Chapter 34 Riley
Riley
PRESENT
Iheard Jade hiss from the other side of the door. Before I’d closed myself in the bathroom, I saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, her arm covered in bloody lines. I knew Corrin would heal her wound as painful as it might be, but what I did couldn’t be fixed and I didn’t deserve that anyway.
We’d stumbled into the hotel lobby, the front desk attendant remembering us and immediately yelling at Corrin.
They scolded her about noise complaints from our room, the continuous barking and how if we didn’t get our shit together they would kick us out and charge for any damages caused.
Even in pain, Jade moved in front of us and growled at the attendant, saying in the most lethal voice I’d ever heard to leave us the fuck alone.
The attendant audibly gulped and motioned for us to go ahead.
Beau threw himself in my arms when we’d gotten into the room and he’d definitely made a mess of the beds and deep claw marks were on the other side of the door.
Pillows were thrown everywhere, and the mattresses were askew.
It almost looked as if he’d created track marks into the carpet.
He was at my feet now, while I sat on the bathroom floor, leaning against the tub.
I felt like my heart was going to explode from my chest and I kept flexing my fingers out and creating fists as if I had no feeling in them. Beau put his head on my knee, sighing.
Are you going to tell me what happened?
I shook my head. No.
I’m a good listener.
A tiny smile escaped my lips. I know. I just don’t want to say things out loud right now. Can you understand that?
He blinked at me, his ears twitching. I understand. He got up and walked over to me, nudging his face against my shoulder. I was so scared.
I reached up and scratched under his chin. “I don’t like scaring you. I just need to figure out how to breathe normally right now. I just feel like everything was going okay and then…”
A loud pounding noise sounded at the door. I heard the door open and multiple voices.
“Where is she?” My heart stumbled within its tense rhythm when I heard River’s voice. Beau’s head cocked to the side and his tail thumped.
The bathroom door flew open and my boyfriend looked down at me, his green eyes exploding with this kind of wild protectiveness. “How did you find me? I hung up so quickly and didn’t give you…”
“Corrin texted me your hotel when you checked in.” He was down on the floor with me in seconds, scooping me up into his arms and cradling me in his lap.
I let crying screams rip from my throat the minute the heat from his body took over. I tugged on his shirt and threw my head against his chest. He kissed my forehead over and over again. “Hey baby, I’m here. I’m right here.”
I didn’t realize Grayson was there as well until I felt another body.
He sat on his knees, rubbing my arms and back, his shadows coming out to almost lull and calm me.
I peeked out from River’s chest, receiving a comforting smile from my shadow wielder.
Corrin and Jade stood in the doorway, letting me take my time before I spoke.
“I’m s-sorry.”
They both shook their heads.
“Absolutely not. That lady was crazy and I should have never thought this was a good idea, but—” she slipped her fingers into her back pocket, pulling out my necklace. “I thought you might want this back.”
Grayson took it from her and he placed it in my open hand, letting his fingers wrap around my own.
“What the hell happened?” River asked, cradling me closer.
Jade and Corrin looked at each other and then back at me. I cleared my throat. “Can we have a minute?” My friends hesitated for a moment. I appreciated them, I really did. “I’ll be okay.”
They closed the door behind them, leaving me alone with Grayson and River, along with a watchful Beau. I licked my lips pulling away from River and sitting up so I could easily see both of them. “Asher didn’t want to come along?”
River kicked Grayson’s leg when he snorted.
“We told him where we were here and he sent back a very loud and angry voice message.” He tucked one of my braids behind my ear.
“He’s at the house making sure you have whatever you might need when we bring you home and likely awaiting our message that you are in one piece. ”
“Now tell us what happened,” Grayson coaxed, softly.
I wiped under my eyes, tears still threatening to fall.
“Umm, we were just talking to her and then it got weird. She started saying all these things about my mom and Chancellor Fowler…I just wanted to leave. I didn’t want a p-problem.
” I was starting to stutter when I felt the tightness in my chest return.
“You are here now, you’re out of there. Why are you crying?” River asked, curiosity in his voice. “Are you afraid she’ll come looking for you? Tell Chancellor Fowler?”
I ran a shaky hand along the back of my neck. I shook my head, reaching out for the top of Beau’s head, which he presented to me instantly. “That won’t happen.”
Both men glanced at each other and then back at me but remained quiet.
“I, umm, she tried to k-kill me.”
“WHAT?!” they shouted and I flinched.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She t-tried to kill a-all of us. I didn’t have a choice, right?
I couldn’t l-let her do that. She never wanted to h-help my mom.
She wanted me to disappear and k-keep her s-son focused and powerful.
I had to do s-something. I d-didn’t know what was happening.
M-maybe I did. M-maybe I’m a bad person… ”
“Slow down, Riley. You aren’t a bad person. She tried to hurt you,” Grayson said, rubbing my arm.
I vigorously shook my head, rocking myself against River’s lap. “That doesn’t mean I hurt her back. That doesn’t mean I become a murderer.” The word fell from my lips so smoothly that I almost didn’t realize I’d said it. Once it was out a sense of dread washed over me.
“Murderer? Riley…you killed her?” River whispered, turning my head so he could look directly at me.
I sniffed, my lip quivering. The visuals of me choking her, breaking her fingers, boiling her blood….I didn’t want to do something like that. I never thought I could. “Y-yes.”
“Baby…” He moved his thumbs over my cheeks to clear my tears, but they just kept falling. He brought my face towards his lips, kissing my cheek. “I’m so sorry you went through that.”
“Defending yourself does not make you a bad person.” Grayson turned my face so he could speak his words directly at me.
“This will only make things worse with him. He might not have liked her, but that was still his mother,” I explained, placing a hand on my chest and clutching my necklace in my palm. I opened my hand, letting the chain dangle between my fingers before I secured it around my neck again.
River hummed. “Chancellor Fowler knows you’re here. He’s probably waiting to see how it plays out, or maybe he already knows. Did you take Corrin’s potion to attempt to protect your mind?”
I nodded, remembering its nasty flavor. “Wait, he knows I’m here.”
“We’ll explain later. Let’s take you home,” Grayson offered, starting to get up from the floor.
I pressed on River’s stomach to balance myself and he hissed. I pulled back quickly, then tentatively pressed my fingers to his side feeling gauze there. I moved off of him and lifted up his shirt. A large piece of gauze was taped to his side, red coloring already seeping through the material.
“What the fuck?!” I yelled, whipping my head around to stare at Grayson.
“That’s a long story for when we are home.” Grayson reached down for my hand so he could help me up. I let him pull me to my feet, but then I ripped my hand away.
“No, you are telling me now. I watched her bleed and I broke her bones, Grayson. I tried to protect my friends and now this is happening when I’m not around. Don’t shield it from me, just fucking tell me,” I demanded, poking my finger into his chest. Beau huffed next to me, his tail high and alert.
Grayson looked over my shoulder at his best friend. “She has a point.” River sighed, pulling his shirt down before getting off the floor.
I moved past them to the door, opening it. “Let her heal you while you explain and I can focus on something else.”
Jade and Corrin had decided to drive back themselves while Grayson shadowed the rest of us back to the house. We landed right in their living room and Asher came running around the corner.
“Thank fuck,” Asher announced, moving to the side for Beau to race up the stairs to River’s bedroom.
“You can’t just fucking send me a text with vague shit and think it’s okay.
For fucks sake, River, a wolf fight? And then you leave me with ‘Riley’s in trouble, but she sounds fine’, what the actual… ”
I rushed over to him, pulling his face down and pressing my lips to his. Asher didn’t have room to speak, but the minute our mouths met, he didn’t seem to want to. I broke the kiss, speaking against his mouth. “Your care for me is showing.”
“Are you okay?”
I placed my palms at his chest, breathing in and letting his scent envelop me. “No.”
Asher pulled a small item from his pants pocket and presented it to me.
It was my dampener ring. He took my hand and placed it on my finger.
The irony of realizing what having it would have meant for everything that happened wasn’t lost on me.
If I hadn’t been able to take it off, I could have died.
Without it, I now had blood on my hands.
It was blood that never touched my skin, but I felt it.
Marianne’s blood, my dad’s blood—those weren’t my fault, but I felt drenched in so much spilled blood that I could hardly breathe most of the time.
“Thank you,” I said in a small voice.
River cleared his throat, coming up to us. “Corrin said you never actually showered when you got back. Let’s go, gorgeous.”