Chapter 24
Skye
“I don’t want you going back there.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Zeph, be realistic.” I begged.
The moment the water started on Aiden’s shower, Zephyr had appeared in my darkened doorway like a dream demon. He still loomed there, now, his muscled arms crossed over his broad chest.
Rafe and Wyatt had left hours ago, and Zephyr had only left Aiden and I alone for most of the day to put off the conversation from hell we were about to have. The visit to Vince was bothering him, like it’d bothered all of us.
“I am,” he shot back. “Aiden’s mom tried to kill him. The school was attacked by the same psychos who killed our parents. Regardless of what that old man said, those people were looking for you. They called you–”
“Don’t,” I hissed.
Zephyr clenched his jaw. “I don’t want you going back there. The attack is the perfect excuse to disappear. Aiden even had the same idea.”
I looked away sharply, my gaze catching on my bedspread.
I loved being back home. I loved my things, and my room, and the view. I loved the sound of the waves crashing outside. But I still knew I needed to go back.
Wyatt had to be back at the academy. I couldn’t stay here knowing he’d be back there, but I couldn’t tell Zephyr that. He didn’t have a Chain, yet. He didn’t understand the biological need to be close to the other members yet, even if they were assholes.
“I have to go back,” I said. “We can still research how to help Levi. I can still learn how to hone this–”
“Don’t make me laugh,” Zephyr snapped. “There’s nothing to hone and you know it.”
“What’s going on?”
Zephyr and I pursed our lips in unison before turning to face Aiden. He was still dripping wet from the shower, with only one of my pink towels wrapped around his waist, hung low on his hips as he looked back and forth between us. He used another towel to scrub the extra moisture from his hair.
I licked my lips while he smirked at me.
“Just a sibling discussion,” Zephyr said lightly, all traces of alpha-hole gone from his tone.
“Zephyr doesn’t want us going back to school,” I said flatly.
My brother glared at me.
“Why?” Aiden asked, running the extra towel across his chest, drying himself more and further distracting me.
Aiden wasn’t a hairy guy. He had just a bit of dark, auburn hair across his chest, and then a thin trail leading down to my favorite place.
My eyes traced that trail of hair as he spoke, my mind thoroughly distracted by the memory of my face being pressed right up against that spot just a few hours ago before Rafe and Wyatt had fucking interrupted us.
“Knock it the fuck off,” Zephyr hissed at me.
I blinked, noticing Aiden’s smug grin. He didn’t move to grab any clothes to change. He leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms in a pose that was straight out of a magazine.
“We’re going back.” I said through my horny haze.
“What does Aiden think?” Zephyr said, holding my gaze.
“Aiden thinks he’s right here and he can speak for himself,” Aiden said, furrowing his brow.
I narrowed my eyes at Zephyr. Apologize, I hissed.
Zephyr sighed. “Sorry, Aiden. You know I didn’t mean anything by that, I’m just pissed at Skye.”
Aiden nodded, though his jaw was clenched.
“We’re going back,” I said again. “I may not have anything to hone, but Aiden does. And if Wyatt–”
“Don’t say his name,” Zephyr groaned.
I ignored him, continuing as if he hadn’t spoken.
“–gets his head out of his ass, he can access some of the more secret books on affinities.”
“Skye, there isn’t going to be a fucking book on teleporting.” Zephyr said, exasperated.
“You never know!” I snapped back. “There could be something in there. It could help–”
“Even if there was a book on teleporting,” Zephyr barreled over me, now, still speaking as if I hadn’t responded. “This book won’t magically say, ‘here’s how to teleport to places you can’t see!’”
“You’re a dick,” I muttered.
“What does that mean?” Aiden asked. He stood straighter now, fully focused on the conversation. “You can’t teleport to places you can’t see?”
I shot a glare at my brother, and he had the sense to look sheepish. I turned back to Aiden. “I have to imagine where I’m going, but I can’t teleport there if I don’t know where I am first. I have to be able to completely map my location as well as the location of where I’m going.”
“If you practiced more, that wouldn’t be a problem,” Zephyr muttered.
“Good one, dad.” I sneered.
“So if you woke up in a closet somewhere, you couldn’t just teleport out?” Aiden asked, completely ignoring the juvenile exchange between me and Zephyr.
“Not unless I knew what closet I was in,” I replied. “I mean, it’s possible, I’m sure…I’ve just never been able to do it. The affinity like…short-circuits and I don’t end up going anywhere.”
“Well that’s fucking annoying,” Aiden said as he began to rummage through the laundry basket of clothes Zephyr had given him.
“One time, when we were kids, she teleported into a locked cleaning closet at the mall.” Zephyr said.
I groaned.
“What happened?” Aiden asked as he piled some clothes together.
“I was mad at my mom in the dressing room, so I decided to leave. But I didn’t know where to go, and I appeared in the closet. It didn’t take long to find me, since I was screaming.” I sighed.
Aiden shook his head. “That’s crazy. Powerful affinities like those on a kid is just unfair. No wonder Telekinetics only live to be twelve or thirteen.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You really did read that book, didn’t you?”
Aiden grinned, and then Zephyr spoke, drawing our attention.
“Skye,” Zephyr said, his voice softer. “Stay here.”
“Zeph,” I started, but he shook his head.
“I don’t want something to happen to you. I can’t lose you.”
I froze.
Aiden quickly slipped into the bathroom with his clothes, quietly clicking the door shut to give us privacy.
“Zephyr,” I breathed.
“No, listen to me. When you showed up here, covered in fucking blood…” he ran a hand over his face.
He kept his gaze downturned, hiding that he was close to tears.
“When you left for the academy, I came back inside and the silence was…fucking suffocating. And then hearing all this stupid shit you were going through, and then you showed up covered in blood…”
The bed creaked as I stood, and I threw myself into my brother’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me almost too tightly.
“I’m sorry,” I replied, my voice breaking. “I missed you, too. It was so hard.”
“I know,” he murmured, probably so his voice wouldn’t crack. “I know Levi is getting a little better but…shit, Skye. You’re my best fucking friend. I don’t want to be away from you.”
I nodded against him, feeling very much the same.
“Don’t make me stay,” I said softly. “The academy is still useful to us. I have friends there. Allies. I have to go back. Aiden needs to go back.”
Zephyr let out a shuddering breath. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I repeated, a little surprised.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Oh, my God.” I shoved out of the hug. “No way!”
“I don’t think that’d work out the way you’re thinking,” Aiden’s voice said.
I turned to see he was out of the bathroom, back in the door frame, watching us. He now wore some of Zephyr’s grey sweatpants and a simple blue t-shirt.
As long as my mind could get over the fact that he was in my brother’s clothes, he looked fucking edible.
“Also,” Aiden went on, his tone teasing, “Do you not trust me to watch her?”
Zephyr’s eyebrows rose, and when he looked at me I only narrowed my eyes in mock suspicion.
“Of course I trust you,” Zephyr said, exasperated.
“What do we do with the café? And Levi?” I questioned. “Did you think this through?”
“Which affinity would you register?” Aiden asked, following my lead perfectly because he was perfect and I was totally going to reward him later. “I wouldn’t want the government knowing about, like, any of what you can do.”
“He has a point,” I said.
Zephyr rolled his eyes. “Okay, so call your Prince of darkness and get me admitted.”
“No way!” I cried.
“You don’t think he’d do it?” Zephyr asked.
“Of course he’d do it,” I groaned.
“Healers don’t go through the academies,” Aiden said. “That’s why Wyatt keeps it under wraps. Palace Healers become property of the Palace, or property of Rafe’s mom basically.”
“Wait, what?” Zephyr and I said at the same time.
Aiden looked back and forth between us. “The Palace Healers? Property of the Palace?”
Zephyr pinched the bridge of his nose while I looked at my carpet in disbelief. “You’re telling me the Palace has Healers? More than just one or two.”
“Yeah,” Aiden said slowly. “That’s why you’ve never met a Healer. The Palace snatches them up as kids, usually.”
“That…is so stupid.” Zephyr said, blinking. “No wonder everyone thinks Healers are extinct.”
Aiden shrugged. “I personally think there’s a lot more out there, they just don’t wanna be put into a life of servitude. The way the Palace treats their Healers and Telepaths is pretty frowned upon. Why are you guys confused?” Aiden’s warm gaze bounced back and forth between us.
“The Gulf is its own world,” Zephyr replied. “Unless we watch the news, we really don’t know what’s going on.”
“Oh. Makes sense,” Aiden said, running a hand through his damp waves. “I only know because my family Chain are uptight fuckers.”
“Speaking of that…” Zephyr eyed me before turning to Aiden. “What are we doing about that situation?”
Aiden blanched. “What do you mean?”
I groaned, sending Zephyr another glare. This was not how I wanted to have this conversation.
“Aiden,” I said, holding out my hand. I hated how suddenly on edge he was. He padded the few steps across the room to me, taking my hand before he sat on the edge of the bed next to me. “Your mother tried to kill you.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly.
“She’s going to expect you to be dead.” I continued.
“Yeah,” he said again. “She probably thought I’d get counted as a loss in the attack.”
“Exactly– wait, what?”
“Oh, shit.” Zephyr muttered. “Why didn’t we think of that?”
Aiden palmed his forehead. “I totally forgot to bring this up to you guys. I think my mom knew about the attack on the academy before it happened.”
There were three seconds of silence before I glanced at my brother.
Aiden sighed. “Look, I know it sounds crazy–”
“It doesn’t,” Zephyr said quickly. “No, we’re just…fuck! Why didn’t we think of that?!”
“She knew about the attack and planned for you to be counted among the dead, clearly.” I chewed my lip.
“Yeah, and she didn’t count on Rafe coming to save me,” Aiden said.
I blew out a breath as Zephyr looked back and forth between us.
“Skyes–”
“No,” I said firmly. “We’re going back. Someone wants Aiden dead, so he needs to train.”
“And what if she shows up again, hm?” Zephyr was almost taunting me. “What if she tries to hurt him again?”
“No one is ever hurting him again,” I said darkly. “I’ll destroy them.”