Chapter 63
Aiden
“Aiden?” Wyatt’s voice drifted into my consciousness. “Aiden, is Skye with you?”
I coughed, spitting out dust, then groaned. I blinked open my eyes, squeezing them shut again as everything spun. “I don’t see her,” I called back weakly, feeling like I was whispering.
“She’s not here,” Rafe’s voice sounded worried. “But I have the snake.”
“Not a snake,” River coughed. There was a thump, then a groan.
I opened my eyes again, forcing myself to sit up, then promptly slammed the back of my head against a…bed frame?
“Why am I under the bed?” I said.
“Skye put you there,” Rafe explained. An arm appeared at the edge of the bed, and I began to crawl toward it. “She…ah…it appears as if our darling Key has hidden something else from us.”
What? Skye wasn’t hiding anything from me, was she?
“I’m going to spank her ass raw,” Wyatt snarled as he pulled me from under the bed. He sat me back against the bed frame, placing his hand on my forehead as he healed something there.
I looked at my hand, wincing as I saw blood, then glanced around the room, my heart pounding faster and faster.
This was too similar to what’d happened at the academy. Some traumatized part of me seemed to come out of hiding, making my blood pressure spike.
“Wyatt,” I choked out, grabbing his wrist.
“It’s okay, Aiden. Ground yourself. Remember how to do that?”
“Yeah,” I said weakly. “Yeah…”
Wyatt exaggerated his breathing, puffing out his chest and deflating with each breath, forcing me to match him. I began to calm, shuddering as a cold sweat settled on my back.
“I didn’t know,” River mumbled to no one. “I…she didn’t tell me. I swear–”
“Shut up,” Rafe snapped, smacking River on the back of the head. River hunched over, flinching harder than he should’ve for the smack Rafe had given him.
Hey…go easy on him. I think his dad throws him around, I explained.
I do not give a single fuck, Rafe snarled back.
O-kay.
I looked around. We weren’t in Rafe’s room anymore. Skye must’ve put us in a different room. But why?
“What’s even happening? Where’s Skye?”
“Explosion,” Wyatt explained. “It’s just like the academy attack. Does…does the Crusader have an affinate who can…explode?”
River stared at us, then blinked down at the ground. “The Tempest. She can set off lightning bombs.”
“That wasn’t a lightning bomb,” Rafe scoffed. “I’ve seen the one from Skye’s nightmares.”
“A nightmare wouldn’t be an accurate depiction of anything,” Wyatt argued for some reason. “Nightmares are exaggerated, especially since it’s one of her fears. She would–”
“No one cares, Wyatt!” Rafe practically shouted.
“Y’all are a mess,” River said under his breath.
I snorted as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, surprised to see Zephyr was calling me.
“Zeph–”
“WHERE IS SHE?” he practically screamed at me. “AND WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME?”
“Slow down, bro,” I said with a groan. “My head is killing me.”
Rafe snatched the phone from me, barking back and forth with Zephyr while Wyatt put his hand on my forehead.
“River,” I said. “Now’s the time to fess up.”
“I can’t,” he whispered, sounding pained. “How do you think he has so much power?”
“Is that how my mom got involved in all this?” I asked, hope flaring in my chest. “He…forces her?”
River looked pale at the mention of my mom. His hands began to shake. “N-none of the…f-flock even w-want to be there anymore. B-but th…they don’t have a choice.”
Wyatt and I stared, stunned.
“Zephyr is in the Gulf,” Rafe sighed, stopping behind me. “Willow, Mia, and Isaiah are with him.”
“That fucking brat,” Wyatt whispered.
“Okay? So shadow-walk us.” I suggested.
“No,” Rafe said with a shake of the head. “She’ll come back because we have him.”
We all shifted to stare at River. He looked up at us, his body trembling under our combined glares.
“Do you know her plan?” Wyatt demanded.
River shook his head. “I didn’t…I don’t…”
“Oh, thank God.”
We all whirled around, and I fell sideways onto the tile. “Skyes!”
Skye stood in the doorway, her silver eyes practically glowing. “You guys okay?”
“Mostly,” Rafe muttered.
“You’re in trouble,” Wyatt snapped.
Skye blinked at him, then looked to Rafe. “I can’t find your parents. I was going to get your mom out of here, but…”
Rafe’s eyes widened as he nodded. “Brilliant as always, darling. We should find my mother quickly.”
“What do we do about the rat?” Wyatt hissed, looking down at River, who hunched his shoulders like he expected a blow.
“He comes with us,” Skye said flatly. “He doesn’t have a choice.”
“I don’t want another choice,” River said desperately, but Skye disappeared into the hall, Rafe right on her heels.
Wyatt stared at River, making him shrink back again.
“If you do anything to hurt her or any of us right now, anything at all…I’ll snap your neck.”
River nodded frantically while Wyatt loomed over him a moment longer, then he stormed off, heading into the hall.
River looked to me, his eyes wide and imploring. I pointed a finger-gun at him, sending sparks from the tips of my fingers.
“I’m not your friend, bro,” I said. “You fuck up and I’ll zap you into another dimension.”
We searched the Palace for several minutes, and it became eerily obvious there was no one here.
Like at all.
No guards. No sign of Rafe’s mother of any of her Chain. No Raaz, even though he’d just been speaking with Rafe only minutes before this all happened.
River trailed behind us like a lost puppy. He didn’t speak, but he jumped at every shadow that darted past him.
Skye and Rafe led the charge, but even they were starting to tire. The five of us stopped at a crossroads.
“We’ll never get the whole Palace searched in a timely manner,” Rafe said. “We should split up.”
“That doesn’t feel like a good idea to me,” I said uneasily.
Skye gave me a look of sympathy, moving to my side and pulling me into a hug before she kissed me. I slid my hands around her waist, squeezing along her back while the guys around us groaned in annoyance.
Skye broke the kiss, then moved into Wyatt’s arms, kissing him the same. He almost didn’t let her go as she drifted to Rafe next, kissing him so deeply the shadows wrapped them in darkness so we couldn’t see.
She didn’t look at River when they emerged.
“We’ll split up,” she whispered.
“Is it wrong I’m a little relieved we don’t have to look after River?” I asked as we peeked into yet another empty room that was fully furnished with gaudy opulence.
“Shut up, Aiden.”
“Excuse you,” I scoffed. “I’m making conversation. Why are you being a dick?”
“Skye’s hiding something from us,” he ground out. “Again. Something you didn’t even know about.”
I blinked at his back, my stomach dipping.
“She doesn’t have to tell me everything,” I said petulantly.
Wyatt grunted. “Sure. So you’re not upset?”
I swallowed uneasily.
Wyatt turned to face me. “Do you know what she’s planning?”
I shook my head. “I’d tell you if I knew, Wy. We’re bros.”
“No we’re not,” he muttered.
“We definitely are,” I replied defensively, then Wyatt threw out an arm.
Thunder rolled in the distance, and we both tensed.
“You think…do you think she’s here?” I whispered, hoping for Wyatt’s sake that she wasn’t. Regina Wilson at the Palace would be a nightmare.
Wyatt shook his head. “No, it’s…”
Wyatt, Rafe practically shouted into our minds, startling us both. Outside, now!
“Where the fuck is outside?!” I cried as Wyatt tore back into the hall.
We rounded corner after corner, Wyatt clearly knowing which way he was going, and finally, we came upon an exit. The wooden doors flew open with Wyatt’s affinity, and we skidded to a stop on the landing outside.
I had no idea what’d happened.
Skye was on her hands and knees in the courtyard.
River was nearby, face buried in his hands.
Rafe was a few yards away, staring down…
The Crusader.
He was crouched in the grass, not far from Skye, but facing Rafe. He wore the same expensive suit that we’d seen him in at the gala.
“No,” Wyatt choked out. “No!”
We flew down the million steps as fast as possible, so fast I almost tripped over my own feet. We skidded to a stop behind Rafe, who stood, staring with wide eyes like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Shadows began to pool around his feet.
The Crusader seemed fascinated by the shadows. He remained crouched, watching the darkness slide across the grass, liquid and gas at the same time, rippling like water one moment and then dissipating like smoke the next.
“Such a beautiful affinity,” he said, then looked to Skye. “You would be stunning with shadows.”
“Stop talking to her,” Rafe snapped. “Don’t listen to him, Skye.”
The Crusader wrinkled his nose. “Skye,” he murmured as he stood. “A beautiful name.”
The Crusader turned, looking to Rafe before glancing back down at the shadows. He slipped his hands into his pockets.
“River,” he said. “I think this one wants to fight me.”
River was furiously chewing his thumb, his eyes darting between Skye and the Crusader like he was trying to formulate a plan.
Or maybe…maybe he was nervous because everything was going perfectly to plan, and he didn’t want us realizing he’d betrayed us.
“He’s not the only one,” Wyatt said darkly, stepping up next to Rafe. The grass around Wyatt’s feet began to shift, looping into long vines.
“That one is Richard’s son,” the Crusader explained to River.
Wyatt cringed at the mention of his father.
“And obviously that one belongs to Lucille. One affinity, right?”
I couldn’t tell if he was taunting me or not.
“Right,” River ground out.
My hands crackled.
I looked to Skye, tilting my head in our signal for her to open our minds, but she didn’t. She only stared at us, her chest heaving.
She’s in shock, I said.
I’ve had enough of this, Rafe replied.
A shadow slammed against the Crusader, sending him into the dirt. For a moment, nothing happened as he coughed and sputtered, but then he waved a hand at River.
“Fuck,” River grimaced. His body began to contort as he fought himself, and then his hand raised. “I have to fight you!”
Why…
Okay. Maybe River hadn’t betrayed us?