“It’s not as simple as that,” I splutter, squeezing my eyes shut as the telltale sign of tears forming against the back of my eyelids burns my nose.
“It’s okay,” he breathes, the bed dipping beside me, but I refuse to look. “I’ll take it all away, just for tonight.”
My protest is on the tip of my tongue, my embarrassment already high enough, but before I can form a single word, I’m swept into a world of darkness. Only this time, it’s warm, it’s safe, and it’s freeing.
TEN
ELODIE
No matter how many times I tilt my head from left to right, my reflection looks the same. Maybe it’s the lighting in the closet. Either way, I look… normal.
As if I can somehow even be associated with that word.
Running from The Vale? Looks like it didn’t happen.
Tortured by The Sanctum? Would never have guessed it.
Crippled by dreams that replay history? Nowhere to be seen.
I run my hand over the back of my neck as I tilt my head, making sure the black ink hasn’t returned. It all happened, and yet I’m standing here as goodas new. There’s no use hiding anymore, or letting the darkness take me.
I’ve rested enough. I’ve exposed my vulnerabilities enough. Now I need tobeenough.
My face looks fresh, even without makeup. The usual bags under my eyes are nowhere to be seen, and my t-zone isn’t giving me oily vibes. Something tells me this is connected to Thorne and sleeping, but I opt not to read too much into it. All it does is bring the negativity I’m trying to leave in the past right to the forefront again.
I tuck a loose tendril of hair behind my ear, the rest swept up in a ponytail, and I grimace at the sight of my roots starting to show. I need to figure out where I can get my hands on some more hair dye and a means of buying it. Maybe Ocean will know something.
Pleased with my reflection, I reach for my cell phone, noting the time as I open the surveillance app yet again. I press play on the motion-detected video, watching as I sleep soundly alone before the door creaks open and a darkened figure steps in. I can’t make out who it is since they’ve got a baggy sweatshirt on with the hood up. It doesn’t reveal a single thing about them, not even a realistic stature.
They visit twice.
Both times they trigger the camera, but itdoesn’t wake me, and neither do they. They just stand at the foot of the bed, staring down at me.
Another mystery I have to contend with. Even though the freaking door lock is on.
The sound of the lock clicking vibrates through the room, followed swiftly by the door opening and closing, but I’m frozen in place until Ocean’s panicked voice carries through the room.
“Elodie?”
“I’m in here,” I mumble, staring at the doorway that leads from the closet to the bedroom, and her face appears a moment later.
“Oh my god, don’t do that,” she splutters, hand firmly on her chest as she blinks at me, and I cock my brow in question.
“Don’t do what, get ready?” I clarify, and she rolls her eyes.
“Disappear before I’ve given you a key for the new lock,” she reiterates, and I snicker as I shake my head.
“The fact that it was still locked should have been your sign,” I point out, and she grins.
“True. That and the wolf sitting outside the door,” she adds, and I balk, rearing back in surprise.
“The what?”
“Don’t act surprised. That guy is weirdly territorial over you. He’s an imbalanced mixture of agolden retriever and the predator he is. It’s oddly cute yet slightly terrifying all at once,” she says with a wistful sigh, leaving me speechless as I blink at her.
She’s insane.
Oblivious to my gawking, she looks at her reflection in the mirror, fixing her uniform. “So, classes today?” she asks, and I nod, clearing my throat before I can respond.
