Chapter 2
KAEL
My brother moves, making my heart lurch as I reach out for Elodie, but she slips from my grasp, a promise against my fingertips, before her touch becomes nothing more than a whisper snatched away like it never happened.
Clenching my hands at my sides, my shoulders slump as defeat ricochets through me from head to toe.
Fuck.
That was not supposed to happen.
Fuck. Fuck.
My breathing grows labored with every sharp inhale, my racing heart threatening to tear from my chest as I clench my eyes closed, willing my surroundings to morph to the familiar four walls of my room back at Institute Thirteen.
Not even my room, actually, the damn lounge area I share with Thorne and Rion.
I want to be back there again, just like I was this morning, tangled in the sheets with Elodie at my side.
It was bliss.
Until I ghosted my fingers across her bare skin and felt the puckered wounds on her back.
My sanity plummeted before I could take my next breath, and before I could process what I was doing, I was out of the sofabed and down in the hollows of Institute Thirteen, pummeling my fists into Warren Blackwood’s face like my life depended on it.
Everything has gone downhill from there.
I still haven’t had a real chance to talk to Elodie about the fact that we’ve been keeping her fake father hidden in the basement, and now she’s gone.
Jude has her caught in his web, and it’s all my fault.
When he reached out moments before the Institute Games started, telling me to get her away from the chaos, I heeded his warning and did just that. I didn’t have all of the facts, though. I thought he meant for her safety, not to—
Fuck.
I should have stopped him. I should have refused. I should have protected her. But I also should have known that’s never an option when Jude is involved.
Besides, while she’s not here, she’s not under the watchful eye of The Sanctum. I don’t know which is the lesser of two evils. At least Jude won’t harm her. He needs her too much. The only thing The Sanctum has done is cause her pain.
Regardless, I know deep in the pit of my soul that I’ve fucked this up.
There’s no coming back from this, not based on that emotionless glint in her eyes.
It wasn’t horror that danced in her blue pools; it had been nothingness.
It’s as if I watched her emotions diminish right in front of me the moment Jude healed her.
There wasn’t an ounce of fear exuding from her, not even a hint of uncertainty. Did she want to run? For sure, that’s her default at this stage, but what concerns me most is what a girl like Elodie can do when her emotions aren’t present.
The walls rattle around me, reminding me that Jude has taken her and I’m left here, in this decaying pit called The Vale, lost to an Institute Game like it’s a life I chose.
I can’t even chase after him. Fuck knows where he’s taken her.
Frustration gets the better of me, twisting like a knot in my chest until it’s bundled so tight I can’t breathe.
A roar of anger burns from my lungs as I sink to my knees, my head in my hands, and wallow in my own undoing.
The rawness of my throat doesn’t subside as agitation morphs into anger, but the bite on my tongue is washed out by screams coming from the other side of the walls that confine me.
Cries of the rebellion’s presence continue to wail in the distance as the room shakes even harder. Dropping my hands from my face, I try to keep my balance as I watch in disdain when cracks begin to form along the walls.
It’s coming down. I can feel it.
Instead of darting for the door like I should, I blink at the crack spreading across the ceiling, the plaster bowing beneath the weight of what, I’m not sure, but it promises to come falling down on top of me, and I can’t help but encourage it.
Let the world shatter over me and take me to the pits of Hell like I deserve.
What’s the use of continuing outside of these walls when the one person who ever made life worth experiencing hates me with an unwavering passion I can never come back from?
Dust floats over me, taunting as the ground trembles beneath me. Will it be enough to kill me? That’s probably what I deserve after today, but there’s a fact that niggles at my chest, making my heart beat rapidly.
If I don’t get her back, who will?
Wiping a hand down my face, I’m on my feet before I even realize it, taking off toward the exit as the room begins to shatter in my wake. I barely make it through the door before it collapses in a pile of rubble behind me.
Gaping around me, I startle when I realize the blinding light that obscures my vision comes from the sun itself and not the feeble, dim lights from moments earlier. Rubble is scattered among trodden grass, two worlds colliding as the portal for The Institute Games collapses.
Garbled cries dim, but hysteria still lingers like a bad dream clawing at reality.
My head falls into my hands again as I try to calm my heart and breathing.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, today’s Institute Game has been forfeited. Please make your way to your dorms. The threat is not present within The Vale. I repeat, the threat is not present in The Vale. Return to your dorm immediately.”
The state of disarray worsens around me, rather than easing in response to the clear statement that we’re not under attack, but one shrill cry grows louder than the others, and I only have a moment before a body collides with mine.
I still as arms tangle around my neck, sobs echoing in my ears as lips press against my cheek.
Her scent is enough to confirm who it is, but instead of the sweetness that is Elodie, grounding me in the mayhem of my life, it’s the pungent smell of gasoline; igniting the fire that will never die out.
Dropping my hands from my face for what feels like the hundredth time today, I snap my fingers around her neck, tightening as I yank her away from me, putting some much-needed distance between us.
“You!” I snarl, staring deep into her watery eyes as she blinks at me in fear.
“Kael,” she rasps, her arms dropping from my neck to claw at my wrists, desperately fighting against my hold as I growl, the sound vibrating in my chest so strongly it’s almost soothing.
“What did you do, Willow?” I snap, my anger only growing as she sobs and sniffles like she didn’t leave Elodie to bleed out.
“Kael, please,” she croaks, weakly slapping my arms in hopes of loosening my grip, but it only makes me flex my fingers tighter.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t slaughter you, right here, right now.”
The threat parts my lips and makes her still in my hold as the tears stop and the pouty lips turn to a sneer. “We both know you like it when I play the damsel in distress. Let’s stick with that, shall we?”
I shake my head in disbelief at the woman who stands before me. I’ve never understood her.
I can’t decide what it is she’s chasing, and I’ve always been good at figuring out what people want. In my experience, there are three categories that everyone falls into, each one showing in many different ways, but the core is always the same:
Power.
Love.
Money.
She’s not after the latter; her family has plenty of money.
And she doesn’t seem to have enough backbone to be seeking power.
She’d much rather ride her mother’s coattails on that front.
So that only leaves love, and like hell is she interested in that.
She wants to be fawned over, idolized, and placed on a pedestal she doesn’t deserve. Really, she just wants attention.
Maybe that gives her a sense of power, but again, it still feels weak.
“Let’s get one thing clear, Willow. I liked it when I had my hand clamped over your mouth while I fucked you, or with you flipped over and facing away from me so I could get off without actually acknowledging you.
You were a means to an end, an in for your mother’s ear, and when that was no longer needed, neither were you. ”
Poison taints my voice as I speak each word, but she shakes her head, refusing the truth, and I know she’ll never leave this delusional state she’s in. Nothing I say or do will make her understand that I have no interest in her; not now, and definitely not then.
“No one can please you like me, Kael. When you remember your place, come find me,” she hisses, slapping at my arm again, and this time, I let her go. She huffs, flicking her hair over her shoulder, and I roll my eyes at her dramatics. At least she’s consistent in being a pain in my ass.
She’s lucky I’m letting her walk away right now, but as much as I want to make her pay for what she did to Elodie, I know when my girl returns, hating me or not, she’s going to want that vengeance for herself, and I’m more than happy to give it to her.
My heart aches at the thought of her, my soul already longing for something I never truly had. Anger claws at my insides, but this isn’t the first mistake I’ve made, and it certainly won’t be the last. It will be the most devastating, though.
I’ve owned every step I’ve taken previously, even the ones in the wrong direction, and my stubbornness refuses for this moment to be any different.
Shaking off my thoughts of distractions that I can no longer indulge in, I turn to assess the space around me.
The screams grow louder as students charge past me in every direction, fueling the fury inside, but nothing causes me more distress than the distant sound of my name on Rion’s tongue.
“Kael? Kael!”
Brushing my hair back off my face, I take a deep breath, bracing myself as I turn toward the sound of his voice. It’s no surprise to find he’s not alone the moment my gaze settles on his, and I come face to face with Thorne and Ocean too.
I watch as each of them draws closer while their eyes begin to narrow, uncertainty washing over their features as they come to a stop before me.
“Where’s Elodie?” Rion blurts, his spine stiffening as he peers around me.
I shake my head, acid burning the back of my throat as guilt gnaws at my insides. He must read me like a book because he takes a step closer a moment later, crowding my space as his voice drops an octave or two. “Where the fuck is she, man? It’s not safe here.”
“She’s not here,” I state, my voice devoid of emotion, and I can’t help but wonder if my eyes look as bleak as Elodie’s did. The numbness that takes root inside me is warm and enthralling as I let it twist and turn throughout my entire body.
Nothingness blankets me like a safety net as Rion grabs my shoulders, rattling me slightly for good measure as he snarls. “Then where the hell is she?”
Thorne’s brows are gathered and an eeriness drapes over him as Ocean blinks at me with wide, fearful eyes. None of it matters, not now, and never again, as I speak the truth that will forever haunt me until I’m nothing but a whisper of history, rotting in the ground.
“She’s with Jude.”