Chapter 8
River
There were few things I truly loved in the world. The current top of my list was sleep, since I wasn’t getting nearly as much as I needed.
I hadn’t slept for more than a few hours at a time since the night of the gala. Why had I woken up this time? The same reason I’d been waking up since the gala.
The fucking teleportation affinity was…angry.
It felt like needles in my arms, prickling at me like it was looking for a hole in my atoms to escape. I’d never felt anything like it. In all the years Avery had made me steal affinities for him, I’d never encountered one that seemed to have…emotions.
Well, excluding the scary one I avoided at all costs.
But that still made no fucking sense. Affinities weren’t things. They didn’t have personalities, or emotions, or opinions.
But this one did.
No wonder Skye was a little clumsy and crazy. If she felt this all the time, it was a wonder she seemed so put together, even while only wearing some yoga pants and a crop top.
I scowled at that hot mental image, then shook my head as if it would clear my mind. I sat up in bed, wincing as my hands met the cold sheets. They felt like they’d fallen asleep, the pins and needles sensation almost overwhelming.
I scrolled through my phone, looking at Avery’s current list of affinates. I swallowed hard when I got to Alexander’s name, a big red line marring the list as if to point out that even in death, he was in trouble.
I shook my head, continuing to scroll.
Anna Davis was our Healer, but she would definitely snitch on me if I went to see her about this. I chewed my thumb as I scrolled, surprised there weren’t any other Healers listed. Maybe someone at the academy could take a look? I could spin the story so that nothing came off suspicious.
I pulled up the Health portal for the academy, booking an appointment for when I got back. At the very least, they could give me some painkillers.
I stood, gritting my teeth as the affinity prickled at the soles of my feet, and I forced myself to move into the bathroom to get ready. No amount of hot or cold shower could rid me of the crawling sensation, and I was running out of options.
I couldn’t continue hiding this from Avery if it was physically hurting me. He’d pick up on that quickly. The fact that he hadn’t noticed already was a testament to how distracted he was.
I stalked back into the bedroom, studying a map on my phone as I tried to decide where to teleport to next.
This affinity seemed like it wanted to kill me, and I needed to get rid of it before I figured out whether or not that was a possibility.
I just didn’t know how many times I could use it before it was gone.
Hopefully it ran out while I was here or at the academy.
I’d already learned the hard way that apparently, one could not just teleport anywhere they imagined.
I had to know exactly where I was going before I could leave.
It’d worked fine the night of the gala, since I’d come right back to my room at the current compound.
But in the following days, I’d ended up in two different storage closets, one luckily also within the compound, and the other a bathroom at the academy, thankfully empty.
There was no way Skye knew every coordinate in the world so she could teleport wherever she wanted. I imagined her appearing in a broom closet somewhere, and my lips actually twitched toward a smile.
The speaker attached to my wall crackled, ruining my daydream before it could turn sexy, and my hackles rose as a distorted voice came through. “The Crusader has requested the presence of his Ward.”
I stared at the speaker, debating how to respond.
At that moment, the affinity needled at my ass.
I decided to be a dick.
“I thought I had a new nickname,” I snapped back, though I stood, clenching my thighs as the affinity rocketed through my legs. I rummaged through my dresser drawer, pulling out a hoodie while the speaker crackled again.
“The Crusader has requested the presence of his Maelstrom.”
I still cringed, even though that name was pretty cool.
“It sounds urgent, River.”
“I’m going,” I muttered as I shook my head.
It wasn’t Paula’s fault I was in a bad mood, and she was still technically mourning the loss of her daughter.
One of the idiots Avery sent to the academy had killed her on accident and it’d taken over a week for the Royal investigators to figure it out.
If the Prince hadn’t taken over the investigation, Sarah may never have been found.
I blew out a breath.
Why was this my life?
Why did things have to be so complicated?
Why did the one woman that’d ever made my dead heart stir have to be the fucking Phantom?
I groaned.
Why.
Why, why, why.
Why did she have to be in a fucking Royal Chain? One I’d just tried and thankfully failed to eliminate.
At least I was pretty sure I was thankful.
She’d have my head as soon as she realized. The pain and annoyance I felt from the teleportation affinity would be nothing compared to telekinesis ripping my organs apart inside me. I’d seen it happen first hand. It was brutal.
And God, I’d been such an asshole to her. Such a fucking dick, and why?
Because she scared me? No. It was because I’d thought she was a Telepath. I’d thought she was fucking with me, because there was no other explanation for how she made me feel.
I’d heard stories of the Phantom ever since I was…brought to live here.
Older guards still talked of the devastation they found in that alley like it was a campfire ghost story, minus the exaggeration.
Skye had obliterated the men sent in after her family.
I admired her as much as I envied her.
No one had obliterated the men sent after my family.
No one had been there for me at all, except for a head of bushy red hair and bright green eyes I’d been a fool to trust.
I’d never be so na?ve again, and that was why I couldn’t trust Skye, no matter how much I wanted to. She seemed good, but no one with that much power could remain good. I’d seen enough proof of that to last me ten lifetimes.
I stepped out into the hall, shivering at the temperature.
I wished for socks while still feeling grateful for the cold.
There was nothing left to chase away my dark thoughts, and the teleportation affinity surged through my forearms at that exact moment, as if it’d heard my inner-monologue and was reminding me it was still here, still hating me.
I blinked at my hands, then rubbed them together as I strode up the hall, trying to focus on something else.
Like, how I hated it here. And how I hated the cold.
Avery had decided at some point that a sudden blizzard was safer than a raging hurricane, though, so we were stuck in the fucking cold until further notice. I also suspected he didn’t want me around beaches, like that would trigger memories from my childhood.
While he was wrong about a lot of things, that wasn’t one of them.
“River,” Avery sounded relieved. He approached me quickly, and I found myself shuffling back into the hallway to keep him from touching me, though I knew he wouldn’t.
His expression turned pained, as always, and he blew out a breath.
“We have a problem,” he started, and then–
“River!” Gina wailed.
I flinched, because she was fucking loud, then took another step back. She began to sob dramatically, leaning on the wall for support. I glanced at Avery. He only shrugged.
“What happened?” I asked finally, if only to put a break to the fucking sobbing.
Gina wailed again. I winced again. Avery still looked apologetic for her, as usual, but he made no move to quell her, because he was a dick. Or afraid of her. After all these years, I still wasn’t sure which.
Avery sighed deeply before answering me. “We didn’t know where you were. Lena and Lana Iykos are missing. We thought…”
My lips parted in shock.
That manor was almost as impenetrable as the Palace. Landon had told me all about the different fail-safes his mother had in place to keep people out. Even Avery had to be buzzed in, which is why I’d assumed they were full of shit when Lena came crying for extra security.
That’s why I’d sent fucking Lana there to be safe from her mother. There were enough secret passages, tunnels, and trick doorways for her to have hidden for months without being detected.
And the fucking Seer had told me Lana would be safe if I helped her!
My momentary flare of anger was smothered by the realization that the Seer hadn’t actually told me that. She’d said something else, something more cryptic.
Fucking fuck.
“We thought you’d been taken!” Gina cried.
I stared at her. “Did you really wake me just to insult me?”
Gina gasped a little dramatically, looking to Avery for help. Avery surprisingly played along with me, only raising an eyebrow.
“N-no!” Gina whispered harshly. “Of course not. I…we–”
I dismissed her, turning back to Avery. “Only the women are missing?”
Avery grimaced, following my insinuation perfectly.
Lana was crazy on a good day, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Lena was a single-affinity Telepath through and through. Both women would surely be killed when the kidnapper realized how insufferable they were.
Especially if that kidnapper happened to be wearing a crop top and yoga pants.
Avery’s eyes flashed toward me as if he’d heard my thoughts, but there was no piercing pain in my skull, so my face must have betrayed something.
As usual.
“Lana wasn’t even supposed to be there,” Gina sniffled. “They went looking for her after the meeting, but she’d disappeared. We don’t know how she got out of the compound."
I went still.
My mind went blank.
Avery stared daggers at me, having sensed my blankness.
I gave him nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
A dull pain began at the back of my brain, but I thought of nothing.
He knew I was hiding something. He knew I’d been lying about something since the gala, he just didn’t know what. If he’d known sending me to that stupid academy would teach me how to clear my mind this effectively, he’d never have let me go, Phantom-hunting mission or not.
And then, an idea hit me.
Another spark.
“You have something you want to say to me?” I said.
Avery and Gina froze, only their eyes darting toward me. Gina looked to Avery with obvious dread, but he smoothed his expression quickly, asking calmly, “What would I have to say to you, River?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I asked. You’re looking at me like you think I’m lying.”
Avery prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue, then straightened to his full height. I couldn’t tell if he could see through me or not. “You were the only person unaccounted for. She disappeared after lunch, right when you left.”
Bingo.
I scoffed. “Try again. Gina? Tell him where I was after I left lunch.”
Gina was still frozen, her eyes bouncing back and forth between us while her chest rose and fell quickly, her breathing growing erratic from her anxiety.
“What,” Avery said slowly, “is he talking about?”
Gina glanced at me, and I widened my eyes, giving her what I hoped was a pleading look.
It worked.
Gina straightened up, crossing her arms as she turned to him. “I was with River after lunch.”
Avery and Gina stared each other down so hard, I thought I’d see sparks fly from their eyes. Outside, a harsh breeze blew by, sending leaves and dirt against the window.
Avery tilted his head. “You were with River after lunch.”
“That’s right,” Gina said, her voice growing stronger. “We had a chat out in the woods while he had his tea.”
Avery narrowed his eyes, then spoke softly.
“You’re not supposed to be alone with him.”
Gina stiffened, and the breeze outside turned to wind. Shadows moved across the windows as clouds gathered in the sky. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as my anxiety increased.
“Well I was. And nothing bad happened.” Gina said, looking down her nose at Avery even though she was a head shorter than him.
The expression on Avery’s face was something I’d never seen before, a cross between bewilderment and stunned silence.
And then he did something awful.
“You look tired, sunshine.”
Gina’s eyelashes fluttered, and she touched her face. “I’m not…I guess I’ve been busy lately.”
My stomach sank. She sniffled, running a hand down her exhausted face. He hugged her, murmuring soft words that she did not deserve, and I barely held back an expression of disgust.
“Why don’t you rest?” Avery suggested.
Gina was already nodding. “That’s a good idea. I barely slept last night.”
Me either, but no one cared.
I said nothing, though. I didn’t want another forced nap.
I chewed my thumb, my nerves spiking just from the memory.
“Ugh, River, that’s such a gross habit,” Gina said.
Pain split my skull again, a familiar woman’s voice speaking similarly, but with more kindness.
We need to redirect your anxiety.
I’m not anxious.
Look at your thumb, sweetheart.
I sucked in a ragged breath, and my head snapped up.
Gina was gone, and Avery had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, watching me.
I was also leaning against the wall, and my fear grew as I looked around, realizing the sun had shifted outside. I’d lost some time. That hadn’t happened in a while.
“Bad headache again?” Avery asked, tilting his head predatorily. “You said they weren’t that bad.”
I shook my head. “I have an appointment at the Health clinic at school, I’m going as soon as I get back.”
Avery didn’t like that, but he nodded jerkily, his expression tight. “Has this really been happening more often?”
“No,” I replied, thankful it wasn’t a lie. “That hasn’t happened in a long time.”
Avery nodded again. “I’d like to find a counselor for you to speak to.”
“I already see one,” I said a little defensively. “At school.”
“Okay,” Avery backed off, allowing me to back slowly into the darkness of the hallway.
“River,” Avery said, stopping me. He ran his hands through his hair.
“I know I haven’t said it lately…but this is serious to me.
I am looking for the affinate who messed with your memories.
I will deal with them once they’re found. ”
I only nodded, then continued backing up the hall, wondering how long we could continue lying to each other.