Chapter 32
Skye
Angel
Baby, Wyatt gave me detention
Me
Wtf???
Asshole
You beat the shit out of River in the middle of the quad. I had to do something.
Me
WTF?????
Shadow
Wait who’s River
Did he deserve it?
Angel
Yeah, he fucking did
Shadow
Hell yeah
Asshole
Don’t encourage him
I stared at my phone, blinking rapidly as I tried to make sense of what the fuck I was reading.
“Aiden punched River in the quad,” I said out loud.
“He did more than punch him, from what I heard.” Isaiah said.
I glanced up at his expressionless face. He stood about three feet from where I sat, his feet shoulder-width apart with his hands clasped behind his back.
“What did you hear?” I asked.
“I heard Mr. Brandt attacked Mr. Mac without provocation,” Isaiah said. “Ms. Craig and Ms. North were also involved. Affinities were used. Mr. Craig had to break up the altercation with his own affinity.”
“And where did you hear all that from?” I asked, bewildered.
“Passing students,” Isaiah answered.
I stared at him for a moment, not quite believing him, but when his face didn’t change, I groaned. My phone buzzed again in my hand, and I blinked at the incoming call from Willow.
“This should be good,” I muttered. “Hello?”
“SKYE!” Willow screeched through the tiny speaker, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I dropped my phone, blinking several times when it didn’t hit the ground because Isaiah had caught it.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, and when Willow’s tiny voice kept screaming through the phone, I snatched it back from him.
“Willow?” I said, holding the phone away from my ear. “What happened?”
Fuck. Maybe Aiden was hurt. Had River hit him back?
“SKYE. IS LANA IN YOUR APARTMENT?”
Isaiah and I stared at each other.
“Lana?”
My mind was racing, my heart still pounding from Willow screaming in my ear. I’d just been considering letting her speak into my mind instead of calling me, but now I was glad I’d never suggested it. She’d probably have given me an aneurysm.
“LANA IYKOS. IS SHE STAYING IN YOUR APARTMENT WITH ZEPHYR? YES OR NO, SKYE!”
“Stop screaming,” I hissed. The phone went silent for a moment, and then I huffed. “Yes, Lana is staying at my apartment for now because that cult was going to use her for some freak sacrifice. Shit’s been weird since Levi disappeared.”
“Oh. My. GOD.” Willow screamed something unintelligible, and then the phone hung up.
“What the fuck was that?” I whispered, mostly to myself.
“Ms. Craig sounded quite distressed at the possibility of another woman staying in your apartment,” Isaiah said unhelpfully.
“Yeah, I gathered that,” I said. “I don’t know what she’s worried about–”
I sucked in a breath suddenly.
How had I forgotten that less than a year ago my brother was fucking anyone that consented to it?
I slapped my forehead.
“I need to see my brother,” I said, gathering up my things. “Wait. No, I need to see Wyatt.”
“I believe Mr. Craig is in his office,” Isaiah said. “I heard the Crown Prince was sighted on campus.”
“We need to talk about where you’re hearing all these things,” I muttered.
There was a mess of photographers outside the administration building.
Isaiah and I watched the dozens of people from around a corner while trying to decide how to get inside.
Isaiah knew I could teleport, since he’d seen the bullshit with the shadows in the dungeons, but he hadn’t mentioned it again.
So far, he was acting as if that wasn’t one of our possible ways into Wyatt’s office.
It seemed Rafe really had been spotted on campus, probably going to visit Wyatt to find out what’d happened with Aiden and River.
I turned away from the crowd, staring down at my hands.
I’d stopped responding to the Chain group chat earlier when Willow called me, but I’d caught up on the messages as we made our way across campus. Wyatt was trying to interrogate Aiden over text to find out what’d happened with River, and Rafe was only trying to piss off Wyatt.
Wyatt was pissed about the fight, but Aiden wasn’t budging. He wasn’t telling them why he jumped River, but I knew.
I buried my face in my hands, groaning.
Of course my angel would try to defend my honor. Why was I surprised?
“Ms. Aria?” Isaiah’s voice came from my side. “I think we’re going to have to go through everyone.”
“That’s dangerous,” I said, eyeing his all black outfit and matching tactical vest. I knew he had at least one gun on him, and I only knew about his lie-detecting affinity. Even so…we were risking my affinity exposing itself.
Isaiah nodded, then scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t think there’s another option. We can’t risk any affinities being noticed.”
“So we’re going to risk an affinity being noticed if there’s an assassin in the crowd?”
Isaiah gave me a bored look. “I’ve been a member of the Royal Guard for nearly ten years.”
“Really? How old are you?”
Isaiah gave me another bored look before peeking back around the corner.
What the hell was up with men not wanting to share their ages?
Wait. River said he didn’t know his age, not that he didn’t want to share it. I rubbed my temples. Why was he such a mindfuck?
Before I knew it, we were crossing the courtyard in front of the administration building. My affinity didn’t like it. My palms were sweating as I ran them over my yoga pants before I remembered not to fidget around cameras.
I lifted my chin as people noticed me, keeping my head high as I followed Isaiah, my affinity on high alert. It vibrated through my hands, and without second-guessing myself, I spoke into his mind.
Something’s wrong, I said.
I know, he replied smoothly, his face betraying nothing. Someone here feels wrong, but I can’t pinpoint them.
I looked everyone in the face. Most people smiled, but a few smiles were tight, their expressions just the slightest bit disgusted as they took in my yoga pants and long-sleeve shirt combo.
I felt a little out of place, but it wasn’t like I’d expected to cover a magazine when I got dressed this morning.
I groaned internally. There was no way I could dress nicely every single day on the off chance someone would be getting a picture of me. Rafe had done just fine as the Prince while wearing ripped jeans and black t-shirts.
Except…he hadn’t. He was scrutinized for it, constantly.
Mental and physical sweating aside, my heart rate increased. My affinity continued to vibrate, almost as if it was rattling. My gaze darted across the crowd, trying to look for who didn’t fit, for who seemed off.
And I found him, because it was always a him.
The man wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked a little pissed. He seemed familiar, too. As I took in his dark hair and eyes, the slight stubble on his chin, I realized…he looked like the man I’d killed in Alaska.
Him, I said to Isaiah. He’s wrong.
I’d almost spoken too late. Had I waited another half-second, my affinity would’ve flattened him.
The man moved suddenly, his hand darting behind his back. His fingers had barely grabbed the grip of a gun when Isaiah lunged. He took the man to the ground, disarming him quickly, but–
But the gun went off.
I jumped, ducking and covering my ears as the crowd erupted into screams.
My hands trembled over my ears, but I managed to keep my breathing steady through the chaos. When I finally glanced up, the man was on the ground with Isaiah pressing a knee into his back. Someone bumped into me, knocking me sideways.
Another person knocked me again. A heel came down on my hand as I tried to scramble to my feet, and I cried out.
I hissed through my teeth, pulling my hand to my chest, and then the screams around me somehow got worse.
I glanced up, trying to find the source of the terror through the throng of people, but–
The grass beneath my feet began to tremble slightly, and suddenly, I was being sucked down into the earth.
I gasped, clawing at the dirt as I tumbled into a crevice, crying out as dirt began to pile onto me.
It happened so fast, I barely had time to react.
Dirt was everywhere. In my hair, in my eyes.
I choked on a wad of grass before my affinity caught me, keeping me from sinking further into the ground.
I screamed in horror without meaning to, my body succumbing to panic.
I was being buried.
“Skye!”
Isaiah was above me, leaning over the edge of the sinkhole to reach for me.
It still sounded like chaos above me, but I used my affinity, pushing myself up to take his hand.
Between the dirt and sweat, I could barely grab onto him, my hand slipping out of his several times.
Finally, he grabbed my forearm hard, pulling me up enough to grab one of my legs.
I crawled over the edge of the crevice, heaving another gasp as Isaiah squeezed me into a hug, his body trembling just as much as mine. He cupped the back of my neck, his eyes darting across my face.
“Jesus,” he breathed, moving to push dirt off of me. “Fuck, Skye. I thought…I didn’t think I could catch you–”
“I’m okay,” I whispered shakily.
Campus security was finally here, fighting with several people. The man who’d pulled the gun was zip-tied to one of the iron benches lining the quad.
“Are you okay? Do you need a Healer?” Isaiah murmured, his voice controlled even as his movements were still frantic.
“No,” I coughed, hacking up some dirt. “Ew. Fuck.”
Isaiah thumped my back in between dusting off my hair. I stared down at my shivering hands, eyeing the ugly bruise, and then–
Everything went black.
Like the sun had been extinguished.
I panted, confused on why my affinity seemed so calm, until a shadow prodded at my injured hand. I grinned, sighing with how much relief coursed through me. I poked at the shadow, my smile widening as it twirled around my hand before disappearing.
The rest of the darkness began to ebb away, shadows parting to reveal Rafe, looking like some sort of dark god.
The Crown Prince was indeed on campus.
And he looked pissed.