Chapter 5
Wyatt
I blew out a breath, rubbing my hands on my thighs as Rafe and I stood outside the dining hall.
God, what a fucking mess we’d found ourselves in.
Rafe was fuming mad with me, but he’d still let me watch Marion through his eyes while she explained the telepathic injuries on Landon.
Part of me was relieved Skye hadn’t caused such an injury, since that would’ve been painful as fuck and a little cruel.
But another part of me was even more fearful than before.
A Healer from the Palace knew Landon had been killed by a Telekinetic. She knew Skye’s signature, now. Anyone Skye killed from here on out could be tracked. And Skye didn’t seem to know and probably wouldn’t care that that was a possibility.
Fucking fuck.
I rubbed my eyes.
I’d wanted to learn how to track different signatures through my healing for years, but no one knew how to do it anymore. If I’d gone into working for the Palace, someone probably would have taught me eventually, but I didn’t want to be property of the fucking Royals, so here we were.
“She’s going to flip her fucking shit,” Rafe whispered. “Fuck, Wyatt. I can’t do it.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I replied dryly. “We’re here because you took charge.”
Rafe twisted his lips into a sour expression.
“It’s better to prove Alejandro wrong,” I reasoned. “He doesn’t think you can do this. And I’ll be right behind you.”
Rafe scoffed. “Right behind me. Is there a knife in your hand?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What the hell does that mean?”
Suddenly, the icy caress of Rafe’s shadows snaked around my arms before pulling me toward the building. I barely had time to yelp before we stopped moving. Rafe had shadowed us under the overhang of the dining hall, so the press couldn’t keep taking pictures of us every time we breathed.
“What the fuck?” I asked without much heat. Rafe was freaking me out. His eyes were a little wild, his shadows moving erratically as he grabbed my collar and yanked me closer.
“I have enough targets on my fucking back, Wyatt. I don’t need you to be one of the people waiting to stab me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I shoved at his hand, but he only tightened his hold on me, and the shadows at my feet seeped further up my leg. My heart-rate spiked as I tried and failed to move my legs. “Rafe, knock it off. What the fuck.”
“You lied to me,” he practically growled. “You knew, Wyatt. You fucking knew.”
I’d never been good at lying.
When we were kids, Rafe took point on the lies. I was usually just standing by his side, nodding along in agreement. It worked for us, since I was the more responsible of the two of us, adults would look to me for confirmation on whatever he said.
Rafe accusing me of lying was insane. I couldn’t lie to him if I tried.
“What are you even talking about?” I shoved at him again.
You warned her, he hissed into my mind. You knew she was about to teleport.
I froze, because again, I was horrible at lying.
Rafe swore at me before shoving away, leaving me stuck in the shadows, which he knew freaked me the fuck out.
“God, Wyatt, you fucked up so bad.” Rafe said, his hands in his hair. “How?! How did you know?”
Shafer said there were three affinities, I said defensively.
And you immediately thought fucking teleportation?! Rafe pulled at his hair. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?!
He had a point. As far as either of us knew, there’d never been an affinity for teleporting in the history of ever. Assuming she could teleport was not only outlandish, but just plain silly.
I didn’t know for sure. I just remembered something I’d read in my dad’s office once, and it gave me a hunch.
A hunch. You kept a hunch from me.
It wasn’t just a hunch, I breathed out harshly, then shook my head. How could I explain to him that sometimes I just got a weird feeling about something? It was completely crazy and had no bearing in reality.
Rafe tilted his head at me again.
You can feel it, he accused, because he was a perceptive asshole. You can sense it.
I am not a Sensor, I said firmly, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself.
I wasn’t a Sensor, though. Getting strange feelings about affinities was not what Sensors did.
Except a little voice was bouncing around at the back of my mind, telling me that Sensors used to be able to do that. They used to be able to feel an affinity without touching someone. If I were to hone this…ability, it could’ve turned into a full-blown affinity.
We’re not done talking about this, Rafe said. Watch your back. I was going to sucker punch you earlier. I might still do it, but we don’t have time for this right now.
The shadows released me with a purposeful jolt, and I stumbled back into the brick wall of the building. My skull thunked against the brick, and I growled in frustration.
Asshole. He did that on purpose.
Rubbing the back of my head and healing what was quickly becoming a hematoma, I followed Rafe into the dining hall with a scowl.
Neither of us were prepared for the scene inside.
A loud, keening cry came from the far corner of the room, where Skye usually sat with my sister and Mia.
The woman responsible had long, dark hair that was left down and disheveled.
Her makeup was smeared, two black streaks tracking down her cheeks with her tears.
Lena Iykos, Landon and Lana Iykos’ mother, was barely being held upright by two of her Links. She was the worst kind of inconsolable, blubbering and wailing and drawing a huge crowd, garnering the type of attention that would have Skye running for her life.
Rafe swallowed uneasily from beside me.
I thought Marion wanted you to do the notification, I said.
She did, Rafe groaned. I’m not ready for this.
Before I could reply, there was a shout.
“Prince Rafael!”
Rafe groaned out loud, and thankfully no one was close enough to hear him. The puddle of a woman that was Lena Iykos had somehow found the power to not only stand, but storm across the room, heading right for Rafe.
She only slowed when shadows bubbled up from the stone floors around him, clearly having sensed a threat in her.
My own affinity began to rumble, and my stomach dropped violently as I scrambled to pull it under control.
Rafe had taken a step forward to meet Lena, but paused, sending me a concerned glance over his shoulder.
I hadn’t held back that rumble in time.
He narrowed his dark eyes at me.
You have some explaining to do, he said.
I nodded in agreement, because there was no lying to him, and he turned back to face the Iykos’.
Lena suddenly burst back into tears as if she’d just remembered she was grieving.
“You have to do something!” she wailed, crumpling into Rafe’s chest, her hands fisted on the collar of his shirt. She sobbed wildly before crying out, “Why would they kill him?! What did my sweet Landon do to anyone?! Oh, prophet help us!”
For some reason, I looked up at that moment and met Coach’s eyes.
He was across the room, standing with a group of faculty around one of the fancy coffee machines, though he didn’t have a cup.
He raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly, and something told me it was in reference to Lena’s comments about Landon.
Of course she thought her son was a sweet kid. Every mother did. My mother would have said the same thing up until a few weeks ago when Willow called her and told her I’d rejected Skye. Rafe’s mother thought he was God’s gift to the earth.
I eyed my friend again. He didn’t look too good. Dark circles under his eyes stood out against his darker skin. He seemed a little pale, his lips a little wan.
Rafe wasn’t doing too good.
I scrubbed a hand down my face.
I wasn’t doing good either, and something told me neither of us would feel better until we were able to see Skye. We were both a little screwed on that front, though.
Skye had finally shown her cards.
And she’d picked Aiden.
“I’m very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Iykos.” Rafe said, sounding very official. “This is a massive tragedy. The cause is being investigated thoroughly.”
“Is it?!” She tightened her grip on his collar, and again, my affinity rumbled in warning. Only Rafe seemed to be aware of it, though. “We all saw you assault the lead investigator. Why would you do that?!”
Rafe only blinked a few times as she went on.
“I don’t think you’re investigating this properly at all. I think the Crown doesn’t care that an attack has happened at one of their academies. Your mother hasn’t said anything about this yet, and I know she knew about it last night if you’ve been here that long!”
Rafe winced. She had a point, even if Rafe was only here because he’d been saving Aiden.
“Mrs. Iykos, I can assure you we’re doing everything we can. My mother is aware and is making proper arrangements–”
“I don’t believe it!” Lena shrieked, and I’d had enough of this shit. “Now they won’t let me see him! What are you hiding?!”
“He punched that investigator because he left the dead students out in the rain all night. Did you know that?” I snapped.
Lena’s focus shifted to me, and her eyes widened slightly when she realized who I was.
Usually, I hated how much I looked like my father. But now? Now, I was glad for the reaction it caused.
“No,” she replied in a hushed whisper. Some shadows snaked up Rafe’s chest and gently untangled her fingers from his shirt.
“That investigator was a fool. He left Landon out in the rain, not even covering him until this morning. You won’t see him for a while because they have to prepare his body. I saw him this morning, Mrs. Iykos. You don’t need to see your son like that.”
Lena’s lip wobbled, and one of her Links took her arm to hold her steady.
“If the Crown is doing nothing, then why is the Heir Apparent here? Why is one of the Crown Princess’ Links here? I know you’re grieving, but think logically.”
Lena was shrinking under my rebuke, and Rafe had slowly inched away from her so that he was now beside me…or slightly behind me.