AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ELDON
The Monarchy will be here tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
Fuck.
The students at this academy should never have been drawn into a war between realms. The Monarchy should have been the ones facing this the entire time.
Yesterday went by so quickly once Raven and Zane shared the news, but I get the feeling today is going to take its sweet ass time to pass, leaving tomorrow a million miles away.
I close the front door behind everyone as we start up the path to the academy.
We just have to get through today. Whatever it might throw at us, we just have to make it through.
Brax leads the way while Zane and Creed flank Raven and I hold up the rear. It’s strange how we naturally take this formation around her. It’s never even been a discussion.
“Raven,” Leila calls out, making us pause, and we turn to see her rushing toward us with Grave holding her hand. This is escalating.
“Hey, did you sleep okay?” Raven asks the same question she asked the first time she saw her friend yesterday. Leila nods inresponse and I notice the way Grave affectionately squeezes her hand.
Raven leaves it at that. She doesn’t delve into anything further in Grave’s presence and Leila seems happy to talk about anything and everything that’s the total opposite of serious in his proximity.
Accompanied the entire way by the sound of the girls’ gossip, we arrive at the academy in no time. Grave pulls Leila off to the side and I turn my back to them and focus on my girl instead. She’s telling Creed something. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but the way she moves her hands so animatedly when she talks warms my heart. She’s intoxicating. Every last piece of her. I’m addicted.
Leila sidles up beside Raven a few moments later and we all instinctively huddle closer together as we make our way through the academy hallways.
“How has your father been?” Raven asks as quietly as possible.
Leila shrugs. “I didn’t go back home. I stayed with Grave.”
“What’s that about anyway? I didn’t want to put a damper on it the other night, but the last time you mentioned him, he was talking about you behind your back,” Raven states, and I beam. Trust my girl to ask the question that has been nagging me as well.
“That’s what I thought, but one of these guys brought it up to him and he was confused as hell, so we talked it over and realized that whenGenieis the source of information, said information may not actually be all that reliable.”
That’s more than true.
“How would Genie have known? Fuck, nevermind. She was probably watching you guys too,” Raven says with a scoff, referring to the images she took of all of us with our girl in some compromising positions.
I was ready to tear the entire campus up to make sure no one caught another glimpse of the pictures, but Raven owned it. Just like she does everything else, leaving me speechless and even hotter for her.
As if hearing her name, the she-devil herself appears, placing her hand over Raven’s shoulder to push against my chest.
“Do you miss me yet, Eldon?”
What the fuck? I thought we were over this.
I feel Raven stiffen at her closeness, and have exactly zero patience for the idea of entertaining this girl in the slightest. Giving her attention is exactly what she wants, and I never wanted her to begin with, even less than ever now that I believe her father is Erikel.
Instead of confronting her and exposing what we know, I opt for the more childish approach, even if it makes me cringe.
“Can any of you guys smell that? It smells like… shit around here.”
I don’t even bother trying to knock her hand away as I continue walking, letting it fall off naturally. The smirk on Raven’s face makes it all worthwhile, and the sound of Genie stomping her foot on the marble floor a cherry on top.
Without another word, we step into the classroom to find the new institute students already sitting in some of the seats, including ours. I’m trying to decide whether I should be an asshole or just let them sit there when my gaze lands on Ruben, who is sitting on the professor’s desk.
My chest feels heavy and my stomach clenches. He killed Burton. He killed Burton when I believed him to be a good guy. It’s questionable now, with the information we have learned, but it still drives me insane.
