Page 134 of Tempest

Ardyn

By Thursday,I’m able to make it out of my dorm and into the outside, fully dressed and showered with Clover at my elbow.

She’s forgiven me, in a way. After our blow-out, she consulted her cards to ensure our friendship could withstand this kind of curveball. This made me nervous. Her cards aren’t known to be kind to me. Thankfully, her cards read true—I knew in my heart that we could withstand anything, even this, so maybe there is something to her cards, after all.

Clover and I aren’t perfect, and we still have a lot to catch up on with each other and how we each grew up during those missing years, but what’s important is that we are working on it, and at least the truth of my feelings for her brother is out in the open.

The other stuff, however…

I’m still sorting through it in my head.

The best course of action would be to talk to Tempest and sit Clover down together, but we all know how that suggestion will go down. It also means I’d have to face him, and with my confession to Clover coupled with the knowledge that he’s responsible for Mila’s death … I can’t. I can’t process it, and I’m at a loss on how to move forward.

I’m seriously hoping I don’t run into him today. It’s pure denial, but continuing to put distance and space between him and me has to help me come to grips with all these explosive confessions. Right?

Clover’s tarot cards are definitely reading right today because I get through my classes without one sighting of Tempest and spend the rest of the evening in the library catching up on my missed assignments undisturbed.

The lights flicker, indicating closing time. I’m the last person in here. I stand and collect my books, satisfied with my progress for the day. The last thing I need is for my private life to bleed into my schoolwork and make all my progress obsolete. It doesn’t matter that my private life includes murder, betrayal, mafia rings, and hitmen; my parents are looking for any excuse to pick me up and cart me off. If anything, I’m rather proud of myself for remaining upright all day.

“Ardyn.”

The voice comes from behind me, but I’d recognize it if it were across the room. Across the globe.

With goose bumps prickling my neck, I turn.

Tempest stands near the entrance, dressed in black, the green of his gaze in startling contrast as he targets me. “I have no right to ask this of you, but I need you to come with me.”

I shake my head while my heart cries, yes!

“Please.”

Tempest never begs. Please doesn’t leave his lips. He forces them out of victims. I know how much it must take for him to utter that word to me.

“I can’t forget what you’ve done,” I say.

He nods. “Then, at least let me try for your forgiveness.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

Tempest holds out his hand, beckoning. “Come. Please. Don’t make me say it again.”

My eyes dart right and left. I’m not sure what I’m looking for. It’s not like a librarian will successfully shoo him away. It’s also unlikely I’ll escape him. Tempest will figure out another way to make me go with him, a lot more forceful than this. If Tempest has a point to prove, he will not relent until he proves it.

“Fine.” I sigh. “Let me drop off my stuff at the dorm and—”

“No time. Leave it here. I’ll send Rio to grab your stuff.”

Frowning, I do as he asks. As I walk toward him, I’m not ignorant enough to believe that the lightness in my shoulders isn’t solely due to the lack of a backpack. It’s him. He’s back, Tempest is near, and I feel better already.

What does that say about me?

I lift my hand, enfolding it in his. Tempest’s grip is powerful, but he holds me with great care, leading me out of the library without another word.

Tempest takes me into the woods with moonlight guiding our path. He doesn’t pull out his phone and I don’t ask questions, knowing where he’s taking me.

Trust is a fragile trait and an even more tenuous gift, but I can’t convince myself to run in the opposite direction. Maybe it’s because he’s saved me once, twice, a countless number of times. Maybe I think that with me, he inflicts pain only so he can enjoy giving me comfort after—a habit he reserves only for us.

Either way, I go with him.

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