23. Ivy
IVY
As walks of shame go, this is my first.
But with Archer’s palm pressed against mine, I’m pretty sure I can handle it.
The morning sun is unforgiving on my shimmering, dusty-pink dress from last night, a slight difference from the uniform others wear around me.
Instinct has my mother’s voice in my head, shame resting on my shoulders, and embarrassment clinging to me, but I swallow down the old version of myself, straighten my spine, and walk tall with my head held high.
If Archer notices, he doesn’t acknowledge it as he strides with ease. I somehow manage to keep pace at his side, my heels clinking with every step as we cut across campus, bypassing the main academy to beeline for the sodality buildings.
The fierce flames framing the entryway of the Fire Protector dorms lure us closer, but I spot a familiar smiling face in the distance.
Her gaze rakes over me from head to toe before her speed increases, and before I can even consider hiding, she skids to a stop in front of me, her mate a step behind.
“Ivy Hayworth, is this a walk of shame?” she muses, and I roll my eyes.
“Meadow,” Archer murmurs as I try to find my words, and she grins.
“Archer, what have you done to our girl?” she presses, and he shrugs.
“Absolutely ruined her,” he states, making her giggle as Toby shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, Meadow has no chill,” he adds, earning a back-handed slap from his mate, but he drapes his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in tight.
“Meadow, say goodbye to our friend and let her go,” he declares, earning me a begrudging half-wave from my friend before they hurry down the pathway.
We don’t waste a single moment eliminating the rest of the distance, slipping through the flames and sagging with relief. Our pace naturally softens as we take the stairs to our floor.
There is still a heaviness in the air, one that’s unavoidable as our minds adjust to the past twenty-four hours, but it doesn’t feel intense. If anything, I feel closer to him than I ever have.
We probably have a lot to discuss, but right now, I’m happy to bask in the moment.
The moment we reach the second floor, uncertainty plants itself in my stomach, threatening to wreak havoc on my limbs when I spot a figure lying curled up in a ball outside of my door.
“What the fuck?” Archer grunts, nostrils flaring as he rakes his free hand through his hair, but two steps toward the hunched frame has understanding quickly washing over me.
“Teddy?” I breathe, slipping my hand free from Archer’s as I drop to my knees, gently reaching for his face. “Teddy?” I repeat, watching as his long eyelashes flutter to life.
“Why is he so… damp?” Archer mutters, and I frown, staring at his almost naked frame, seeped in droplets of water.
“Ivy?” he rasps, prying his eyes open.
His pupils expand when his gaze finds mine, and he slowly pushes to sit, but the uncertainty in my gut thrums louder.
“What’s going on, Teddy?” I dare to ask, hating the distant look in his eyes as he leans back against my door, his damp hair flopping over his eyebrows.
“Don’t worry about it. Did you guys manage to get—”
“Teddy,” Archer interjects, crouching down beside me, mirroring the same level of concern as I feel. “Why are you here?”
Teddy clears his throat. “I was waiting for Ivy.”
“We can see that, but why not wait inside, or in your dorm, or hell, my dorm,” he insists, and Teddy shakes his head.
“I didn’t want to intrude on either of you, and I didn’t want to be alone in my own dorm,” he breathes, the ache in my chest unbearable.
“What happened after we left?” I blurt, reaching for his hand, and his fingers curl around mine, a slight tremble to his touch. “Teddy?” I push when he doesn’t immediately answer, and he sighs.
“Was it my father?” Archer prods, and Teddy shakes his head.
“It was honestly nothing,” he insists at the exact same time the deep sound of a vibration cuts through the air, and Archer quickly stuffs his hand into his pocket to reveal his device.
His eyebrows furrow as he glances down at the screen, tilting it in my direction to show Baron’s name on display.
“Don’t answer that,” Teddy mutters, trying to reach for it, but Archer snatches it out of his reach, answering the incoming call as he rises to his feet.
“Baron?”
“Archer.”
“Everything okay?”
“I just bumped into Meadow and Toby; they were saying something about a walk of shame and a pretty girl in a pink dress. Are you back?”
I blush at Baron’s words, but it’s a fleeting moment as my attention redirects to Teddy.
“We’re back,” Archer confirms as Teddy exhales.
“Good. I didn’t want to trouble you with it last night, but it’s about Teddy; he—”
“I’m right here,” Teddy grumbles, the air stiffening for a moment before Archer exhales.
“We found him in just his boxer shorts sleeping outside of Ivy’s room,” Archer explains.
“How did he even get in there?” Baron mutters, confusion lacing his voice.
“Siren’s call,” the Water Protector confirms, earning an eye roll from Archer before Baron’s voice cuts through the air.
“How talkative is he being, or do I need to explain?”
“He’s insisting everything is fine,” Archer confirms, and Teddy huffs.
“Everything is fine,” he insists, but it’s weak.
“When you guys left last night, his mother was… a cunt,” Baron explains, making my pulse quicken in my ears.
I really do hate that woman.
“What did she do now?”
“She fucked with him, a lot, but she said some things as we were trying to leave that I know messed with him. We barely made it back to campus before he jumped from the cliff tops into the water below.”
“At least one of us can survive that fall,” I mutter, the air stiffening at the reminder of one of their many errors.
“We’ll get back to that,” Baron murmurs, confusion furrowing my eyebrows, but before I can draw attention to what he said, he continues. “She said that his father wasn’t the hero he thought he was.”
My heart stills at his admission as Teddy dips his head, defeat getting the better of him.
That bitch.
Anger burns through my veins, rage teetering at my fingertips, ready to escape.
“She’s a lying bitch, who—”
“She wasn’t lying,” Teddy murmurs, interrupting my tirade, and all I can do is blink at him, disbelief choking my words in my throat as I see the despair seeping from him.
“I think we may have seen a glimpse of Teddy’s power enhancements from the grounding,” Baron states, my eyes widening further.
One glance at Archer and I see the same level of surprise.
“His eyes were blue, and his siren call was practically vibrating in the air; she didn’t stand a chance against him,” Baron adds, and I gulp.
“I’m sorry, Teddy,” I breathe, cupping his cheek, and he leans into the touch.
“It should be me who is apologizing,” he mutters, making my eyes narrow at him.
“How do you figure?”
He shrugs, unable to respond as Archer exhales.
“Is there anything else we should be aware of?”
“Not right now, another time.”
The call ends before I can press for more, leaving me to glance between two of my hated mates. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do right now.
“Let’s get him inside,” Archer states, dragging a hand down his face, and I nod, brushing off my knees as I stand before extending a hand toward Teddy.
I shouldn’t be shocked that it’s because of his mother that he’s in this state, but it still bewilders me that people can be so callous and vindictive.
Between my parents, Teddy’s mother, and Archer’s father, we really did get the crap end of the stick.
But I can’t continue to let our lives be manipulated at their every whim; their selfishness is reaching new heights, and something has to be done about it.
My stomach twists.
The reality is, with the kind of people they are, it’s not as simple as going no contact or chastising them for their shit. It needs to go much deeper than that.
Bloodier.
As Teddy accepts my offer and pulls himself up, Archer reaches for my door handle, but he barely makes it over the threshold before he stumbles to a halt, a curse on his lips as he peers over his shoulder.
“How long were you out there, Teddy?” Archer asks, nostrils flared with agitation as my Water Protector shrugs.
“I don’t know.”
“Fuck.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, taking a step toward Archer, who tries to shield me from my room, but with one pointed look, he relents, shoulders sagging with defeat as he steps to the side, revealing the familiar ivy nestled atop an envelope with a golden sphere beside it.
“Fuck.”
“What’s so bad even Ivy is cussing?” Teddy mumbles, appearing at my side, but no answer is required when his gaze lands on the items perched on my bed.
My pulse thunders in my ears as I instinctively wrap my arms around my middle, desperate to shield myself from the vulnerability I continue to feel at the exposure of someone entering my room without my knowledge.
“Whoever is helping him do this has to pay,” Archer snarls, anger tainting his tone as Teddy plants his hands on his hips.
“Don’t touch any of it,” Teddy declares, and I shake my head.
“That’s not the game we’re playing, and we all know it. He’s the puppet master, tugging on my invisible strings, and all I can do is hope I don’t fall beneath the weight of the consequences,” I mumble, earning a rumbling growl from Archer.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. He only has the power because we keep offering it to him,” he insists as I shake my head, hand cupping my mouth as I nervously approach the awaiting items.
“How many more people are going to try and control us?” Teddy snarls, curling his fingers into his hair as desperation exudes from him, and I gulp, hating the answer more than I do the question.
Discarding the ivy, I reach for the envelope, feeling both Archer and Teddy staring at me intently, but neither of them tries to stop me. Slightly relieved that they’re not making this any more difficult than it has to be, I clear my throat, taking in a deep breath before I carefully open it.
Ivy,
It’s time the truth led you where you belong. To me.
- L