He runs his tongue over his bottom lip as he peers at me, searching deep into my eyes, but I can feel the invisible walls rising around me. “We can stay as long as you like,” he states, and I huff, unable to keep my mouth shut as I had hoped.
“Not when you’re being nice to me,” I mutter, watching his eyebrows rise in confusion. “It always comes with an expiration date,” I explain, and he grimaces. I should feel bad, especially when I know I’m trying to hurt him before he can hurt me again, but I can’t bring myself to apologize.
Thorne’s lips part, but his gaze quickly dips to his cell phone before he can speak. He angles the screen, and I capture a glimpse of his notification. There are endless missed calls and unopened texts from Kael and Rion.
My heart lurches.
“Do they know where we are?” I blurt, and he shakes his head slowly. I exhale softly. “Good.”
“Good?” he repeats in confusion, and I shrug.
“Kael is dead to me. I believe you didn’t know, but there’s no coming back from this,” I clarify, turning for the exit, and Thorne immediately falls into step with me.
“I already told you, I?—”
“I know what you said,” I interject, glancing at him from the corner of my eye before I turn my attention to the rotating exit, stepping through it in a flurry, only to pause on the other side since I don’t know where on Earth I’m going. Instead of taking the lead as I’d hoped he would, he stands in front of me, arms folded over his chest as he cocks a brow again.
“I’m eternally grateful to be out of there. I owe you one, but like I already told you, your good moods don’t last. I get why, but I can’t handle the hot and cold on top of everything else as well,” I mumble, and all he does is blink at me. Something so mundane shouldn’t look so hot on him. Clearing my throat, I stand taller. “I’m ready to leave.”
He stares at me for what feels like a lifetime before he sighs, his chin dipping to his chest for a second before he meets my stare again. “Okay. Let’s get you home,” he says, turning to standat my side, but before he can take a single step, I grab his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“It’s not my home. I’ve never truly had a home, but The Vale, that definitely isn’t it. If anything, it will forever be my prison.”
11
ELODIE
Stepping over the threshold, I blink, the tightness in my chest growing tighter instead of easing off as the familiar academy hall comes into view. I’m back in The Vale. I should feel safer, calmer, more relaxed, but it doesn’t do anything to settle the tension rippling through me. The serenity I felt in Paris is gone, and I almost regret visiting the Eiffel Tower. If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t know what I was missing out on, but now I do.
My gut twists even more, forcing me to wrap my arms around my middle as Thorne appears beside me a moment later. His presence makes a slight difference to the stiffness of my spine, but as we head down the stairs and the double doors come into view, a sense of impending doom takes weight on my shoulders.
The shadow fae beside me, who has been silent for our return journey, clears his throat as he brushes his hair back off his face. The soft, slightly overgrown curls fall over his eyes instantly, enticing me to reach out and do the same thing, but I think better of it.
“I’m going to assume we’re enemies now,” he mutters, and I roll my shoulders back as I turn to him with a hint of apprehension.
It’s impossible for me to get any more stressed. My heart is hammering so hard in my chest, I’m sure death is waiting on the other side of the doors.
“That depends on whether you are going to strengthen the protection here, as you mentioned.” I’m asking something of him, and I hate it. I know I can’t do this alone, but the idea of purposely leaning on someone to help me feels too raw, and I’ve been exposed enough.
“Of course,” he answers without pause, nodding firmly as if the motion sets it in stone.
Rubbing my lips together, I offer a thin smile. “Then I won’t hate you completely,” I breathe, and his minuscule smile is enough to rival my own.
“I’ll take it.”
He comes to a stop at the double doors that lead out into The Vale, his palm splayed against the wood, ready to swing it open, but he doesn’t move. His eyes find mine, searching once again. I take a deep breath, and this time my muscles relax just enough for me to take another, and another until my shoulders aren’t so close to my ears anymore.
“Ready?” he asks, and I nod, but a tinge of disappointment nestles in my stomach as he pushes the door open. The sun is still up, but it’s behind the academy building, which means we’re earlier in the day.
I can’t even wrap my head around how long I’ve even been gone.
A yelp in the distance captures my attention, and my gaze latches onto three sets of eyes that blink back at us in disbelief.
“Elodie!” My name is a screech of disbelief as they all take an instinctive step toward me.
“Did you tell them we were back?” I breathe, unable to tear my gaze away to look at the man beside me.
“No.”
