Chapter 23 Rion
RION
The second we step foot into their dorm room, I kick the door shut and take a deep breath.
“Ocean,” I start.
“I know,” she replies before I can even say another word. Her shoulders slump as she grimaces with a heavy sigh. She parts her lips as her chin falls to her chest in defeat.
“Do you?” I question, hating to be the one to ask, but somebody has to, and it needs to happen now.
“It was Nathaniel,” she breathes. “Whatever he did, he was the one to do it to Kael, and looking at it now, he's likely the one who told Walker to use me against Elodie too,” she adds.
Hearing the words out loud makes my heart hammer in my chest with anger, but it's the stir of emotions I can hear ricocheting through Elodie that infuriates me more.
We knew a spy could be anywhere. We just didn't think it would be that close.
Rocking back on my heels, I clear my throat again, ready to make sure she has a clear understanding. “So we have to—”
“Kill him,” Ocean interjects, her chin finally lifting from her chest as she meets my stare.
Her shoulders are raised high, but tense with determination.
Yet it’s the tightness of her jaw that confirms she means it.
“Someone do it before I get my hands on him,” she snarls, offering us a tense smile before she saunters into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She clearly needs a moment.
Turning to Elodie, she gapes at me in disbelief. Desperate for her, I cut the distance between us, reaching for her face. A soft smile curls her lips as I brush my thumb across her cheek before playing with a loose curl of hair hanging by her ear.
“I have to go,” I explain, and she nods.
“Okay, shouldn't I come too?” she offers, and I shake my head.
“Right now, no. I need you safe.”
“I need to be involved,” she retorts, and I capture her chin, grinning at the fire that always burns deep in her eyes.
“I agree, but right now, Thorne is taking care of Kael, and I'm going to go and take care of that fucking weasel after I grab a few things from across the hall. Which means I need you to make sure your friend is okay while keeping yourself safe, especially since none of us are around.”
Her spine stiffens, just as I expected. “I don't need anybody around. I can defend myself.”
“I know that,” I reply with an eye roll. “We've had this conversation before, Petal, but just this one time, I need you to see that what I'm saying makes the most sense.”
She presses her lips together as she thinks it through before a reluctant sigh falls from her mouth and she nods. I don’t give her a chance to say a single word before I crush my lips to hers, savoring the taste of her before I tear myself away.
Taking a step back, I open the door. “Make sure to lock this behind me,” I murmur, and she nods as I step out into the hallway and let the wood fall closed between us.
I managed to capture one extra glimpse of her through the slit in the door before it clicks closed and I hear the lock turning in place. Relief floods my veins as I pull my cell phone from my pocket. Quickly, I open the text thread with Thorne.
Rion: Where are you at with Kael?
Rion: And do we still have eyes on Nathaniel?
Rion: Elodie is safe, Ocean too. Let me grab a few things and I'll meet you.
I wait a moment, watching the green ticks appear beside my messages, confirming they’ve been opened immediately before the little dots dance in the corner of the screen, signaling his reply.
Thorne: Kael is taken care of.
Thorne: Nathaniel is still at The Hut.
Thorne: I’m waiting him out.
Thorne: Meet me at Institute Twelve.
Thorne: Our basement is already occupied.
I grimace, shaking my head as I tap out a quick reply and pocket my cell phone before slipping into my dorm room, only to falter the second I turn the lights on.
There’s an unwanted guest in my space.
“What are you doing here?” I bite, the chill to my tone audible even to me as the woman in question sits perched on the sofa, hands laced together in her lap as her eyes narrow.
Tonight of all nights. Of course she’s here.
“We need to talk,” she says calmly with an attempt at a seductive smile.
“I don't have anything to say to you, Laurie,” I reply with a clipped tone. “I thought I made that quite clear already.”
She hums, waving me off like what I have to say doesn't matter. Tilting her head, she taps her chin. “I assumed you'd be over it by now. I feel it's time. You need to be brought back to your senses, since you can't seem to do it alone.”
I splutter in disbelief at the state of this woman and her ability to continuously get under my skin.
I should have known the quiet had gone on too long.
“I don't know how else to spell this out for you, Laurie. I. Never. Want. To. See. You. Again.” Her face scrunches with frustration as I punctuate each word, but it only spurs me on. “You are not my guardian. You are not anything to me.” It’s freeing saying it out loud, but I’m already over it. She needs to realize it too.
“You can't say it, can you?” she muses, pushing up off the sofa with her nose held high as she assesses me.
“Say what?” I ask sharply, irritated that she lures me in with her stupid questions.
“Lover,” she purrs, the click of her heels echoing around the room as she inches closer to me. “That's what I was, wasn't it? Your lover? Say it,” she pushes, pressing her fingertip against my chest.
My heart races, not from desire, like I'm sure she hopes, but from contained rage, as I understand the difference between what I had with this woman and what I have with Elodie. It's not the same anymore.
It was never the same.
I part my lips, ready to break it down for her as simply as I can, when a snarl rings from behind me. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
I can't decide if I've ever been happier or more concerned to hear my Petal’s voice than in this moment.
“She was just leaving,” I grunt, taking a step back, more than happy to clear a path for the woman in question so she can get the fuck out of my space. But just because I move, doesn't mean Elodie does.
She fills the doorway despite her slim frame, her gaze narrowed as her nostrils flare, with her hands perched on her hips with purpose.
“I thought you would have gotten the message last time,” Elodie huffs, glaring at Laurie, who huffs in return.
“Don't speak to me, little girl,” she retorts, but Elodie simply chuckles.
“This little girl knows just how to listen to this man, handle this man, and take this man, because that's what he wants. It’s also what I want. And what both of us want is for you to not be here.”
Laurie’s throat bobs as her eyebrows twitch with unspoken rage. “Go back to your room. This is official business,” she insists, attempting to wrangle the power into her hands, but Elodie cackles.
“See, the funny thing is, I was across the hall helping my friend because that's what she needs right now, but it seems all of my belongings have somehow gone missing.
So I'm going to take a wild guess that I'm going to step into Rion's room and find everything that I'm looking for because that’s where he put them. Have you ever been able to say the same?” she taunts, tilting her head accusingly as she blinks at her.
Without waiting for an answer, Elodie saunters between the two of us with a massive grin on her face, fully aware that she has captured the attention of both of us.
My heart wallops in my chest. I did indeed bring more than a single outfit over this morning while she was in the shower. I hijacked her whole wardrobe and brought it here, but I’d forgotten about it in the midst of everything else that's happened in the past twenty-four hours.
But she's right, and the glee that dances across her face as she walks back out of my room with the smallest silk nightie in hand says it all.
“Oh, you're still here,” she says sweetly before the smile vanishes from her face and she glowers at Professor Drayker. “Get the fuck out before I let everybody know what a worthless piece of shit you are,” she snarls, her deadly tone worthy of challenging mine.
To my surprise, Laurie bites back a snort as she storms from the room, her high heels stomping in a fit of temper as the door slams shut behind her. I assume she's on the other side of it, but I don't turn to look. My gaze is transfixed on my girl, my Petal, my delicate, little fucking queen.
Clearing my throat, I smile at her. “I’m sorry, I—”
My apology is cut off as Elodie storms toward me, slamming her lips against mine in a possessive kiss that I would have been certain was for an audience just moments ago, but now that it’s just the two of us, I know it's raw need, just like I feel inside.
All too quickly, she moves back, putting far too much distance between us as she tears her lips from mine. “I thought you were only grabbing an outfit before…” she says, amusement dancing in her eyes, and I shrug.
“I don't recall stipulating any kind of limitations,” I murmur back, the tip of my nose brushing against hers as my fingers flex at her waist, and she grins.
“You're a handful, Rion.”
I press my cock against her. “I’d say it's two hands full on a good day,” I reply, and she snorts a chuckle before her face turns serious.
“Now, go get us some justice.”
Making my way over to Institute Twelve doesn't take long.
I consider going down to our basement to check on Kael, who I assume is the one keeping it occupied, but I decide against it.
My job right now is to bring him justice, to bring my Petal justice, to bring all of us the fucking justice we deserve.
As I reach the back of Institute Twelve, a memory flashes in my mind of one of the times Elodie tried to make a run for it.
My dick stirs, reminding me of how much fun hunting her was, and I make a mental note to add that to our schedule of activities in the near future.
Not that she even knows there is a list.