Chapter 22
Skye
I got out of bed when the sunlight streaming through the window finally looked normal.
It was supposed to be our first day back in class after the gala, and I’d already decided to skip. There was no way I could go to class after the day we’d had yesterday.
Levi hadn’t come back to the apartment. Zephyr had spent the night keeping watch while Lana slept. She was completely oblivious to what’d happened, since she’d been browsing the beach shops while my world came crashing down.
I buried my face in a pillow, breathing in the smell of Rafe and relaxing just slightly.
Things had been tense when we got back and Wyatt tried to leave the dorm. He and Aiden got into an almost-shouting match, and I calmly walked away to go scream into my pillow.
I was doing so good at not running away anymore.
I’d laid down in bed without saying goodnight to anyone, and Rafe was the only one beside me for at least an hour while Aiden and Wyatt argued, and then very quietly, they’d both come into the room. Aiden had climbed into bed beside me and Wyatt begrudgingly sat in an armchair by the fireplace.
I’d heard Wyatt leave somewhere around six. Rafe left silently right after him. Aiden had left about an hour ago, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I was alone.
I would never get used to being alone. For so long, my brother had been the only person I needed. Now, I had two, maybe three more men who could support me. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t want to ask anyone to stay with me.
There was shame attached to what’d happened yesterday. Shame that my Links had witnessed Levi’s betrayal. Shame they’d witnessed my brief meltdown. Shame they’d heard him speak about me so cruelly.
My phone buzzed, and I groaned as I considered calling someone.
Rafe and Aiden would come running if I called. Wyatt would be a little more apprehensive, but he’d do what he could. Probably.
I hated that I still wasn’t sure.
My phone buzzed again, and I finally grabbed it off the side table to check my messages.
Willow
Skye, where the hell are you!
I know you’re on campus I just saw Aiden
Stop ignoring me!!!
Mia
Want to meet us out front?
We can see about lunch.
That was a good idea. I did feel hungry. I hadn’t had dinner last night when we came back to campus.
Willow
Also Zephyr told us what happened
Mia
OMG babe
Willow
What!?!?
She needs us!
Skye seriously come outside or we’re coming in
Me
You don’t have the elevator code
Willow
I knew you were awake.
Come downstairs or else *hammer emoji*
I snorted at the threat, but got up.
I stared at the wall during my freezing cold shower. Wyatt had unhelpfully explained to me that the mind replays trauma over and over, and it’s best to just let it replay, and eventually it would be like watching a scary movie. Meaning it would be less scary and easier to play through.
But I didn’t want to let my mind play through it.
I didn’t want to hear Levi telling me that I was the reason my mom was dead.
I didn’t want to see the look on his face when he said I didn’t belong in the Chain.
I didn’t want to hear the sneer in his tone as he said my mom wasn’t his.
How my affinity was cursed.
Nausea churned my stomach, and I used my cursed affinity to turn the water as hot as it would go to keep myself from throwing up.
I teleported out of the shower stall a second later, gasping as my skin stung from the boiling temperature.
I ignored my blotchy, reddened skin and eyes as I went through my normal skincare routine.
I left my hair up in a high ponytail, then pulled on one of Rafe’s sweatshirts and some leggings before heading out.
Willow and Mia were waiting for me right outside the dormitory door.
“I don’t want Skye thinking we talk about her with Zephyr,” Mia was saying as she dusted some dirt off of her platform boots.
“But we do talk about her with Zephyr,” Willow said back. She was staring into a compact mirror while applying lipgloss. “You’re making it sound like we’re gossiping. Which we are not doing.”
“She probably feels really lonely and isolated,” Mia reasoned. “We don’t need to add to it.”
Willow shook her head, staring at her phone as I approached.
“How is she?” Mia murmured.
“The same,” Willow replied with a sigh.
“Hey,” I said, making both of them jump a mile in the air.
“Skye!” Willow threw her arms around me. “How are you?”
I didn’t hug her back. “Fine,” I replied flatly.
“You don’t have to lie,” Mia said gently.
“I’m not,” I lied.
Mia furrowed her brow, but didn’t push. Willow pulled back, her eyes shining with tears.
“I’m so sorry, Skye! I know how you feel.”
“Really?” I said, knowing I was being bitchy but unable to stop myself. “Your dad blamed you for your mom’s death and then said you don’t belong in the Chain?”
Willow’s face twisted into a grimace. “No, he just blames my mom’s sickness on her unwillingness to find the rest of their Chain but it’s actually because she’s afraid of how he’ll react if she gives anyone else attention.”
I blinked.
Oh.
I didn’t know much about Lauren being sick. Willow had never mentioned it, and admittedly…I wasn’t the greatest friend. I rarely asked my besties details about their lives, and now I was feeling like a bitch.
I raised my arms to wrap around Willow’s middle. Her flowery perfume tickled my nose, but I held in my sniffle.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay,” Willow said, rubbing my back. “We all have stupid shit going on, Skye. I’m only trying to help you.”
“I know,” I replied, still in a whisper.
Mia’s face appeared in a gap between my arm and Willow’s hair. “Zephyr only told us what happened because he’s worried about you.”
“I know that, too.” I grumbled. I’d come outside to be comforted by my friends, and now I didn’t want to be comforted by my friends. My emotions were all over the place.
The look on Levi’s face crossed my thoughts again, and I blinked hard, willing it to go away.
Wyatt was stupid. There was no way I could just play through the conversation every thirty seconds. Although…my mind was doing that anyway. I refused to do it willingly, though.
“Skyes, I have to tell you though. I’m so jealous your dickhead dad isn’t actually your dad. I wish my dad wasn’t actually my dad!”
“Willow!” I choked on a laugh as I pulled out of the hug, catching Willow’s blinding smile.
She shrugged. “At least he’ll give Zephyr a run for his money. He deserves a little pain and suffering, too.”
I rolled my eyes and we began to walk.
Campus looked the same, except there’d been a snowstorm while I was gone, so some leftover snow clung to the patches of shade.
I pulled Rafe’s hoodie up to cover the back of my neck, regretting leaving my hair in a ponytail but not wanting to take it down and deal with the weird bend in the middle of my hair for the rest of the day.
Willow was chattering away beside me, and I zoned in and out, only occasionally hearing my brother’s name.
As we approached the dining hall, the breeze blew by, sending a few leaves twirling around my legs, making me shiver. I glanced down instinctively, thinking it may have been shadows, though I didn’t feel Rafe nearby. The leaves twirled around me again, in a way that was definitely purposeful.
Wyatt was the only earth affinate I really knew besides Willow, but he wouldn’t be trying to get my attention this way.
“Skye?” Willow’s voice filtered in, but I glanced up quickly, searching the scene in front of me, then turned just in time to see the unfortunately sexy shape of River Mac slip around a corner, heading into one of the school gardens.
My traitorous heart leapt at the sight of him. My body swayed in the direction River had gone, and suddenly, I didn’t care about Levi. Didn’t care about anything he’d said. I only wanted to go to River and ask what the fuck his problem was.
Willow and Mia stared at me, their jaws on the ground.
“You’re joking, right?” Willow squeaked. “Aren’t you worried about how he was in that hallway at the Palace at the exact same time you were?!”
“Obviously!” I said defensively.
Willow and Mia both stared at me with a raised brow.
“I don’t trust him,” Mia muttered.
I didn’t exactly trust him, either…but I wanted answers. And…maybe I also wanted to…look at him.
Besides, he wouldn’t have been using a cute trick with some leaves to get my attention if he was trying to kill me, right?
I cringed at that thought, and again at the subsequent thought of how easy it would be to lead me to my death, but slowly started backing away anyway. Willow groaned, threading her fingers through her hair while Mia only looked on disapprovingly.
I slipped around the same corner as River a moment later, following the path into the garden hedges. I made it to a gazebo, then jumped as River emerged from the foliage.
We stared at each other for several seconds, both having no idea what the hell to say.
“Skye,” River breathed.
He reached out, and I didn’t flinch as he took my shoulders, then pulled me to his chest for a hug that was equal parts wonderful and awkward.
I’d never dreamed of hugging this man. I’d definitely dreamed of…doing other things with him, but not hugs. River pulled back, running his hands down my arms before he cupped my face. I could barely breathe in this position, my heart pounding so hard he had to hear it.
“Is everyone okay?”
Reality was like a blast of ice in my chest.
I took a step back. River’s hands slid away from my face, dropping to hang at his sides as he watched me, his head tilted slightly…
only it wasn’t in a cute way. Nothing about River was cute and innocent.
This man was a predator, and I’d let my guard down.
Again. My cheeks burned as I crossed my arms.
“Why were you there?” I whispered. “Why did you have a map?”
River stared at me, his expressions shifting from concern, to a scowl, to something like devastation, finally coming back to rest in a scowl. He took a step toward me, and I didn’t back away.
“I helped you, isn’t that good enough?”