Page 94 of The City Of Fractured Memory

“Xavier–” I start.

But he holds up a hand. “No. Don’t,” he says sharply. “I was worried sick when I couldn’t find you anywhere these last few days. You didn’t reply to any of my messages—I had half the Division out looking for you. Yet here you are, in his arms. How could you? After everything this monster’s done? He’s a murderer, Octavia!”

“No, he’s not!” I shout. Though on second thoughts… “Well, yes, actually he is I guess–” I throw a glare at Riven and he shrugs like it’s no big deal, “–but he didn’t kill Vesper, and you’re hardly innocent here, are you?”

Xavier’s eyes narrow as he steps slowly towards me. In the twenty years I’ve known him, he’s never once looked at me so coldly, and the sight instantly makes me nauseous.

“And what lies, exactly, did he tell you?”

I look up at my friend, fury etched into every one of his features, and I stumble. If Riven is telling the truth, then Xavier has been lying to me for a long time about a lot of things. Not to mention the fact he clearly tried to derail this investigation for some reason I’m still yet to figure out. But he’s my friend. A man who’s unselfishly stood by my side and defended and protected me through most of my life.

I meet his gaze and a flash of pain crosses his features behind the anger, mirroring my own. I’ve hurt him. We’ve hurt each other. I can feel our friendship fraying rapidly, and all I want is to cling onto it for dear life. But I also can’t ignore the evidence piling up in front of me either. Between the two of them, I don’t know what to think. But before I can force the words out, Xavier shakes his head at me dejectedly, betrayal spreading across his face.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s obvious now that you don’t care for me like I thought. You’ve made your choice, Octavia. Now I’ll make mine.” He turns on his heel and storms out the way he came, boots echoing down the corridor, leaving me frozen in shock.

I sag against a metal table, mortified.

Riven swears under his breath, low and vicious, scrubbing a hand through his hair. His blue hair. My blood pounds loudly in my ears. Obviously Xavier would know about Riven’s heritage given that they share a father, but now he knows that I know about it too…

I share a nervous look with Riven, and he strides towards me and cups my face with his hands, his eyes boring into mine.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he insists, and I nod uselessly, unable to tear my gaze from his.

“You’re blushing,” he whispers, his thumb caressing my cheek.

“Shut up,” I joke, but it’s a strangled, choke of a laugh, and both our smiles falter.

I force away the image of Xavier’s face, the pain of our fractured friendship, and focus on Riven’s heated gaze. The echo of what almost happened hangs heavy between us, unbearably loud now that it’s gone, and whilst a very big part of me desperately wants to continue what we started, this is neither the time nor the place. Riven seems to share the feeling, his expression falling back into unease.

“I’m no good for you, Octavia, trust me.”

I raise my eyebrows. “What if I don’t trust you?”

He chews on his lip, his eyes darkening. “You’re making this really hard, you know that?”

“Is that supposed to be an innuendo?”

“Gods you’re infuriating,” he growls, though I don’t miss the smirk he tries to hide. “Come on, then. I guess we have to be upstanding citizens and stop Xavier from inevitably doing something stupid now.”

The sun has almost risen by the time Riven and I reconvene outside the apartment, the mists of the Veil illuminated against the stark silhouette of the waking city. We agreed to split up and search for Xavier, but both of us have arrived empty handed.

Well, not entirely empty handed.

“Cute little knife you have there,” Riven jokes, looking down pointedly at the blade clutched in my hand.

“Fuck off, Riven.”

“Yes, dear.”

I roll my eyes as I stride past him into the building, trying my best to hide the smile on my face. I decide not to tell him the only reason I have it is because a gang of youths decided to follow me a few streets back, likely due to them spotting my white hair. It takes more than that to frighten me, but I’m not an idiot either.

Stryx is pacing the length of the apartment when I enter, her ears plastered to the side of her head in barely contained fury.

“Where in the Voyd have you been?” she snaps the moment she sees me. “You disappear without a word, and I wake up alone, and Quill is gone–”

Her eyes land on Riven as he finally steps inside behind me, and the anger drains from her in an instant, replaced by stiff surprise. “Oh,” she says. “You’re here.”

It’s only then I realise this is the first time they’ve seen each other since he saved her from the attack in the Archives.