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“It’s nothing.”
“Then why carry it around with you?” Why is it even here if it wasn’t important?
I carefully placed the journal inside Liam's bag and placed that bag inside my other pack. I promised myself I would look through everything when I was alone.
“Make sure to stay with E.Z.,” Griffin demanded as he approached.
“I will,” I quickly agreed, not intending to wander off alone.
“I mean it,” he said, shifting to catch my eyes. “He may seem like a goof with his excessive flirting and being a general pain in the ass, but he’s a great man to have on your team. He will protect you.”
“I know, Griffin.” Both he and Elijah seemed even more on edge this morning.
“I promise. I’m going to take this all very seriously. It means everything to me. I will not leave E.Z.'s side.”
Chapter22
Kaia
“So, River, you can talk in others' thoughts. Can you do that with everyone?” I asked.
“If they don’t shield. Like you,” River snarked. “You didn’t get any better overnight.”
“Yes. Like me,” I said, resigned. I hadn’t done any practice the night before, my mind consumed by other things. “And you can what? Echo around in their head?”
“Echo?” she asked.
Kaia is a slut who thinks dirty things about her saviors,River sang in my head. She used a high, ear-piercing tone and was very pitchy.
“River, that is terrible,” I hedged, trying to remain calm and rational to not draw the guy's attention. “It echoes between my ears when you talk.” Leaving one hand against E.Z.'s stomach, I used the other to rub my ear, trying to dislodge the ringing. It didn’t work. “Your singing is worse. So, so much worse.”
It echoes?she asked again in my head.
“Yes! Yes, that echoed.” I rubbed my ear harder, still feeling residual ringing. “My whole head is still ringing.”
Kaiaaaaaaa objectifies those who protect her from the big bad men.River continued her song, somehow stretching my name into many syllables, her range up and down. There was no rhythm. And it repeated itself with an echo that wouldn’t stop.
It was awful. And so was the subject matter. I cringed with my entire body.
“What did she say?” Aiden laughed, his amused eyes showing he’d already guessed. I didn’t doubt he did. I barely knew her and would have been able to guess.
I spoke before River could. Only terrible things could result from her saying whatever was on her mind.
“Nothing. She sang an opera,” I said, faking nonchalance, my face on fire. “It was awful.”
“Yeah, I bet that’s all she did,” Aiden chuckled.
“It’s what I did but not what I said,” she clarified.
“Do you have any friends?” I asked River, completely serious. I did not understand how anyone could be friends with someone this… this… this River.
“Why yes, quite a few.” River smiled over at me, the tip of her tongue poking out. “They’re lovely. And they like me for me.”
She smirked.
“Hmm,” I grumbled.
“I don’t use my magic around them. Don’t like the risk of discovery, so it’s different.” She shrugged. “I don’t hear their thoughts. When you hear someone’s truths, it’s tough to remain friends.” River didn’t look at us as she talked, watching the scenery pass. “No one is real. Everyone is half-truths and bullshit. What they say and what they think is oftentimes entirely different. So, I’m actually grateful, in a sense, that I have never tempted to try to read anyone. Nope, not worth the risk. Being ignorant works, though. Knowing I truly don’t know them helps keep people at a distance.”
