Chapter Forty-Three
There is a target on my back. I have had my thumb inches away from the trigger for weeks now, holding back, hoping I don’t apply too much pressure or say the wrong thing, and now someone has pulled it for me.
The firm structure I built around my life is now at risk of tumbling down, and I have to move quickly if I want to preserve the ruins.
I grab my black duffel bag from the ransacked ground below and start packing it desperately. My stomach is in my throat, and the only thing I can think of is getting out of here.
“Ho-ly-sh-it!” A familiar voice stands stunned in the doorway. “What the fuck happened to your room?”
“River?! What are you doing here?” I pull him into the room, peering around the doorway to check there is no one loitering in the halls, and shut the door behind me. River looks confused at my frantic movements, but I’m sure at this point, he is naturally prepared for me to act shady around him.
“I saw you leave the dining hall alone, and I just wanted to talk,” he says as his eyes trace over mine. “Going somewhere?” He gestures to the duffel bag hanging around my arm, and I shuffle in my stance. I am going somewhere, but I don’t really know where yet.
I don’t know who knows my secret, but I know that they knew what they were looking for. I swallow down the mass in the back of my throat and turn my attention back to River, who is still looking at me with concern.
“I’m sorry, but now’s really not a good time,” I say as I gesture to the chaos around us. He nods his head as his eyes scan the room.
“Did Alex do this?” he asks as he picks up one of the surviving books and places it back on the table he lifts to its feet.
“I honestly don’t know,” I admit, getting antsy at his interrogation. “I was just on my way out, anyway,” I say, making my way to the door.
“Asha…” he calls out, making me stop momentarily. “What’s going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
I sigh as I turn to face him.
“Just a little more than usual,” I say. “But it is nothing for you to worry about.”
“But I do worry, Asha. I keep having these dreams about you… I wasn’t going to mention anything, but they’ve been eating me up inside.”
“What kind of dreams?” My muscles stiffen as my mind instantly worries about the serum wearing off, and I know I have to tread carefully.
“It’s always the same.” He wades past my belongings closer to me. “You’re in danger, running from someone. I think he’s a Moon because he uses his shadows to pull you in.”
He continues, and I try to hide my worry. “…And I can’t save you no matter how hard I try.” His eyes sadden as he gives in to his hopelessness. “And I think I know what it means.”
“You do?” I look up at him, shocked, hanging on his every word.
“Yes. I didn’t appreciate you when I had you, and now I’m worrying about you falling for someone else and them hurting you.”
I hide my relief. His veil is still intact.
“Thank you for worrying about me, River, but you really don’t have to,” I reply and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He relaxes into my touch and breathes a heavy sigh.
“Okay. If you’re sure,” he reaffirms and makes contact with my eyes again, we stand in brief silence for a moment before he begins walking towards the door, but I shudder and grab his wrist to halt him.
“What are you doing?” he asks in confusion.
“Shhhh,” I beg him to be quiet as the sound of heels echoing down the hall becomes louder.
Something in my bones tells me this is bad; I can’t shake the feeling.
My fingers tremble with hesitation as I tiptoe towards the door and open it a crack.
I don’t have to look twice to know who is coming down the hall.
I can recognise those ginger curls anywhere.
It’s Miss Worthington, and she is coming this way.
The feeling of unease unsettles me to my core; my room has just been upturned and my valuables stolen.
For all I know, Miss Worthington could have orchestrated this and is on her way to interrogate me.
My eyes trail over to River’s who is looking more confused by the second. The confusion only increases when I frantically pull him into the bathroom behind the shower curtain.
“I’m sorry, River, you were right… I am in trouble,” I whisper to him, standing shoulder to shoulder in the bath.
“Asha, you need to tell me what’s going on,” he whispers back to me as he pulls me closer towards him.
“You really don’t want me to do that,” I mutter under my breath, remembering the picture of disgust on his face when he saw through my facade the first time. “But I don’t think I have a choice right now.”
With every second that passes, the footsteps are getting closer. “I’m going to do something now, and I need you not to freak out, okay,” I say as I savour the way his eyes look over mine with worry and adoration, knowing they will not view me the same way again.
“What are you going to do?” he asks, looking a little more tense than before.
“Promise me you won’t freak out,” I repeat frantically.
“Okay, I promise,” River affirms, still utterly perplexed by my actions.
“I need you to Influence the door shut,” I explain with desperation in my voice.
My floorboards creak as she steps just outside the door. River nods his head quickly, and I watch his fingers roll into a fist and aim at the door. The door begins to shake at its hinges. Miss Worthington is trying to get in.
“Asha, open the door.” Her voice shrieks through the gaps in the wooden door as the panels rattle more violently. I watch as each screw twirls out of its wooden bed and falls onto the bathroom tile. She is going to take the door down.
“I can’t hold it for long; this Influencer is super strong.” River strains as his veins bulge visibly in his arm.
I take a deep, regretful breath and conjure my portal. “Don’t say anything; just go through it,” I say as I pull him through the vortex for the second time.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”
Ryder exclaims as River and I tumble onto his bedroom floor. River’s eyes widen with shock as he pants on top of me. I give him a slight shove, and he rolls on the floor next to me, then I get my feet. Ryder offers River a hand up, and he takes it, his face still unsure of what just happened.
“I assume there is a very good reason why you’ve brought him here,” Ryder directs at me, and I whisper in his ear to keep River from freaking out any more than he already is.
“My room got ransacked, someone knows my secret, and Miss Worthington is after me,” I say, and he gives me a stern nod.
“But that still doesn’t explain that.” Ryder points a finger at River, who is currently backing himself against a wall, staring at his hands confused, like they are not his own.
“We were just in your dorm room.” River’s words tremble, and his hands shake.
Ryder raises an eyebrow at me and nudges my elbow as if to question why he was in my dorm room. I ignore his jealousy and attempt to calm down River.
“I was there one minute and now I’m here?” His face is as pale as a wax candle. “Where the fuck even is here?!”
“Now you’re in my room,” Ryder spits at River before glaring at me. “What the fuck was he doing in your dorm room, Asha?” His voice is stern and unwavering.
Really, he chooses now to get all territorial.
“Seriously?” I roll my eyes, not feeling the need to explain myself.
“You,” River snaps, his eyes narrowing in on Ryder. “You’re a Moon.” His pale skin flushes red.
“No shit!” Ryder snaps before turning his attention back to me.
“What was he doing in your room, Asha?” he repeats, this time slower with more emphasis on each word.
His insecurity leaves a distasteful film on my tongue, but I can’t decide whether to feel infuriated or euphoric because, although he has not said it, I know he is afraid to lose me.
“We were just talking. Gods,” I huff at Ryder before staring back at River.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to suck you into all this…Again,” I mutter the last part under my breath so that River does not hear it.
“Subtle,” Ryder smirks, still with a glare in his eyes, and I roll mine for the second time.
“Again?” River asks, aching for some answers. “What do you mean again?” he repeats, and I sigh, regretting mentioning that word.
“Wait.” River’s face contorts with pain as he holds the sides of his temples and grunts. “The woods,” he blurts out as he falls to his knees. “The darkness.”
His eyes narrow as he winces, still holding his head in his hands. “The serum.”
His words disrupt the thickness of the air, and I suddenly feel like I cannot breathe. He is remembering.
“You.” He points a finger at me, and my heart sinks. “You took my memories. The date, the forest, him.” He points his finger at Ryder, who now has his arm around me. “I remember it all.”
“I had too. You didn’t believe me,” I confess and brace for his hate to flood back to the front of his brain, but it doesn’t come. Instead, he looks at me with reassurance and understanding.
“So, it’s all real then?” he asks.
“Yes,” I simply say, hoping it is enough for him to finally believe it.
“And you’re in trouble?” he says, and I nod my head slowly.
“I didn’t mean to get you all caught up in this. I took your memories to keep you safe.” I tread the space between us. “But I don’t want to take them again. I just need to know that you won’t tell anyone about this.”
“The last thing I would want to do is put you in danger.” He smiles at me. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Enough of this sweet talk. When is he going home?” Ryder shifts in his stance and crosses his arms. I exhale at his rude demeanour and ignore the burn from his stare at the back of my head.
“Don’t worry about him,” I say, giving Ryder the side eye. “You can go now. I will portal you to your room.”
“You expect me to leave you here with him?” He gestures to Ryder, who looks like he is ready to fight.
“You forget that I am the one who helped her when you decided she was a liar,” Ryder snaps, and the air is getting thicker again.
“I didn’t exactly have time to figure everything out,” River retorts.
“And I didn’t need time.”
The boys walk closer to each other in their battle of testosterone, and I wedge my way between them.
“I don’t care about why. Ryder was there when I needed him, and you weren’t,” I interrupt, and River’s face saddens. “We have bigger things to worry about, so I will portal you home, and we will talk when it’s over.”
“I’m not leaving, you’re right; I wasn’t there for you before, but I am going to be now.” His eyes don’t waver from mine, and Ryder backs down and takes a seat on his bed.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“That’s exactly why I can’t let you do this without me,” River adds, and I sigh, defeated, turning to Ryder for advice.
“Let him stay, if he wants to get himself killed, who are we to stop him?” He shrugs as if he couldn’t care less, but I walk over to him and frame his face in my hands.
“If anything happens to him…” I don’t even have to finish my sentence for Ryder to understand the depth of the situation. He stands and ambles over to River, who looks established in the corner of the room.
“If you are truly willing to help, I will protect you with my life.” He extends his inky arm out to River, who is genuinely shocked at Ryder’s kindness in that moment.
“I am.” He shakes his hand firmly, and they exchange some manly looks.
“Now tell me what this plan is,” River says, and they both turn to look at me.