Rion: I miss you, Petal.
Rion: I miss you so fucking much.
Rion: I’m drowning. Apparently, I wasn’t joking that time I said you’re the only good thing for me because I’m useless without you.
Rion: Thorne? Really? Why couldn’t you have come into my dreams? Probably because you were already there, only as a figment of my imagination, though.
Rion: That motherfucker has hightailed it alone. If he hurts you… Fuck, even if he gives you the side eye and you don’t like it, I will beat the shit out of him. Or go down trying at least. He is a shadow fae after all.
Rion: Petal. Fuck. You were right there. I almost had you in my arms. What the hell is going on?
Rion: Please be okay. I can’t function without you.
Rion: Petal…
Rion: I have three little words to say to you, but the first time won’t be over a text message. It will be when I’m staring into those stunning blue eyes.
Well, hell. Now I can’t even function. Backing out of his text thread, my thumb lingers over the final one. Kael. One message sits waiting for me, but I can’t bring myself to look. Instead, I close out of my messages altogether and turn my attention to the surveillance app.
There are five notifications. Jumping to the first one, I watch the door open and a dark figure appear at the side of my bed. A gloved finger trails down my face, brushing a loose curl back, but I blink and they’re gone. Movement occurs twenty minutes later when Ocean climbs onto my bed, settling into the position I found her in. The third notification is two hours later, when I’m greeted by the figure dressed head to toe in black again.
Despite Ocean sleeping along the bottom of my bed, they slip in beside me and I curl into their embrace immediately. My heart stutters as I watch myself nuzzle against the intruder.
What the hell is wrong with me?
The following timestamp is a little over an hour ago, showing the intruder slipping from my bed and disappearing as if they never existed. The final notification is from Ocean and me moving this morning.
I let my cell phone fall into my lap, my thoughts plagued with so many questions, but they are quickly interrupted by thesound of my stomach grumbling. Ocean’s head peeks around the corner of the bathroom door a second later.
“Are you ready to eat something more than cereal bars?” she asks, referring to the fact that’s all I had yesterday before I passed out, and I nod. I would rather hide away forever, but food is a necessity at this stage. “I can grab us pastries,” she offers, but as much as I love them, I think I need something a little more substantial than that. She probably does too.
“Thanks, but we deserve to eat properly. Are the restaurants open before classes?” I ask, and she grimaces as she shakes her head. Dammit. “Dining hall it is then,” I confirm, tossing the covers aside before climbing out of bed.
Ocean leaves the bathroom and I step straight in, hurrying to get myself ready, completely starved, before I dart across to the closet to find my clothes. Just as I slip my feet into my institute-issued shoes, Ocean appears in the doorway with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, uncertainty rising to the surface, and she shakes her head.
“Are you going to classes today?” She points at the uniform I’m wearing and I nod.
“What else am I supposed to do?”
She gapes at me in response.
“I don’t know, deal with your thoughts and feelings, maybe? The fact that you were kidnapped? Tortured? Taken by The Sanctum? Slaughtering your father?” Her eyebrows pinch in confusion, like me in my uniform is the last thing she ever expected to walk in to find.
“That sounds gross,” I retort. There are far too many thoughts and feelings in my head that I don’t want to address, so I’m going to continue in my fake bliss for a little while longer.
“Or you could chill out with some movies and snacks, like, actually let your body heal,” she offers, trying to find an alternative, and it’s my turn to shake my head.
“I don’t want to get lost in my head.”
She offers me a sad smile as she nods. “Then classes it is,” she concedes, stepping back into the main area of our room.
I give myself a moment, running my hands over the lapels of my jacket as I brace myself to face the day. Nothing comes from hiding away in here. Besides, I’ve experienced it all at this point. The Sanctum is going to come for me whether I like it or not. I may as well train myself as best I can before that time comes, especially if I’ve got Jude coming at me from another angle.
With one final deep breath, I’m ready. Grabbing my cell phone, I fix my bed before joining Ocean at the door. I’m surprised to find no one standing on the other side of it as we head out, but I enjoy the calmness that continues to linger around us.
We walk in comfortable silence as we descend the stairs and make our way outside. It’s only when we reach the peak of the pathway that offers the best vantage point of The Vale that I finally speak.
