Page 115 of Tempest

Tempest

Ardyn’s avoidedme for three goddamned weeks.

This is a good thing. I spent most of those days stalking her, ensuring not a whisper of my secret life left those delicate lips. Not to Clover, not to campus security, not to any-fucking-one, no matter how low in the hierarchy at TFU, because I truly did not feel like killing an innocent to keep her—and them—quiet.

The deaths of the Charleses sit heavy on my chest, an anomaly after four years of hardened hits. I came to the reluctant conclusion it was because of my princess. She was my innocence, a sweet, glorious seashell I was eager to rip from her solitude and force into darkness, but on my terms. Not under hers. She gained unearned insight into my darker tendencies before I was ready, and now I’m a walking contradiction.

Hating what I am, doing what I must, stalking when I shouldn’t.

“Yo, you there, man?”

Rio’s question draws me into the present, and I look from the fountain to him. “I was thinking.”

“Hard, it would seem, considering this is the last day we’ll see skirts for a while.”

The air around campus has cooled considerably, with surprising, minute pieces of ice if one breathes too deeply. Students are dressing in puffed jackets, fake fur, and bomber coats, some adding boots while others stubbornly wear open-toed shoes until snow actually falls on the ground. I’m eyeing a particular girl in a white down coat picking her way across the quad and talking closely with my sister.

Rio follows my line of sight and sighs. “I’m not sure that was the best idea, letting her go.”

“It was either that or mess with my sister’s life further, and I’m tired of picking up her pieces.”

“Are you sure that’s all it was?”

I tear my gaze off Ardyn’s blowing strands long enough to glare at him. “Know your place.”

“My place is to protect you, and I’m worried you’ve developed feelings for that girl.”

“Your worries are unfounded.”

He studies my profile, his stare causing annoying prickles across my cheek. “Nah. I don’t think they are.”

I respond mildly, staring at Ardyn while setting fire to Rio’s feet in my head. “You’re a man of many talents, Rio. Mind-reading isn’t one of them.”

“I’ve wondered about that night when Mila died.”

I look at him sharply.

“You gotta admit, T, you’ve had an unhealthy obsession with Ardyn since.”

“And how would you know that?” I ask through my teeth.

“I’m not trying to snoop, but sometimes your computer screen is noticeable, or I hear your side of phone calls. You were keeping tabs on her. A hell of a lot more than necessary to ensure Mila didn’t have the chance to tell her what she saw before she--” At my level glare of death, he amends “—before she was killed in that car accident.”

“And?”

Rio clenches and unclenches his jaw. Deciding whether to continue this path of self-destruction. “And a hell of a lot longer than necessary. Unless…”

“Be very careful,” I warn softly, “with what you say next.”

“Unless it wasn’t Mila who saw Miguel kill Nico Bianchi in the first place.”

“Fuck, you have a death wish.” I stand with all intentions of storming out of the center of the quad.

Rio doesn’t take well to my efforts to save his life. He catches up to me. “Tempest, you’re playing with fire. And not a camp one. I’m talking about those out-of-control brush fires they have in California and Australia. Miguel won’t stand for this. He’ll—”

I whirl, catching Rio by surprise. “He’ll never know.”

“Jesus, T! If she saw that, and then she saw this, we’re done for! Do you really want to put your life on the line for her? Mine?”

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