Chapter 56
Wyatt
“Rafe,” I panted, but he ignored me, continuing to stride ahead of me toward the Health clinic.
There was a painful stitch in my side, my thighs were burning, and I felt like I was ready to pass out.
I’d never been this close to Exhaust before, and I had no idea how long it’d take to get back to normal.
I should’ve been sleeping, or eating, or…
anything other than chasing my best friend across the academy campus.
I understood his urgency. I shared it, to an extent. But part of becoming a functioning Chain meant we needed to trust each other, and I was trying my hardest to trust Aiden with Skye.
The little asshole hadn’t been responding to our texts, though.
Willow jogged past me, easily catching up with Rafe right as he made it to the Health clinic. She’d been nearly catatonic for the last hour or so since she almost split the fucking earth, and now she was moving with renewed purpose as we got closer to Skye, which frightened me.
My Key was unpredictable. When Skye found out about Mia, she’d either completely calm Willow, or go full scorched earth.
And while I would secretly enjoy her dark side, the rational part of my mind knew it was a bad idea.
We were under a microscope now, as evidenced by how many videos had surfaced online of the tussle from earlier.
And because Rafe didn’t give a single shit about our reputation, he slammed his fists into the Health clinic doors, denting them and sending a burst of shadows in every direction. I jumped, barely dodging one that came right for my face. God, the shadows were assholes.
“Rafe, control it.” I hissed. We were already causing too much of a scene, and I felt dead on my feet. I’d never be able to rein him in alongside my sister, who had a wild glint in her blue eyes that resembled a look our father shared when he was getting ready to destroy someone.
“Skye Aria, where is she?” Rafe demanded.
The receptionist at the desk widened his eyes, then moved as if he were about to drop to the floor and kneel. Several shadows spilled across the desk, skittering amongst the various pens and paperclips while the man looked as if he were about to throw up.
The receptionist began typing on the computer, frantically hitting the backspace every few letters as his hands were shaking uncontrollably.
He gulped. “I…I can’t give out any information. She’s–”
“She’s my Key!” Rafe snapped, slamming his hands down on the front counter.
“N-not acc-according to the p-paperwork,” the receptionist practically sobbed.
Willow barked a loud, sarcastic laugh. “Your mother named her Heir Presumptive and you didn’t file the Chain paperwork?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Did you forget she didn’t want anything to do with me like, three months ago?”
“Oh no, I remember just fine.” Willow said with an eye-roll. “My scores in first term probably would’ve been a lot better if I wasn’t listening to her crying in her sleep most nights.”
My heart clenched.
“Willow, stop being a bitch and text Zephyr.” Rafe demanded.
Willow’s pink lips –because yes, she’d put lip gloss on even though she was covered in dirt and dried blood– popped open in an O, and then she scowled, but did as he said.
Several minutes later, Rafe shadow-walked away, returning with Zephyr.
Willow flew into his arms, sobbing and babbling, and Zephyr took it in stride, holding her face so he could heal the scar from her cut and nodding along like he understood anything she said.
He continued nodding as he moved to the reception counter, only stopping Willow so he could glare at the receptionist. Once he had Skye’s room number, Rafe was moving again, storming into the elevator and then glaring at me as a way of telling me to join him.
Zephyr followed us in, holding Willow with one arm while using his free hand to punch in the floor number.
Silence descended.
Rafe and I didn’t bother asking if Skye was okay.
Zephyr didn’t ask about Mia.
The four of us strode down the hall, Rafe visibly irritated that Zephyr had stepped in front of him, but he relaxed as we walked into Skye’s room.
The scene filled me with instant relief. Skye and Aiden were squished together on the hospital bed, though Aiden’s ass was hanging off. They’d been whispering to each other, and when Skye realized Rafe and I were now in the room, her face lit up.
Rafe beat me to her, crowding the bed like he’d climb on, too, and he kissed Skye deeply. Zephyr groaned, then punched Rafe in the kidney. Rafe hissed, a shadow darting around like it wanted to exact revenge.
“Get off my sister,” Zephyr snapped.
Rafe begrudgingly stepped aside, allowing Zephyr to hug her and examine her hand. Willow climbed onto the end of the bed, grabbing one of Skye’s feet in silent support. Skye’s eyes bounced back and forth between us like she was looking for Mia, but she said nothing.
Zephyr stared at her hand, and then the siblings made eye contact, having a silent conversation. And I didn’t mean telepathically. These two were weirder than twins.
A shadow closed the exam room door.
Zephyr stared at her hand, his brow furrowed. “Who healed this?”
“Who do you think?” Aiden replied quietly.
Zephyr’s lip curled in a snarl, and he slowly began unwrapping the clean bandage from around Skye’s hand.
Ever since Zephyr had told us he could feel when people were in pain, I’d been trying to be more aware of my surroundings. If my healing affinity was evolving, I wanted to know. I moved in closer, watching, waiting to feel…something.
Zephyr stared at Skye’s perfect-looking hand, but shook his head. He pressed his thumbs into her palm, running them up to the base of her fingers and down to her wrist, over and over again.
I was struck with an odd feeling of déjà vu, like Zephyr had healed Skye this way before. Maybe when they were kids?
Skye sucked in a breath suddenly, ripping her hand away from her brother as if he’d burned her. She startled Willow, who grabbed onto the back of Zephyr’s shirt. I frowned at that.
Neither my sister nor my Key were looking to me for support.
“What did I do?” Zephyr moved closer, leaning forward to catch his sister’s gaze. “Something was wrong, right? Did I fix it?”
“Fuck,” Skye breathed. “I…I couldn’t feel my affinity.”
Zephyr’s look of shock morphed into a grin. “I knew it. She didn’t fix the nerves all the way.”
“Since when are affinities attached to nerves?” Rafe murmured, but no one heard him. Or maybe he was being ignored. Like me.
The door opened then, causing every man in the room to whip around defensively. Only Aiden relaxed when Isaiah entered, holding a drink-carrier full of coffees.
Zephyr sucked in a breath, moving but stopping when Willow pulled on his shirt, giving him a look.
Isaiah cleared his throat, then made his way over to the bed, offering the drink carrier to Willow and Skye.
I scrubbed a hand down my face, my vision refocusing on how Zephyr and Isaiah kept glancing at each other. Hadn’t they met before? I thought they had. I thought–
Rafe nudged me, his eyes wide as his gaze darted back and forth between them before looking back to me.
Oh.
Rafe nodded frantically, stopping when Isaiah finally turned and headed back to stand in front of the door, keeping his eyes on the ground.
Because Zephyr was staring at him. And not in a murderous way.
I rubbed my eyes so hard I saw stars.
We did not. Have. Time. For this.
“How did this happen?” I groaned.
“Dani told me everything,” Willow said quietly, even though I’d been referring to Isaiah and Zephyr and not…
the incident. “She uh…she told me she couldn’t see me anymore because…
” She trailed off as her voice quivered.
Skye took her hand, nodding encouragingly while Zephyr sat on the edge of the bed beside her.
“She told me she couldn’t see me and Mia anymore because she’d found her Key. And the Key was Carla.”
Aiden grimaced.
“But she’d still been texting me here and there…
so I made an appointment at the Health clinic to go talk to her, and she was really upset about something.
She told me she’d been spending more time with Carla and Carla had told her a lot of stuff about her life and…
anyway, Dani told me Carla had tried to drug Aiden on purpose to kill him.
She couldn’t keep the secret anymore, she kept repeating how she took the Healer’s Oath. ”
The siblings let out matching deep sighs. Willow and Skye leaned into Zephyr, and he put an arm around each of them while he shook his head.
Another flare of annoyance passed through me. I looked to Rafe, who was staring daggers at Zephyr, and that explained it. He was also pissed we weren’t the ones comforting our Key.
“How does Dani know all this?” Rafe said, his voice a little strained. “Did she explain?”
“I don’t think she knew too much…” Willow trailed off, then gasped dramatically, making all of us jolt. “Oh, my God. Mia…killed Dani’s Key. Fuck, Dani’s really never talking to us again!”
She began to weep loudly into Zephyr’s shoulder, and he blew out a breath.
“I told you I didn’t like her,” he muttered.
“You dick!” Willow screeched, making Skye flinch. Willow punched Zephyr’s shoulder, shocking all of us, but he only laughed.
After a few minutes of Willow’s weeping and Zephyr sighing, Skye looked to me and Rafe.
“Rafe? When will Mia be out?” Skye asked.
The mood darkened.
Rafe moved forward, kneeling at the bedside. He took Skye’s hand, ignoring how Zephyr made a sound of disgust, and took a deep breath.
“We don’t know where Mia is,” he said softly.
Skye’s eyes bulged, and she turned to her brother, who only nodded solemnly.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “So she’s not…you don’t know?”
Rafe went on to explain everything that’d happened. How he was stuck in a meeting with his mother in court, how he saw the texts and freaked out. How he came to get us and how Willow had almost buried the city when she realized Mia was gone.
“And, my love, arguably the worst part. Wyatt nearly Exhausted again.”
Skye whipped around to face me, her eyes narrowed.
“You dick,” I muttered while Aiden laughed.