Page 130 of Tempest

Tempest

Ardyn isn’tin class the next day. Or the next.

I send a text to Clover, asking how she’s doing and discreetly asking after Ardyn, to which she replies: since when do you give a shit what we’re up to?

I assume that means they’re both fine, and Ardyn hasn’t confessed any dark truths to my sister.

Thank fuck.

That bought me forty-eight hours to figure out how best to navigate our future if we’re to have any.

I kept a straight face around Miguel, updating him and maintaining my duties. An amazing feat, considering I was in a foul mood. The students didn’t fare nearly as well. I bit their heads off if they so much as moved their lips to form a question and weighted my grades heavily on whether or not I thought they were obnoxious, intolerable, or both.

Needless to say, my office hours weren’t filled.

I spent that free time mulling over the consequences of choosing Ardyn over Mila all those years ago and why I did it. I still can’t figure it out. All it’s done is make my life harder. Worse. Complicated and crazy. I crave her and want to escape her in equal measure. I’m hoping she’s busy packing and praying she doesn’t want to leave. I’m lighter now that she knows all my secrets but weighed down by how much she must despise me now.

And why the fuck do I care that she hates me? I’ve never cared what anyone thought before. It’s a gross, annoying feeling that I wish would just fuck right off.

A knock on my doorframe sends my head up. I glower at the figure filling up my doorway.

“I assume that means come right in?” Rio asks with a lopsided smile.

I’d like to smack it off his face. If only he were close enough.

Without waiting for a response, Rio strolls inside, shutting the door behind him.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Join me for a drink, will you?” Rio helps himself to my bar caddy, uncapping a crystal decanter of whiskey.

“I’m on the clock.”

“Since when has that stopped you?”

“I’d prefer not to be inebriated at the moment.”

“That’s your choice.” Rio pours himself a healthy three fingers, takes a deep swallow, then sits across from my desk. “I’ll just sit here enjoying your top shelf while you laser into your desk using your eyes.”

“Have you stopped by to annoy me? I have a lot of work to do before tonight, so if you don’t mind—”

“How did she remember?”

My head snaps up. “Excuse me?”

“Ardyn.” Rio licks a droplet of whiskey from his lower lip as he stares me down. “How did she figure out you were the one who killed Mila?”

I lean back from my desk, slowly and with careful consideration. “You’re lucky I sweep my office for bugs on a daily basis.”

“You’re my best friend. Of course, I know that, about as well as I understand your moods, and you’ve only been like this once before.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. When you decided Ardyn should live.”

My lips turn way, way down.

“It’s the one moment where I could honestly agree with Hunter that your nickname should be Storm Cloud. Don’t get me wrong,” Rio adds over my warning growl, “You’re the Zeus of all storm clouds, but you’re usually able to contain your miserable anger a lot better than you are now. I’m here to tell you that as much as you’re trying not to show it, people are noticing. Hunter, for one.”

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