53. Felix
If I had it my way, I’d never leave Wren’s side again, but like it or not, Julian’s right. Even if I wouldn’t hurt her, other people would.
My father, in particular, is a problem, one that I’d never dare subject her to, which means until I can get out of this sire situation, I must watch her from afar.
Which would have been a whole lot easier before I started the blood-bond process; now I fear I won’t be able to stay away long enough to do much of anything.
I’ve never been more grateful for the shadows and the fact that I found a home in them when my own failed me.
I hadn’t intended to start it, never even thought I’d want someone like that, but now that I have her, Wren is everything. Her blood called to me as if it were a drug specially made just for me, and I’d been weak, unable to resist.
I’d been drawn to her from the moment I first saw her walking through the hall toward my brother's dorm. I’d spent hours stalking the shadows and looking for a way to meet her. Our time in the library was the first thing I had looked forward to in a very long time.
Wren was everything I didn’t deserve but will never be able to turn away.
Just one drop was all it took to make me forever hers. Even if we never finish the bond.
She’s already done more for me than anyone else ever has, given me a purpose, a reason to do more than simply exist to be used.
She is mine, and I am hers.
I stay hidden in the shadows, unable to make myself leave and unwilling to leave her unprotected.
Her wounded face makes my chest ache, both to kill her aunt and heal her. Even if it is mostly healed, the memory is there. I know what she did to her. I can’t heal, but Gavin can, and I was about two seconds from forcing him to. Fuck the rules.
She does look better, though, not so pale, and the rings under her eyes seem lighter. Julian said her temperature felt lower, too.
She’s not in perfect health, but to do that, I would need a lot more than just a twenty-minute nap in class, and unfortunately, I don’t really have that right now. Not when I’m waiting on a call from my warden.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I let myself fall deeper into the dark until I’m surrounded by the shadows.
I answer the call without bothering to see who it is. Only one person would be calling me right now; everyone else who might have been is in the room I just left.
“Yes?”
I don’t do manners or pleasantries; thankfully, neither does he.
“Tonight at five,” he says with that dead tone he’s had since we were children, before he hangs up.
I’ve never felt drawn to a place, but now getting called away makes me hesitate. Not for the sake of the school, though, only her.
I have to trust that Titus and the others will keep her safe until I get back. The alternative is to refuse to go, and that might very well be worse for all of us.
I breathe the shadows in, letting them be a part of me to take me where I need to go. Seeing the castle in my mind, I step out into one of the lower-level hallways, enveloped by shadows.
Shadow walking is something that comes from my father's coven, but despite him being our leader, I am the most skilled at it, having spent much of my young life in them.
Anyone else would have lost their minds if they embraced the shadows like I do. But you can’t take what isn’t there, and I’ve always been a few cards short of a whole deck.
It suits me fine, though. I enjoy my shadows, and the ability to move through them the way I do has been helpful, at least for me.
The castle is quiet, as it has been every time I’ve ever been here. I’ve heard the staff talk about a time when that wasn’t the case. The castle was full of laughter and light, but that was before the queen and princess were killed.
Before our King was cold and cruel, though I can’t picture him any other way.
Already the bond nags at me, urging me to go back, and I pick up the pace. I’ve still got about twenty minutes before the king will see me, so going faster won’t actually do me any good, but it makes me feel better.
The castle is beautiful, full of history, and a story I bet would be fascinating if ever someone took the time to hear it.
I round the corner before the throne room and nearly slam into someone. Only years of living in the shadows and assassinating people have helped me to avoid it, and still, it’s only just.
“You're quick,” he says, and when I look up, I find the prince standing before me, a smirk on his face that seems nice enough.
I’ve seen him a few times in passing but never spoken to him; I have no reason to. The only time I come to the castle is when I have to, and as far as I’ve seen, he never leaves.
This time is different, though.
I stand looking at him, unable to look away.
How?
“Jordan?” His name is out of my mouth before I can really think about what I’m saying. I watch the color drain from his face as he stands up straighter, and I know, despite it being impossible, that’s exactly who this is.
“Do I know you?” His voice has lost any kind of nicety; instead, it’s cold and regal, as if I’m nothing more than a peasant to him, and I guess that might be true.
“No,” I shake my head, taking a step toward him and watching his eyes harden as he takes on a clear defensive stance. “But I know a girl with your same face, who cried when she told me you died.”
His face crumbles at my words, any bravado gone as emotions seem to overrun him.
“Wren.”