Chapter 25
Zayden
She’s asleep in my arms when I make it to my dorm, all the fight gone from her body. I scan my key card and kick the door open with my foot. Thank God, the guys aren’t here.
Once inside my room, I lay her on my bed. She stirs and mumbles something I can’t make out.
“Okay, think, Zayden.” I pace around the room before opening one of my drawers and grabbing a cotton T-shirt. I run to the bathroom and wet a small towel.
Back at the bed, I set the towel down and gently unzip her jumpsuit. Underneath, she’s wearing a baby-blue pajama set. I pull the jumpsuit off the rest of the way and toss it aside, leaving her in her PJs.
“I don’t…need your…” she says faintly before her eyes close again.
“You don’t know how to stop fighting, do you, Luna Del Sol?” I stare at the girl who crashed into my life like a storm, whose wreckage I want to be caught in.
I press the cold towel to her neck and then her forehead. “You’re okay.” I stare at her face. “What were you thinking going back there like this?”
“Rylee…” Her voice is so quiet, I almost don’t hear it. “Please don’t go—please don’t leave me.” She sounds so young, like she’s a kid again. My chest splinters open for her, and that little girl. The little boy in me knows how it felt when my mom walked out of our home and never came back.
She’s quiet again, and her body is still warm. I run to the bathroom and wet the towel again.
“Sissy… sing me… a lullaby, please?” she slurs, still half asleep.
“Your sister is not here, Tempestina Mia (my little storm),” I whisper to her.
“Lullaby…please,” she pleads again. She’s not asking me. I don’t think she even knows I’m here, and I don’t really know any lullabies or how to sing. But before I know it, my mouth is moving, and the words slip out.
Brilla, brilla, una stellina,
Su nel cielo, piccolina.
(Twinkle, twinkle little star.
So small up in the sky.)
She exhales slowly, sinking deeper into the bed. Her body relaxes inch by inch, like the sound is pulling her deeper into sleep.
She’s fully asleep now, and her skin is not burning up. I slide down on the floor with my back against the bed, but my chest still aches.
“Zayden?” She tries to get up, but I stop her, and she doesn’t fight me.
“Hey, I’m here. How you feeling?” I grab the water bottle from the nightstand. “Can you drink a little?”
I bring the cap to her lips, and she takes a small sip before lying back down. “What’s going on?”
“Just a migraine…” Her voice is barely above a whisper.
Just. Like it’s no big deal. What would have happened if I wasn’t there?
“Do you get those often?”
She turns over onto her stomach, cheek pressed against my pillow, and she’s asleep again. I brush her braids back, hand lingering longer than it should. The fever is finally gone.
Don’t scare me like that again, baby.
“Z, where were—” Jasper walks in holding a drink and freezes when he sees Luna.
“Shhh, she’s sleeping.”
“Oh, sorry man.” He turns around to leave.
“Jasper.” I motion for him to come in, and he closes the door behind him. “She was at the Shadow Rink. Almost passed out, and said it’s just a migraine.”
“Shit. Did you call the nurse or something?” He leans against the desk.
I shake my head. “Couldn’t.”
He watches me for a second as the reason why I couldn’t clicks in.
“You think he’s watching?”
Probably.
I glance over at Luna. She’s curled in on herself now.
“I need you to delete the footage from tonight. From Wolfswood Hall and Ravensbourne. The Shadow Rink. All of it.”
He nods before leaving the room and coming back with his laptop. Jasper sits at the desk as he types away, but I can feel his eyes on me and Luna.
I drag a hand down my face. “Tomorrow is the first game of the season. Scouts’ll be watching. My dad expects me to lead and win, and I can’t screw this up. But then I’m here with her, and if he finds out, I don’t know what he’ll do.”
“He’s not gonna find out.” Jasper glances up from his screen.
“Zayden…” My name escapes her lips.
I pull up from the floor. “I’m here, baby.” I smooth my hand over her shoulder. “Shhh. Go back to sleep.”
“Yeah, you’re screwed.” Jasper chuckles.
I know.
“Any updates on who’s been sending me those messages?”
“Not yet, but I’m working on it. They’re smart, using VPNs to mask their locations and rerouting through dead servers.”
“So, dead end.” I swear under my breath.
“No, you know I love a good challenge.” He smirks.
The last time I saw him this excited, he hacked into the school database and stole the answers for the final exams.
“They think they’re smart, but not smarter than me.” He turns serious now. “I’ll find them.”
I have no doubt he will. This is Jasper we’re talking about.