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Even as I thought this the mark raged within me, burning up my skin in protest. But this needed to be done, right? I needed to show Peter I was his and his alone.
Students continued to whisper and gossip about me as I walked through the halls. I couldn’t stand their constant speculation so I avoided the cafeteria, instead grabbing a few things from the vending machines. Then I went to hide in the bathroom at the far end of campus for some peace and quiet. Had I come back to school too soon? I felt fragile, and the side of me that was normally equipped to handle being gossiped about was feeling a little raw.
I wished to return to my life of a few weeks ago, before Belinda was killed and my world was thrown into turmoil. Back when Peter looked at me like I hung the moon and stars and not like something about me needed to be fixed so that I could go back to being the girl he’d fallen in love with.
The problem was, I wasn’t the same. I’d changed, but the parts of me that he’d loved hadn’t. Wasn’t that what was most important?
I froze when the door opened and someone stepped inside. The only thing more humiliating than eating lunch in the bathroom was having someone catch me eating lunch in the bathroom. My heart pounded when there was a knock on the stall door. I held my breath, then a familiar voice said, “I know you’re in there, Darya. It’s me, Ren. Open up.”
I let out a relieved sigh then unlocked the door and threw it open. “You shouldn’t be in here,” I chided.
“Neither should you. It’s downright unhygienic. Come on, the weather’s nice today. Let’s go sit on the grass outside.”
I didn’t protest because he was right. It was unhygienic to eat in the bathroom, not to mention depressing. I followed him outside and we found a quiet spot on the lawn to sit and talk. Ren opened his bag and pulled out three sandwiches, handing one to me and keeping the other two for himself. He’d cut his hair since I last saw him, but he still wore the dark eyeliner.
“Nice haircut, by the way,” I said before taking a big bite out of the sandwich.
“Thanks. I just felt like a change.”
“Well, it suits you.”
“Quit distracting me with compliments. I want to know everything that’s been going on with you and start from the beginning. It’s been excruciatingly boring around here since you’ve been gone. I need a good story to perk me up a little.”
I eyed him, amused by his need to hear some drama. “Okay, well, it all began the day Belinda was murdered. Remember we were having lunch together?” I said and Ren nodded, leaning closer to show he was already fully invested in my tale. A half an hour later I’d told him everything, more than I’d even told Grace, like my time spent with Sarasin, the visions of my future. There was just something about Ren that had me spilling my guts. I wanted an outsider’s opinion. Someone who didn’t have any skin in the game to tell me what to do.
“It’s hard to ignore a vision of the future,” Ren said at last. “I mean, I didn’t even see my future. Gran just told me I was going to be by your side and ever since I’ve been drawn to you.”
My eyes widened. “You have?”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not drawn to you in a romantic way. I think you already have enough on your plate without turning your love triangle into a love square,” he teased and I frowned to myself. Was that what I was in? A love triangle? No, I didn’t love Vas, but I did feel a connection to him. Would that connection grow into love?
“Anyway,” Ren continued, “These things get into our heads until we can’t tell if the future we were told about is real or we’re merely walking towards it because we believe it’s our destiny.”
“So, you think I should ignore my instincts to rescue Vas and focus on Peter?”
“I can’t tell you that. It’s a decision you need to make on your own.”
“But I don’t want to,” I groaned. “It’s too hard.”
“Well,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “Maybe you don’t have to. My gran says you’re going to be some kind of leader. Powerful people get to have numerous lovers.”
I whacked him on the shoulder. “Not helpful! Besides, I don’t want numerous lovers. I just want to stop feeling like I’m being torn in two directions.”
“Come on, monogamy is so basic. Don’t you want your own harem?”
“No, thank you. A harem sounds like a lot of stress. And I don’t care about being basic. I just want to be with one person.”
