Page 81 of Tempest

“He had no right to question you about that night.”

“A lot of people don’t, but they ask anyway.”

She stares at me dead-on. There’s a tight pinch in my chest at the levity in her expression. For the first time, I picture her within white walls, drugged emotionless, and sitting across from a white coat peppering her for details about her kidnapping, her friend’s death, and her life.

For once, I’m exhausted for her.

Putting myself in someone else’s place isn’t a natural habit. I roll my shoulders back to rid myself of the foreign warmth.

“What did Miguel want to know?”

I ask it casually enough to not raise her suspicions. However, when it comes to Ardyn’s tragic past, I doubt she suspects anyone who pries.

“The usual.” Ardyn lifts a thumb to her mouth, chewing on the nail. A nervous tic I haven’t seen from her before. “What I remember, if I’ve recalled anything since, if it’s affecting my ability to function at present or in the future.” Her eyes slide back to mine. “Why do you want to know?”

“I deserve to know why a professor wants information on my sister and her friend.”

“Isn’t Miguel Rossi your mentor? Superhero or something?”

I snort. “Or something. You sure that’s all he wanted?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Miguel’s interest isn’t shocking. Ardyn was a liability that night and she could still be now. My worry stems from why Miguel thought it necessary to pry into Ardyn’s mind, even if it was the tiniest bit. It makes me wonder if he doesn’t believe her, or he doesn’t believe me. Neither is a positive outcome.

“Why are you learning underneath him, anyway?” Ardyn asks, resting her slender hands on her hips. I watch the movement, remembering how hard I gripped that waist and envisioning the bruises I left blooming under that dainty yellow dress. “Last I saw you, you were close to graduating private school and primed to take over your family business…” She trails off, but prediction is what I do, and I mentally fill in the rest of the sentence for her. Just like me.

Invisible needles prick my throat when I answer. Discussions about my father and subsequent entry into this world are never a happy priority. “There was an unfortunate event just before graduation. My father decided it would be best for me to pursue another avenue before taking charge of his company.”

Ardyn tilts her head, her dark blond waves swishing against the smooth skin of her shoulder. The one part of her remains untouched and unsullied. I lick the inside of my lower lip, wanting to end this conversation and bite her there instead.

“So he made you become a teacher’s assistant? That doesn’t make sense. You’re too smart to be cloistered in the middle of nowhere living in an old witch’s cottage. Your skills are wasted learning business when you could already be running it. Unless.” She scrunches her nose in thought, an irresistible garnish to her do-gooder wardrobe. “Is this a punishment? What a dumb move on Mr. Callahan’s part. I remember how everyone in my father’s circle talked about you. You could’ve tripled your family’s equity by now.”

Her sincerity wraps around my chest and squeezes, causing my heart to twitch with an uncomfortably strong beat. Rubbing my chest with a filthy hand, I crack a smile. “Was that a compliment that just left your pouty lips? C’mon, give it to me more, baby. You’re turning me on.”

Ardyn frowns, her curiosity swallowed by annoyance. “You know what? Forget I was ever interested. Your father probably dumped you here because you’re insufferable. You can leave now.”

My smile widens. “But we’re just getting started.”

“We’re not. You’ve tried your best, but I’m still here, attending WFU, cozying up to your sister, and generally trying to improve my life, unlike you.”

My grin fades at the edges. “You think that was my best, princess?”

“Do you have more planned for me than forcing a reliving of one of the scariest moments of my life? What’s next before you realize I’m not going anywhere, Tempest? Will I find myself upside down again, next to a murdered friend?”

My vision darkens at the same time, and my struggling heart sends its keening throb into my ears. “What did you just say?”

Ardyn’s mouth works. The stained pink long since faded with all the chewing she’s done. “I’m—I just meant that it’s not like you can orchestrate a natural cause of someone’s death beside me. If you want me running scared, I suppose a dead body will do it. After what you did to me last night, I wouldn’t put it past you—”

“Shut up.”

The force of my demand acts like a lashing against her face. Ardyn reels back in shock.

“I’m going to use your shower now. And when I come out, you better be dressed in something different than that virginal fucking dress because if you aren’t, I’m going to waste the effort of getting clean and split you with my cock again.”

Ardyn sucks in a breath. Pink splotches her cheeks.

“You’re right, princess. I’m not above pulling the filthiest shit imaginable and don’t you fucking forget it.” I point my index finger at her in warning before I saunter into the en suite bathroom in an attempt to hide the urgent pounding going on in my head, the same word playing on a loop.

Murder, murder, murder.

There’s no way she could know. Ardyn was out like a light when I made my decision and turned Mila’s off for good.

As I turn on the spray, my brain reminds me that I got lucky once when Ardyn woke up and didn’t remember what she saw. It was helped along by a doctor I blackmailed to confuse and derail her if any memories came to light, but she’s out of the safety net of an institution now, and Miguel has his eyes on her. If Ardyn ever starts to recall the truth behind Mila’s death, there’s no way I’ll dodge that bullet again.

And in my life, luck is just another word for laziness, and I am not fucking lying down for this.

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