Sabel ends the performative call, laughing. “Oh, you stupid girl. I thought that you were brighter than that, Sloane. Don’t you see it?” she asks, waving a hand in Van’s direction. What is shenotsaying? I look between the two of them, knowing that theymustbe working together. My mind imagines all of the worst possible things that they could have done to Riven, and my heart is breaking at the thought. Maybe they both killed my father, too. Maybe I’m their next victim. Is the outlier thing genetic? The photos that Van had would make a whole lot of sense if that were the truth. Memories of what Van did to me in the forest surface, bringing a whole new set of emotions with them.
“Why?” I look at Van, my eyes searching his mask for answers. “Why would you do this to me?!” I plead, tears streaming down my face once more. My tears come to a screeching halt as my emotions shift back to anger.
“WHERE IS HE?!” I yell to both of them, to the room, to anyone who will listen.
Sabel sighs, playing with her cuticles. “Booooring.”
“Do it.Now,” Sabel says to the guard on Van’s right. I drag my gaze to the guard, looking for a gun or some other weapon that might be used to end my life. I assume that she meant “kill her,” as inme. The guard doesn’t pull out a weapon, though. Instead, he grabs the back of Van’s mask and pulls it off, revealing his face to me.
The world around me comes to an absolute standstill.
The face before me is not one that I expect to see, and it shatters me into a million little irreparable pieces.
40
Sloane
I am unable to blink or breathe as I stare down into the beautifully distinct eyes ofRiven Reilly. My mind is warped in rivalry, attempting to decipher the very man kneeling before me. I internally struggle between knowing what I’m seeing and what I want so badly to beuntrue. Realization surfaces as I search his eyes for answers, foranythingto tell me otherwise. I come up short. Those devastating eyes give away his betrayal as he stares up at me in shame.
As his eyes search mine, my mind replays all of the moments that we shared before this one. I shuffle through them to find the one that would explain this deception. My heart breaks over and over again at the memories, and whether any of it was as true as it felt. What part do I play in his game of torment? He averts my gaze and lowers his head, allowing his dark hair to create a barrier between us.Coward.
He reaches out a hand in my direction, and I instinctively move away from his touch. He looks hurt by it, and it threatens to break the wall that I’m quickly building between us.
“Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me you haven’t been lying to me about who you are this entire time!” I yell, needing to expel the anger bubbling up inside of me. He flinches, but doesn’t lift his head or meet my gaze.
“Look at me, you fuckingcoward!” I scream, spit flying from my mouth as I lose the little bit of control that I have left. He peers up at me from beneath his loose strands of hair, and for a second, I think that I see a hint of amusement in his traitorous eyes. I lock onto them, giving him my best impression of someone who isnot the one. Sabel’s maniacal laughter severs the electrical current whirring between us.
“Oh,come on,you two. Don’t you haveanythingto say for yourself, Riv?” Sabel’s eyes dart back and forth between us as the bile rises in my throat at her use of a nickname for him. I press my molars together, seething at what it could mean. I burn holes through Sabel’s head as an emotion that I’m not so familiar with consumes me.Jealousy.
“You haven’t even told her the best part,” Sabel purrs, kneeling until she’s face-to-face with Riven. She places a long fingernail under his chin and attempts to lift his head. He shakes her off, turning in the opposite direction.
“Don’t fucking touch me, Sabel,” Riven growls. Perhaps they aren’t working together, then? I want so badly to believe it, but I can’t decipher the truth anymore.
“What haven’t you told me, Riven? Or is that even yourrealname?” I snap my head in his direction, willing him to meet my gaze andface this. He lifts his head slowly until our eyes connect.
“Sloane. I—” He pauses, threatening to avert his gaze from mine again. I interrupt him before he can say another word.
“Don’t you dare do that. Look at me, Riven.Please,” I cry out, my mind and my heart battling for control.
Something inside of him seems to break as I do, speaking to me without words and begging me to hold on for a little longer. He speaks again, his words nearly a whisper above the pounding in my ears.
“I wanted to tell you, I did. I was going to tell youeverything.” His eyes are pleading, full of regret and sorrow. His words don’t provide the reassurance I need, and it’s unraveling the remaining thread that’s struggling to hold us together. This time, it’s me who’s averting my gaze.
“Sloane,” he implores, voice cracking. I turn to look down at him. Sabel scoffs and walks back over to me. She stops behind me, her laughter sending a shiver down my spine. I squeeze my eyes shut to stifle the sensation.
“Did you think that he reciprocated your feelings for him, dear? You’re nothing more than another listener caught in his web of seduction.” My eyes shoot open, finding Riven’s wide ones on Sabel. The shock within his eyes quickly transforms into panic, and then fury.
“What the fuck do you want, Sabel?” Riven snarls. I stare at him, trying to understand what Sabel is getting at. She knows that I’m not affected by the frequency without headphones. Why is she insinuating that I’m under his spell?
Hisspell.
My eyes widen, panic now consuming me. I look down at my lap, unable to hold the gaze of the man who’sbreakingme. I should run now. I should expose him and the whole operation where it stands. The story has found a conclusion. A conclusion with me wrapped up right in the middle of it.
“No… Sloane. No. Darling,look at me,” he pleads, warning laced in his tone.
“Sabel,” Riven growls, looking over my head and to the woman standing behind me. “What do you fuckingwant?” he screams.
I peer at him through my lashes, catching a glimpse of his impending spiral. His control wavers, and the energy shifts. Sabel’s guards move in closer to Riven, both drawing pistols and pointing them at his head. I hear the simultaneous clicks, telling me that Sabel is done playing games. If Riven makes one wrong move, the guards will end his life. My breathing accelerates, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop them.
