retaliate, emphasising my frustration when I say her name.
He chuckles, and the sound echoes around the void.
“Mikayla is no one,” he says without turning back at me.
“Oh sure, she’s no one, only your friend called the two of you ‘lovebirds’.”
“You want the truth? Mikayla and I have a history, but not in the way you think. We had one night together, and she caught feelings. Now she throws herself at me any chance she can get. It’s desperate really.
” He grits his teeth, and I can’t help but feel sorry for the girl.
Nevertheless, the sentence sparks hope in me.
“She’s not like you,” he mutters quietly.
“Why? Because I don’t throw myself at you?” I laugh at his reasoning.
“Because you’re not like the others, you’re different.”
I pause after he says this. Does he mean this as a good thing? Because right about now, I feel like a freak. We’re literally walking around in a portal I created because I lost control and trapped River. I go back to the question that was asked.
“Different isn’t always good,” I whisper to myself. “Anyway, River is sweet and kind… and he’s good.”
“Pftt… He’s also a Sun. You really think he’s still going to like you when he finds out your little secret?” He inches in closer to me, and I can feel his breath on mine, so I push him away.
“Why do you have to be such an arsehole all the time?” I’m taken aback by his snide comment, but I can’t help thinking he’s right.
“I’m just being realistic,” he says, and continues walking away.
Gods, I hate how he says things that make me question everything and carries on like nothing happened. I trail behind him, thinking about his words. He stops for a moment before walking towards me with purpose.
“Can you honestly say that he makes you feel the same way I do?”
I blush, and suddenly my anger disappears.
“Difference is that liking River isn’t going to get me exiled,” I sigh and gather my thoughts. I wonder if the same rule applies to Stars dating Moons?
“So, you admit it, you like me.” He smiles proudly and continues walking.
“You’re such a child.” I shake my head, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but he stops again in front of me, inches away.
“So, you were craving a little taste of darkness after all.” His moist tongue slides over his teeth as he says this, and butterflies flutter in my stomach.
He leans in towards me and looks down at my lips.
I feel the tension rise between us and hold my breath.
His lips look soft and have a slight shine to them.
I wonder what they would taste like at this moment.
He lifts his thumb and forefinger to cradle my chin and lifts it towards him, making me bite my lip.
I allow his thumb to control me and tilt my head up closer to him as his breath tickles my lips.
My nose brushes against his, and one hand caresses the small of my back.
He leans in, and I close my eyes, craving his kiss.
His thumb releases my face, and I hear him chuckle as he toys with me.
I open my eyes; he’s got me right where he wants me.
“That’s what I thought,” he whispers into my ear before pulling away.
Gods. I cannot believe I fell for it again. I am such an idiot. I fight the urge to groan in frustration and rearrange my thoughts to catch my breath.
“You know, I’m not some kind of toy that you can pick up and play with whenever you feel like it. I have feelings,” I say, and he smirks that smirk that makes me want to drop my panties right there and then.
“Then you shouldn’t make it so easy.” He chuckles again, but his laughter is short-lived, and seriousness takes over his face. “I see him. Over there.”
He points at River, who is lying on his back, floating in the ether. I race towards him, and Ryder follows slightly behind. I stop when I reach his body and place my hands on his face to check for warmth. I sigh with relief when I know he’s alive.
“River?” I say, lightly shaking him, but he doesn’t respond. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Looks like he’s in some sort of trance,” Ryder says as he walks around his body, examining it.
‘Astra Nova renders Sun and Moonkind unconscious. The magnetic field disrupts the signals to their brain causing it to shut down,’ Oriah answers. ‘Ryder is an exception.’
We share a look at his arm, the venom spidering up the length of his forearm all the way to his collarbone.
“Because of the serpent venom,” I say, more as a statement than a question.
‘That is correct,’ Oriah’s voice echoes through my head. I look at Ryder, who is gearing up to lift River fireman style. He lifts him up like a rag doll with his ink-like arm and makes him look light as a feather.
“How did you…?” I ask, bewildered by his strength.
“The venom. I’m stronger in this arm.” He flexes and smirks as River flops over his shoulder.
All of a sudden, the atmosphere fades into a deep shade of purple. Both of us spin around trying to discover the source of the colour. As I turn back towards him, I notice that his arm is glowing. My jaw drops, and he looks at me with concern.
“Your arm…it’s glowing!” I say, pointing towards the now bright purple veins that race up and down his arm.
He places River down gently to study his arm, but the glow fades.
How strange? He reaches down to pick River up again, and the glow reappears.
“Do you think it might have something to do with River?” I ask.