I can't let that happen.
Chapter 38
Bree
I slip back through the garden door and my hands are shaking.
I don't know why. Don't know what just happened out there or why my chest feels tight and warm and wrong all at once.
The hallway stretches out empty in front of me. Everyone's probably dealing with whatever this morning was—the crowd, the speech, all those eyes. My bare feet are silent on the stone, and there are leaves stuck to my legs from walking through the forest.
Rhett's hoodie still smells like him. Safe. Familiar.
But I don't feel safe.
I keep hearing Seth's voice. The way he said his name.
Call me Seth.
And those eyes. Dark gold and interested and looking at me like—
I shake my head. Try to focus on walking. On getting to my room. On not thinking about the way my pulse spiked when he smiled.
I round the corner and freeze.
Wes is standing at the end of the hallway.
Just standing there. Like he's been waiting.
My stomach does something complicated.
I look down, try to walk past him without making eye contact. Maybe he won't—
"Bree."
I don't stop.
"Bree, please."
My feet keep moving, but something in his voice makes my chest ache. "I can't," I whisper.
I take a breath thinking I'll make it past him.
"Dammit, Bree."
I stop. My hand finds the door handle, grips it hard.
I can hear him moving behind me. Slow footsteps. Careful.
"I know you heard us," he says quietly. "What Jace said. How we... how I let it happen."
The Ether starts curling around my ankles. I don't call it. It just comes.
And it's reaching for him.
"What is it doing?" Wes sounds confused. Maybe a little scared.
I don't know. I never know what the Ether's doing until it's already done it.
