Chapter 55
River
I crouched down, sighing deeply as I looked at the face of Avery’s latest victim. I cringed at the purple and blue veins seeping down his temple onto his cheeks. I’d seen this injury dozens of time, maybe hundreds, and it still freaked me out. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it.
“How awful,” the most annoying voice I’d ever heard in my fucking life crooned from beside me. “He was such a sweet man, you know.”
“And why the fuck would I know that?” I drawled as I stood.
Lucille Brandt gasped at my language, and it was almost enough to set me off. She clutched her lab-created sapphire necklace like I’d said something truly obscene, and I couldn’t find it in me to care. I actually wasn’t sure if the two had been carrying on an affair or not, but whatever.
I looked back down at the man before me, shaking my head.
Alexander Sombra was a stupid son of a bitch, but he didn’t deserve to die. He was one of Avery’s closest friends, and he hadn’t known who Skye was anymore than the rest of us. Even Avery hadn’t known until tonight.
I flexed my hand, the new affinity bouncing through me almost angrily, like a caged kitten. I could imagine it hissing and spitting at me while sinking tiny little needle-claws into my forearm.
It matched its owner, I guess.
“I wonder how the Princess will fair,” Lucille commented, because she was like a gnat in my ear. “Losing a Link will be devastating.”
“Sure,” I said, because I wouldn’t know otherwise. I strode away from her, ignoring her spluttering at my rudeness. I’d met the woman several times, and she’d always either treated me like a child, or tried to fuck me.
That was extra weird, considering that I now knew her son. Sort of.
Clouds began to roll in, and I clenched my jaw as I watched the moon disappear. The littered lawn on the East side of the Palace grew dark. Even the bugs quieted as fog seeped through the trees.
She fucking did that on purpose, I just knew it. I never should have told her that story about the moon.
“River,” a gravelly voice called out.
I sighed, staring up into the dark clouds a moment longer before turning to face Avery.
He looked like complete shit. His hair stood on end, his dress shirt disheveled and unbuttoned.
At his side was Peter Earl. He also looked like shit, his coily beard overgrown, the curls on his head fuzzy and unlike his usual style.
I’d been wondering where Avery had been keeping the headmaster while he let Alex play pretend.
And now, he was here to make sure I didn’t lie, of course. Earl was Avery’s human lie detector, his Polygraph.
I’d always felt that was one of the more stupid nicknames.
Avery looked me over, then closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply, like he was trying to calm himself.
“River,” he said carefully. “What the fuck happened?”
“Don’t know. She knocked me out.”
Earl’s eyes darted to mine, and I stared at him with a challenging glare that Avery didn’t catch. When Avery looked to him for verification, Earl nodded curtly, and I almost raised my eyebrows in surprise. The old man was lying for me, for some reason.
I hoped he didn’t expect anything from me in exchange. I’d kill him.
Avery breathed in deeply once more, because he didn’t believe me or Earl at all, he just couldn’t prove it. “And the affinity?”
“Not there,” I said with a shrug, and the needle sensation prickled along my fingers again. “You were wrong.”
Avery looked to Earl with a glare that could’ve set him on fire, and Earl nodded curtly again.
“No,” Avery almost snarled, his lip curling as he looked back at me. “I’m not wrong. I know she’s my phantom.”
“She can’t teleport,” I said, the lie rolling off my tongue smoothly. Earl’s eyes flashed to me, but he still didn’t speak. I didn’t think he’d known that was the affinity in question.
“Her mother could,” Avery whispered. The three of us froze, then glanced around quickly, making sure the precious Tempest wasn’t around to hear. All we needed to end this disaster of a night was a fucking tornado.
“Well she can’t,” I said lightly. “Now what?”
“We find the brother. He may not be mine, but he was hers. If she cannot teleport, then he can.”
I didn’t bother telling him he was wrong.
“I know you’re lying about something,” Avery said, his piercing gaze slicing through me. “I’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Sure,” I replied, even though he was wrong again.
Earl looked like he wished he could disappear.
“I think it’s safe to say you’re no longer my Ward,” Avery said, his pale eyes looking me over assessingly. “You’ve outgrown that title.”
Oh, boy. This would be good.
“And what new title have you decided on for me?” I asked sarcastically.
“You’ve grown up to be quite chaotic. A swirling river of chaos,” he raised his eyebrows up and down as if I were a child he was trying to entertain. He rubbed his chin, then snapped his fingers. “I know. From this day forward, you’re the maelstrom. My Maelstrom.”
I swallowed uneasily, because that nickname was much cooler than my last one, but I said nothing. I only watched as Avery stalked away, dragging Earl along with him. Only when I was sure they were gone did I slip into the woods.
I went as deep as I could into the trees, careful to watch my path. No one in their right mind would follow me, but Lucille Brandt was an idiot, so I kept an eye on my back.
Once I made it to a nice clearing, I double checked my surroundings. When I sensed that I was truly alone in the woods, I breathed a sigh of relief.
And then I teleported.
To be continued in book 3…