AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If I thought the surprises were going to stop at the locket, I was truly mistaken.
Picking up the fork in front of me, I use it to nudge the food around on my plate, still unable to lift anything to my mouth as I remain deep in my thoughts.
How are we always the last to know things like this are possible? The snippets of magic, the merging of realms? Where the fuck do people find this information, and where do we go to join them?
I don’t like the fact that the important information we keep stumbling over is coming from others. It’s not easily accessible to us, and being reliant on other people pisses me off more than anything else.
Glancing at Raven’s plate to my right, I watch her play with her food like me. I instantly want to demand she eats, she’s going to fucking need it, but I’m not a hypocrite, not today at least, so I can’t call her out on it unless I get a grip on myself too. Which isn’t proving likely right now.
Instead, I opt to keep down the train of thoughts that have consumed me since we were in Lyra’s office this morning. Lunchtime or not, the hours since everything happened have done nothing to dull my racing mind.
Raven’s father being controlled isn’t a surprise, but I’m not going to broach that subject with her until she’s ready. Not when she has Sebastian on top of that, along with a new ability to comprehend. Fuck, I really need her to take the lead with this conversation shit. I won’t be able to keep everything bottled up forever.
Acutely aware that my thoughts are all awry, I take a deep breath and circle my contemplation back to that fucker of a brother she can’t seem to shake.
She shook his hand.
Shook. His. Hand.
Sealed the fucking deal.
His life is in her hands now, and if it’s true that he dies for the binder going missing, then I’ll be more than happy for Raven to bring him back to life so that I can get the chance to send him all the way to the Realm of Shadows. Although, I’m not sure he’ll stay there for long if what he says about the binder is true.
Fuck.
I hate that these facts are coming from Sebastian. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. My hold on the fork tightens so hard I feel it bend under my grip.
I let it clatter to the plate before wiping a hand down my face.
“I still can’t understand why he would hand it over,” Raven murmurs, purposely keeping her voice low even though it’s only the two of us at the lunch table. I have no idea where Leila is but I’m glad she’s not here. We need a moment, just the two of us.
Sighing, I admit the truth that grates on me the most. “Because despite the control, he knows you’re the savior of the Elevin realm and everything else that comes with it.” I watch as she grimaces, not appreciating my honesty. “Not to give you any more pressure or anything,” I ramble, hating that one of the other guys isn’t here to soothe her after my words.
To my surprise, she shrugs. “I said from day one I’m not a hero. I’m selfish and defensive with a mean-ass resting bitch face. That’s not going to change, no matter what anyone expects of me. The only reason I’m doing anything at all is because it’s affecting me and those I love. Otherwise, I’d happily live under a rock with my head buried in the sand, hiding away from it all.”
I can’t help but smirk at her. That’s not true and she knows it. Yes, she can be selfish, rightly so. Yes, she can be defensive, which is another well-earned trait. And that resting bitch face gets me hard, so I can’t even deny it, but she also can’t just sit around and watch injustice. Not after living in Shadowmoor, suffering at the hands of The Monarchy’s choice to use Shadowmoor as a poor barrier between Haven Court and the Basilica Realm. She’s faced enough to demand better, not for her, but for us. Eventually, she’ll see that, too, but for now, I’ll let her keep pretending that her actions don’t speak so much louder than her words.
She pinches the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly. “How are we going to get through afternoon classes when all I want to do is rip into the damn thing?” she grumbles, referring to the binder just as she has in every class we’ve had so far today. It’s burning a hole in her bag, desperate for her attention, and she can’t seem to shy away from it. “And if you say some shit joke about delayed gratification, I’ll kick you in the shins,” she adds, giving me a pointed look as I lift my hands up in the air defensively.
Fuck. This woman has me on point.
Still smirking, I decide to go easy on her as I place my hand on her thigh in a gesture of comfort. “I’m more intrigued to know if we can get this to the Realm of Shadows with us so there’s more of us who can dive into it or whether we’re going to have to sift through the pages ourselves.”
Her eyes widen as she nods. “Damn, that’s a good idea. Who knew you had those?” She winks, making me glare at her poor joke, but she proceeds before I can throw anything back at her. “Maybe we should take the rest of the afternoon to figure it out.” There’s hope in her voice, hope I can completely relate to. The thought of continuing classes for the rest of the day has me ready to scratch my eyeballs out, too.
“Maybe you’re right,” I offer, and she gapes at me in surprise.
“I am?”
I don’t bother answering. Instead, I shrug before standing, leaving a full plate of food to go to waste. Raven grabs her bag and rises, and as we push our chairs back, Leila suddenly appears with Grave at her side.
My back stiffens at the sight of him after Rhys mentioned his name earlier. My instinctive reaction is to cut the distance between us and slaughter the motherfucker here and now. I’ve had enough information today to last a lifetime, and if I can relieve us of one issue, then I will. Despite my knee-jerk reaction, Raven’s hand on my shoulder seems to keep me rooted to the spot.
“Hey, aren’t you guys eating?” Leila asks, her gaze flicking between the two of us and the plates on the table.
I lift my hand, my lips parting, but Shadow squeezes my shoulder and speaks before I have a chance. “I’m not feeling too good.” Frowning, I glance at her, catching on a little too late to the white lie that falls from her mouth. “Brax was just taking me back to the house before the nausea gets any worse.”
Leila’s face is an instant mirror of concern, while Grave’s lips purse just the slightest bit, setting me even more on edge.
