Not Ryker. Not this Academy. Not anyone.
My hands shake, but I peel myself away from the door anyway. Step by step. Like ripping myself out of quicksand.
I’m tired of letting people decide my worth. Tired of trusting the wrong ones. Tired of depending on anyone but myself.
My heart still hammers, my eyes still burn, but a cold clarity cuts through the panic like a blade.
Get it together, Arwen. Make a plan. Move.
Survive.
Because if no one else is going to save me— then I damn well will.
33
Thou Shalt Not Stand in the Lair of Liars
Arwen
Irun. The words I overheard in the Greed tower keep playing in my head, twisting tighter with every step: “She’s in my pocket…”
I stick to the shadows as I move across the main courtyard back to my dorm, skirting around staff patrols and flickering lights. I can’t—I won’t—be stopped. The council’s judgment… If I stay, I die.
By the time I reach my dorm, my heart is hammering against my ribs. My brain is working overtime to come up with any type of plan.
Now is not the time to let my emotions overtake me. Now is the time for action.
Holly is asleep on her bed in the same clothes from earlier, snoring loudly. Thank the universe for tequila. She doesn’t wake as I slip inside, silent as a ghost. To survive, I need to leave. Right now. I’m out of options.
Tossing the heels and the skirts to the side, Ithrow almost all of my clothes into the largest bag I can find. My hands shake as I shove in soap, some dried fruit that I’ve stored, and a small water bottle. Nothing here feels like enough, but it’s all I have. My thick coat lands on top. I’ll need it outside the academy grounds. I look at my phone. It would be so helpful, but the thought of the council tracking me is worse. I decide to leave it.
I dig through my nightstand and pull out the bracelet that Brix gave me. That charm may come in handy. My stomach sinks as I think of the sweet moment when Brix gave it to me.
Shaking the thoughts away, I grab my packed bag. There’s no time for sentimental thoughts… or regrets.
Pausing at the door, I take one last look at Holly’s sleeping form and know this is for the best. I’m only bringing them down too. This is it- I wish I could say goodbye.
I turn the handle and walk out, accepting that this is now my fate. It’s time to disappear.
***
Alexi
Ryker makes a joke as his followers all laugh along, passing a bottle as they continue to get more inebriated. I force myself to smile, to shake my head and laugh right along with them, to pretend like I belong.
My jaw aches from the effort. It feels like a blade is dragging across raw nerves the longer I am here. I might be in his circle, but I know I don’t have enough to actually be one of them.
The pain in my chest is still there—sharp, like a butcher’s knife hacked straight through me. I could feel her familiar faint tug when she was close and the emotional outburst from the bond soon after.
I felt it the moment she did. When she realized the truth. Her confusion and disbelief, followed by her Wrath anger that burns so hot, I swear it could’ve melted me from the inside. And then…the crumbling. Despair so painful, it was almost impossible to keep my composure. I deserve it.
She’s so close. I wish I could go to her, throw it all away and gather her up and promise she isn’t alone. Every part of me screams to do it. To hold her until the bond stops bleeding between us.
But I can’t. They can’t know. For her sake, for mine, for the fragile lie that keeps us both breathing. If Ryker even suspected…
So I sit in the glow of Ryker’s triumph, smelling the stink of his assumed victory. My nails biting into my palms. This is a good thing. It hurts, but she needed to see. I tried to risk it before, tried to tell her, but she needed facts. Probably rightfully so after I broke her trust. She needed the truth cut into her so she could stop before Ryker took full control.
She’s clever. Stronger than she believes. She’ll get over this betrayal and be better for it.
