24. Ivy
Chapter 24
Ivy
I stayed out in that alleyway with Thorne for nearly forty minutes. We made out and had sex again.
I had to tell Mom and Levgen that my so-called ‘friend’ had trouble with her coursework and needed my help to access the course files.
The friend I made up was based on Isabelle. In fact, I gave her name, so I’ll have to remember that for future reference. My excuse was given in the spur of the moment. I always forget important details when I do that.
Of course, Mom didn’t believe me because she was happy to think I might have a boyfriend I was speaking to, so neither she nor Levgen were mad at me. I also think Mom was happy to finish off the cannelloni by herself.
The craziness actually worked out.
My parents stayed for the weekend and we had a great time together.
We met for breakfast this morning and said our goodbyes before they left Boston at midday. I won’t see them again until Christmas break.
I hope by then I might have my head screwed on. Except I don’t have a plan for that.
Such a plan won’t just magically appear anytime soon while I keep thinking about Thorne the way I am.
God. I even found myself missing him over the weekend.
And now.
It’s nearly nine o’clock. It’s already late and I’m supposed to see him later because he’s busy training with the guys. But I’ve found myself shamefully counting down the time.
To fill the time I came outside to sit on the bench by the river and finish my composition. I had dinner with Isabelle and Mackenzie, who also invited me to go to the movies with them, but I declined because I needed time to myself to think.
I’ve been out here for over an hour now, but my mind is no more settled than it was when I first got here.
There’s just so much going on.
Seeing my parents was nice. So was having that reckless moment in the alley with Thorne, but it makes me think hard about the situation I’ve found myself in.
I always thought that when I got serious about someone I’d be able to introduce them to my family, but this relationship— if I can call it that —is not anything of the sort. I’m not even supposed to like Thorne.
The circumstances of us being together are so fucked up. If I claim to want him— and I do —what does that say about me?
The wind blows, lifting my hair about my face. It causes a ripple on the surface of the river that makes the moonlight sparkle like specks of diamonds tossed over it.
The mixture of silver against shadows brings my composition back to my mind. I’ve almost finished creating it. When I first thought of the melody I knew it was one I would take my time enjoying.
I’m not even going to use it in my course. Pieces like these will be saved up for when I make it big. I want to preserve the inspiration behind them without the influence of anyone else’s opinion.
Music is like art to me. I write what I hear and see, turning it into something beautiful. At least that’s the goal.
“You haven’t seen it yet, have you?” says the voice of the man I can’t bleed from my mind.
I turn to find Thorne standing by the tree, watching me. As usual, I didn’t hear him. He’s also dressed in black again, so I can barely make him out in the shadows.
Thorne steps away from the tree like a creature of the night, his eyes glistening, focused on me as if I’m the only person in this world. It’s almost scary to have someone look at you like that.
“What am I supposed to see?” I ask, keeping my gaze trained on him as he approaches.
“Weeks ago I told you to get closer to the river.”
“Isn’t this close? I am sitting next to the bank.”
“No, it’s not close enough. Come on, I’ll show you.” He grins and extends his hand for me to take.
I do, and he doesn’t let me go. We hold hands as we walk along the riverbank.
His hand feels large and dominant around mine. Just like him.
“You’re early.” I glance up at him.
“We finished on time, so I came to find you. I knew you’d be wandering around campus somewhere, Bambi .”
“I was working on my piece.”
“The one from the library.”
“How’d you know?”
“It’s the way you look at the river. Like you’re seeing the notes.”
He never ceases to amaze me. “I was.”
“Did you try the notes I suggested?”
“I did. And it worked.”
He smiles and glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Did you like it, though?”
“Yes. Clearly you play the piano.”
He raises his brows. “Do I?”
“Yes, and you can create music.” I feel like I’m trying to pick him apart. It’s difficult because he’s so closed off. He only allows you to see what he wants you to see. “Who taught you? You didn’t just pick that up.”
“My mother.” He looks away but I catch the sadness dulling his eyes.
I feel sad, too, at the mention of his mother.
“Everyone in her family could play the piano. It was a skill they all learned from way back. We lived in Russia when I was little. I learned to play the piano before I could even speak properly. It was my second language.”
“I’d love to hear you play sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe. I haven’t done it in a while.”
“How long?”
“Over ten years. I found it difficult after my family… died.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “I wanted you to.”
We stare at each other for a moment before we look back ahead of us at the shadowy path.
“Where did the name Ivy come from? You look more like an Annika.”
“It was my grandmother’s name. It’s funny, I never stopped thinking as Annika. Sometimes when people call me Ivy I don’t know who they're talking about.” It feels strangely freeing to talk to him like this, probably because I don’t have anyone else I can share these things with.
“I think of you as both, little deer.” He holds my gaze, and I realize this is a new side of him I haven’t seen. It’s a tamer side that I don’t think many get to discover.
We continue down a path that’s different to where I’ve been before. It’s older with a gathering of giant oak trees that look like they’ve been there since the beginning of time.
“We’re here.” Thorne points to the thickest tree which has a set of wooden steps going around the trunk.
I suck in a breath. How could I have missed this?
“It’s beautiful. This was here the whole time?”
“Yes. The whole time. All your exploring, and you never found this place?”
“No.”
“It’s called Freyja’s Grove, after the Norse goddess.”
“Wow.” I look around and he studies me as I take it all in.
“Come on. Wait until you see everything else.”
“There’s more?”
“So much more.” He tugs on my hand, beckoning me to follow.
We take the steps all the way to the top of the tree. Being so high up in the air feels amazing. It's at least forty feet.
Right at the top is a little platform you can’t see from the ground below us. The expanse of branches and leaves from the trees hides it, but it pushes right out to the middle of the river. The intricate vines wrapping around the structure have the same medieval Gothic design as the rest of the campus. I feel like I just stepped into a fantasy.
Thorne leads me across the platform. “Look down.”
I do, and when I stare down into the water and see a colossal statue of a woman with a shield and a sphere under the water, the air leaves my body.
The moonlight casts its silver glow down on it, but there’s a set of underwater lights that illuminate the statue, bringing it to life.
It’s more than a masterpiece. It’s art and music and the essence of everything in this world that was ever touched by inspiration.
“Oh my God.” I breathe out the words on the edge of a whisper. I almost feel like I shouldn’t speak. As if the magnificence demands the same reverence you’d show in a church. “This is so beautiful.”
“This is one of my favorite statues on campus. I love all the others, but this is something else.”
He’s absolutely right.
Giant-sized statues of the original Knights of Raventhorn guard the entrance of the campus. The statues take up the whole length of the enormous drive up to the main building, where it ends with Raventhorn himself with the raven on his shoulder and his sword in his hands.
All those statues have a powerful, godly look, but this one we’re staring at is everything.
I feel so silly now that I never heeded Thorne’s advice to take a closer look at the river. Everyone else has probably seen this a hundred times.
I never got a proper tour of the campus. Now I realize that I really missed out.
Over the last few weeks I’ve familiarized myself with all the places I needed to be. Most of my spare time has either been spent with Thorne, cleaning Myrridin House, or studying.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” I say.
“Neither have I. The man who led the Knights when the school was built got his wife to build all the statues you see on campus.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was so she could share a piece of the legacy. He wanted her to build this one and the angels on the rooftops because all the statues around were so masculine. He wanted his wife to be remembered as the person who supported him most. This statue was their favorite, so they were buried together at the base.”
I’m so impressed with him and the story I have goosebumps. “Who is she, Thorne? The statue.”
“This is Freyja. Goddess of love, beauty, youth and fertility. But she also has another side, so she was also the goddess of war. Two sides but the same brilliant person. Just like you.”
I look back at him and find him already staring at me. Something in his eyes seems less guarded. Less defensive. Less unhinged.
At first, I stare, processing the beautiful words he just said about me.
Then I find myself biting back a smile, until I'm actually smiling.
Thorne catches my face and searches my eyes. “You’re smiling at me.”
“I always smile.”
“Not for me.”
“Well, I guess I am now. You just compared me to a goddess. It’s a massive upgrade from a Disney animal.” I sound like I’m joking but the warmth of his words is swelling my heart.
He leans in and brushes his nose along mine. “You were always a goddess. I don’t have to tell you that.”
He tilts his head but he’s a breath away from my lips.
Filled with the magnetism of his charm, I move in to kiss him. I press my lips to his like I’m tasting him, then I actually kiss him.
It feels like we’ve kissed a million times over but this is the first time I’ve initiated a kiss.
Slipping his hand behind my head, he takes control and sweeps his tongue into my mouth, claiming me with the taste of his power.
He makes me feel alive and like I can be me. Like I don’t have to hide.
When I’m with him I feel free.
That’s what I crave about Thorne Ivanov.
“I’m meeting you at the English building then I’m taking you to lunch,” Thorne whispers into my ear.
We’re lying in his bed and I’m cocooned in his arms.
It’s been one of those nights again when we didn’t sleep. Now it’s morning and nearly time to leave for class.
I turn to face him, giving him a questioning stare. “Really? You’re taking me to lunch?”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting at the door in case that prick has any more wise ideas.”
He’s talking about Aiden. I have another tutorial session with him.
Thorne releases me and slides off the bed, dragging on his boxers.
I sit up, pulling the sheets over my breasts so I can watch him. Part of me likes seeing him act all possessive over me, even if it gets a little crazy.
“What?” He smirks, and his messy just-got-out-of-bed hair falls over his eye, making him look like a forbidden fantasy.
“I have lunch with Isabelle and Mackenzie today. The two of them have been annoyed at me for ditching them over the last few weeks.”
“Well, I’m sure Izzy and Mack won’t mind if I join you.”
I give him a narrowed stare and laugh. “ Izzy and Mack ? Since when are they Izzy and Mack?”
“I’ve always called them that.”
“Seriously?”
“It stuck in high school. They love me.”
“They’re scared of you.”
He chuckles. “Believe me, I’m the big brother they never knew they had.”
“Maybe you should tell them that.”
“Nah. I like having people scared of me.”
I shake my head at him. “Also, aren’t people going to start talking even more if they see you with us? With…me?”
“Since when do I care what people think?” He grabs a cigarette and lights up.
“I just thought that maybe…”
“Fuck maybe. I’m joining you for lunch.” He tugs on the sheet and I pull back. “Join me in the shower.”
“Let me message Isabelle and I’ll be there.”
“Okay.”
He backs away, watching me. When he walks into the ensuite I release the breath I’m holding.
This is how we’ve been since the night of the alleyway. That was two weeks ago.
I’m starting to feel less like a hostage and more like his… girlfriend.
Except I’m not.
Thorne doesn’t seem to think about us like that. He just does what he wants.
I’m finding it hard to be like that.
I get off the bed with the sheet wrapped around me and go into the living room. I left my bag out here last night with my phone inside.
I pad across the room to get it but I stop when the glare from Thorne’s computer screen comes on. It must have detected my movements. He has one of those new tech computers.
This, however, is the first time he’s left it unlocked.
Usually when I’m here, it’s off.
A desperate idea whispers to me, compelling me to check if he might have access to the Knights' database.
This could very well be the opportunity that I needed to keep my eyes open to see.
I hear the shower turn on. He’ll expect me to join him soon. It doesn’t take that long to message Isabelle, but I have to look at the computer.
I rush over to the computer, which brightens even more when I get closer.
I don’t even know what I’m looking for but the task becomes a million times easier when I see the Raventhorn crest icon on the home screen with the label Knights' Database underneath it.
Oh my God. This is it.
My instincts were right. It makes sense that Thorne has access to the database because of who he is.
I grab the mouse and click on the icon, but of course it needs a password.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin to figure that out and I don’t have the time.
“Looking for something?” Thornes voice makes me jump but I’m quick to save myself by clicking off the screen so he can’t see that I was in the database.
I whirl around to face him, trying not to look guilty. “I was looking at the time. My phone battery died,” I lie.
“Oh. Alright. There’s a charger in the room you can use.”
“Thanks.”
Trying to act as normal as possible, I continue to my bag and get my phone.
I walk to him and think of what I could do now that I know Thorne can access the database right here in his living room.
I stare at him and I know that no matter how close we’ve gotten, fact is still fact.
I want to access the database to see if I can find the man who’s responsible for the crimes my father is in prison for. But to Thorne, my father is that man.
To him, my father took his family away from him.
So why would he help me find the scar-faced man?