Chapter 54
Skye
“Come on, baby. Let’s take a walk.”
I got out of bed, taking a miserable shower before miserably getting dressed. Aiden’s warm brown gaze didn’t leave me once, watching me through my entire morning routine like he was afraid I was about to suddenly go jump out a window.
I wasn’t going to do that.
And my affinity probably wouldn’t let me anyway.
Wyatt and Rafe were back to not speaking to me.
I felt like…like we’d broken up or something. The ache in my chest was ten times worse than anything I’d experienced with Wyatt’s rejection, and I desperately wanted to fix things, I just didn’t know how.
Especially since I didn’t know if I could give up River.
If River came to me and apologized…wanting to be a part of our family…
I didn’t think I could say no to him.
I miserably followed Aiden to the kitchen, where I froze on the threshold, staring at Wyatt’s back.
I’d almost lost my shit when he tried to leave the dorm after our talk the other night, so he’d been staying here, in his own room. I’d barely seen him.
Wyatt turned, freezing when he saw me, then dropped his gaze to focus on his mug of coffee.
My mom’s mug.
He grimaced as if he was only just realizing which mug he was still favoring, and Aiden sauntered straight to the fridge to find Rafe’s orange juice.
Wyatt cleared his throat, then turned back to the fancy coffee machine, and I winced before moving into the kitchen and taking a seat at the island.
“You want me to make something?” Aiden asked me.
“No,” I mumbled. I wasn’t really hungry, but I could only refuse to eat for so long. I needed to keep my strength up.
I glanced down at my new phone as it buzzed, almost groaning.
Lana
Hi Skye
Skip water affinities today
Me
What??
Why?
Lana
Please trust me
I heard a rumor
I blinked at my phone, then shook my head, freezing when I realized Wyatt was very close to me.
He slid my mom’s mug in front of me as he took the seat beside me. He had a new mug in his hand. He’d given me mine back.
My cheeks flamed and I ducked my head.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
Wyatt’s free hand trailed down my shoulder before he focused on his phone.
I shivered, fighting a grin. I leaned into him slightly, and he instinctively lifted his arm, allowing me to settle into his side.
He smelled like Rafe’s fancy man body wash.
I was glad I hadn’t put any makeup on, otherwise I’d have been smearing it all over the crisp white shirt he wore as I rubbed my cheek over his chest like a cat.
“How did you sleep?” Wyatt murmured.
“Like shit,” I replied in a hoarse whisper.
He flinched.
“Are you ready?” Isaiah asked, stepping into the room.
I nodded, deciding to ignore Lana’s weird message. I pushed my luck, leaning toward Wyatt, who happily leaned into me and allowed me to kiss his cheek. I turned away quickly, not wanting to see his reaction, then grabbed my bag and headed for the elevator with Aiden and Isaiah.
We’d barely made it outside when it became very obvious something was happening.
“What’s going on?” I said, watching the students flood past us.
“I don’t know,” Aiden replied.
“Willow Craig is fighting Carla Martin!” Someone cried out excitedly in reply.
My stomach dropped.
I took off.
“Skyes!” Aiden shouted from behind me, but I was gone.
I sprinted across the quad, my heart pounding as I drew closer to a large crowd of students.
What’s the plan, Skye? Aiden called out to me.
Um…I trailed off as I caught sight of Willow and Carla, punching at each other like they were in a sparring match.
“Willow!” I cried, slamming into her and taking her to the ground. “Stop!”
“We saved you!” Willow shrieked, making me wince.
“Fuck you!” Carla shrieked behind me.
Willow clawed at my arm, banded across her stomach as we writhed in the cold dirt. “Stop,” I pleaded, pulling her back. I found Aiden’s gaze nearby, and he shrugged helplessly.
Willow was thrashing so hard, I considered using my affinity to hold her still. This was the type of rage that could result in self-injury. She tossed her head back and forth like a wildcat, whipping me in the face with her perfumed blonde waves.
“Skye, let me go!” Willow cried. “Don’t leave her with him!”
“What?” A chill went down my spine. “What happened?” I glanced over my shoulder as best I could, relieved when I saw Carla was still trapped in the grass while Aiden loomed over her.
Isaiah was storming back over to them, moving to protect Aiden from the invisible threat.
“She tried to kill him!” Willow screeched, arching her back so that I almost lost my balance. “Aiden!”
I froze, dropping my hold on Willow immediately. She stumbled, barely catching herself before she fell. She whirled around to face me, chest heaving, cheeks flaming red.
“What?” I whispered harshly.
“That night of the fight with Landon? Remember how fucked up Aiden was?”
I nodded, my heart clenching as something inside my chest seemed to twist.
Willow nodded with me, gasping as she tried to catch her breath.
“She gave him some bad pills,” she said, then shrieked, “On purpose! She’s done it more than once!”
I turned around.
Silence surrounded me.
I heard nothing except the roar of blood in my ears, whooshing faster and faster as my heart pounded harder.
Carla tried to kill Aiden.
She took advantage of his addiction, and tried to kill him.
And we saved her during the attack on the academy.
My affinity was awake, flaring to life like a live-wire and sparking through my arms, forcing my hands into fists.
My feet began to move, my legs heavy as I crossed the quad back to where Aiden stood over the bitch, his arms crossed.
I wasn’t thinking rationally. I barely registered that Willow scrambled to my side, my arm completely numb where hers brushed against mine.
I looked at her. She was speaking to me, her lips moving but no sound registered. I blinked, then looked to Aiden, leaning over Carla while she spoke. More anger shot through me, and I sped up my pace.
Carla saw me coming, and her jaw dropped in a gasp.
She thrashed, kicking dirt into the air, but she couldn’t escape.
Willow had trapped Carla’s hands in the grass as I dragged her away, proving she was lethal with her earth affinity even if she rarely used it.
Carla’s hands weren’t coming out of that grass without a lawn mower.
“Tell her what, Carla?” Aiden was asking. “What is Willow going to tell Skye?”
I stopped next to Aiden, feeling the tension in his limbs. He didn’t like speaking to her, I realized. Whatever hold she thought she had over him was really and truly gone.
“Willow just told Skye how Carla tried to kill you,” I said, my voice shaking slightly.
Aiden froze.
“What?” his voice dropped to a whisper.
“The night of the party,” Willow said, still trying to catch her breath. “She gave you bad shit on purpose.”
“What the hell? Why?!” Aiden took a step toward her and froze again as my affinity held him still. He turned toward me with a look of confusion but I only shook my head slightly.
Besides the fact that I didn’t want him anywhere near her, he couldn’t attack her while she was trapped like this. He couldn’t attack her anyway. I remembered Willow and Mia mentioning once how Carla’s family were all stuck up aristocrats. Aiden would be thrown in prison.
Me, on the other hand, as Aiden’s Key…
Or, actually…me as the Key to the younger Royal Chain…
I could get away with a lot now. Maybe it was finally time to start using my Royal powers for evil.
“You don’t understand,” Carla was breathing so fast, it looked like she’d hyperventilate. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“I had a choice in saving you, though!” Willow cried. Her hand shot out lightning fast, cracking a slap across Carla’s cheek. Carla yelped, looking around in complete shock. Students were drawing closer, watching the whole thing with their phones out. I cringed.
“He never paid attention to what I gave him anyway,” Carla started. “It’s his own fault!”
Aiden gaped at her.
More anger shot down my spine. I looked her over again. She was scared, sure, but that was because her hands were trapped. She didn’t realize how much danger she was in. She exuded a certain confidence that told me she thought she could fight us if her hands were free.
But she surprised me.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I was stupid. You know I have a problem, Aiden. You told me to quit all the time, remember?”
My gaze snapped to Aiden, who looked a little disgusted, but he didn’t disagree, so I let her go on.
“This is all a misunderstanding, I swear. Willow didn’t hear me right.”
I didn’t hear shit, Willow told me, a sneer on her face. Dani told me everything.
I sucked in a sharp breath. Dani told Willow? How did Dani know?
Yeah, but what are we gonna do? Aiden asked. Kill her right here in the quad?
Aiden’s right, I said just as Willow moved to protest. We can’t do anything here. We’ll figure it out later.
“Fine,” Aiden said out loud. “I believe her. Let her go, Willow.”
“No,” Willow said firmly.
“What the hell is going on here?”
A shiver went down my spine.
Stern Wyatt was here.
Willow growled, sort of sounding like a chihuahua as Wyatt came through a parting in the students.
I texted him, Aiden explained.
Wonderful. So all these videos people were recording right now would include three fourths of the Royal Chain. Just wonderful.
“Nothing of your concern,” Willow spat. “Just handling a misunderstanding.”
“It looks like you have someone restrained against their will,” Wyatt said, his tone hard, though I noticed his lips twitch.
Wyatt waved his hand, and the grass holding Carla trapped to the ground melted away seamlessly.
Carla was free for exactly three seconds before she attacked.
She exploded in a flurry of water, sending stream after stream at me, at Aiden, Willow, and even Wyatt. Her attack on Wyatt scared me the most. If she was attacking staff, she didn’t think she had anything else to lose. She knew we weren’t going to let her walk away.