“Ez…”
“She said Eryn hasn’t been at the dorm, and with no cell phone, she has no other way to contact her. We were the last ones to see her, and she basically accused us of holding Eryn captive. She’s pissed, cuz. I tried telling her that you and her girl finally hit it off, but she’s not buying it.” At my string of curses, Ez grinned. “She’s vicious. It’s kind of hot.”
My pulse pounded in my temples, a sure sign of an impending migraine. I liked Rani for my bond. Her tenacity and fierce protection of Eryn was a giant green flag for me. But in this instance, it was a big problem. I wouldn’t put it past the redhead to take this to the dean and bring far more attention to our situation than was safe.
“Eryn needs to contact her roommate and sell the story,” I groaned. That wouldn’t be easy to convince her to do. I glanced at the timer on my watch. Just under an hour, plenty of time to convince her. I hoped. “Let’s go tell the princess to lie to her friend.”
My door was still shut. And locked. But it wasmyroom, and if I wanted in, I was going to get in. I broke the handle, with a little help from Ez, and prepared myself for a wave of her wrath. Only, she was nowhere to be found. Across the room, the balcony door was open, the curtains swaying in the early evening breeze. Ezra’s laughter couldn’t drown out my, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She escaped. Again. And she scaled a three-story rose trellis to do so.
“Why isn’t there a ward on your balcony?” My cousin asked between more fits of laughter.
IthoughtI had a good enough reason.
“Anyone dumb enough to try and attack me in my space is asking for the consequences.”
Ezra turned purple he laughed so hard.
“Gods,” I cursed. “I never imagined she’d climb the fucking shrubbery to get away!” I spun and headed to my dresser, filling my pockets with anything I could need in case we had a fight with more than my bond on our hands. “How long has she been out there?”
It can’t have been too long if even Rani hadn’t seen her yet.
Ez sobered at the question. “They’re going to know she’s alive.”
Exactly. Fuck. I opened the door to my side of the bond, filling our connection with nothing but her. It was time to go hunting.
fifteen
Eryn
I wasn’t running…exactly. There was no point. That throbbing in my chest meant Kaiden could find me anywhere in the world if he was close enough. I just had to get out of that apartment. I felt trapped, in more ways than one. Kicking dirt and pebbles out of my path, I continued my hike along the rising cliff face.
Campus wasn’t where I wanted to be right now. Nature. Open space. Freedom. That’s what I needed to think it all through. I didn’t want this, that was the main argument overwhelming my mind. Was I grateful to be alive? Of course, I didn’t want to die. Kaiden vehemently cared for my well-being and that was…nice. Okay, it might make me a little giddy inside, but I shut that shit down fast before it spun out of control.
The fact remained, no matter how or why it happened, I hadn’t wanted to initiate this bond. I felt him all the time now, even with his emotions locked up. It was like a phantom stranger in my chest. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. I had a plan and a future I was working toward, which didn’tinclude being locked away in close quarters with a man I fought tooth and nail to keep my hands off.
Kaiden was attractive and kind—when he wasn’t being an ass. That didn’t mean I was willing to throw everything away. He claimed he wanted my happiness, for me to pursue my goals. How much of that was lies to get me to bond, though? How much would change now that the threats against me almost succeeded?
Gods, and what did I tell my parents? I wasn’t even sure saying something was a good idea. Better to let them stay safe and in hiding while we figured out how to stop the hunters ourselves. I could handle Kaiden on my own.
The dusty trail ended at the peak of the cliff, a wide area overlooking the tumultuous ocean far below. Mother Nature wasn’t the only one unsettled right now. That connection in my chest fluttered, and I knew my time was up. I stepped closer to the edge—away from that feeling—soaking in my last moments of freedom.
Small rocks crumbled and fell over the side as my toes cleared solid ground. Cool shadows, obvious even in the fading sun, wound through my legs and up around my waist. I rolled my eyes and turned to where Kaiden stood off to my right.
“I wasn’t going to jump.”
He warily stepped closer, hair in disarray and hands clenched at his sides. His gaze briefly glanced over the edge, and his jaw tightened.
“I can never be too careful with you. You’re unpredictable.”
I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. His shadows reeled me in until I stood in front of him. Both my feet back on solid earth, he sighed, and the tension left his shoulders.
A little of the Kaiden I was used to seeing returned. “Scaling the trellis? Really?”
His shadows guided us toward the trees, still in view of the ocean, but at a much safer distance.
I looked away. “It was better than being tackled on my way out the front door.”
