Page 9 of The Hunt of Night

I feel like I’m in a waiting room, nervously listening for my name to be called. I don’t know when it will be, and deep down, a part of me would like to be left suspended in this moment, the inevitable never arriving, but I won’t be so lucky. I don’t deserve to be.

I fucked up, and my father dropped me in it.

The truth should have come from my lips. That’s what makes this worse. That’s what burns through my body more. The knowledge that I should have shared, but didn’t.

Tilting my head back, I allow the heat of the sun to wash over me in an attempt to let it erase my sorrows, but there’s no cure for the shit I’m feeling. By the time the guys are done with me, there will be no cure for what they put me through either.

Wings flap, once, twice, and it’s the only warning I get as I turn to my right, watching Kryll shift as he lands beside me. He shakes off his cloak before ruffling his auburn hair. There’s a lilt to the corner of his mouth, but it doesn’t meet his eyes.

“All good?”

“It’s perfect,” he murmurs, rubbing at the back of his neck as he sighs.

“Where did you take them?” He finally looks my way, cocking a brow. “Fair enough,” I grumble, taking the hint. “Are you ready to head back?”

“Are you ready to face everyone’s wrath?”

I gulp, my spine stiffening as I meet the disappointment shining in his gaze. “No, but I don’t have a choice.”

He nods, silently agreeing with the downfall I know is coming.

Muttering the transportation enchantment under my breath, Kryll plants his hand firmly on my shoulder before the ground shifts beneath our feet. All too quickly, the fountain on campus comes into view, and the familiar surroundings take over.

My gaze flickers to the pathway that leads to the fae building before considering my usual path toward my room, but instead of going in either direction, I follow Kryll’s heavy footsteps toward the vampire building.

The walk is quiet. Too quiet. There’s only one way to get past this and it’s to face it head on, and that starts with explaining myself. Well, attempting to explain myself, at least.

Stepping inside the vampire building, I take the stairs two at a time, cursing my father with every step. I want to blame it all on him, but my silence hasn’t aided my innocence in all of this.

Is that a trait I get from him? Is that a part of him that runs through my veins? Am I just as foolish and tainted as him?

I fucking hope not.

All too quickly, Kryll raps his fist on Raiden’s door, and it swings open a moment later.

“Oh, good, the liar is here,” Raiden grunts, taking a step back to let us in.

“He is.” Acknowledging myself as a liar is the first step to recovery, right?

“At least you’re owning it, not even claiming some bullshit about omitting,” Cassian adds, glaring at me as I step into Raiden’s ridiculously large room.

I sink into the sofa closest to the door, bracing my elbows on my knees as I hide my face behind my hands. I need a minute. One whole second to gather my shit together before I force myself to sit back and meet their expectant stares.

“I don’t think that would do me any good,” I admit, making Raiden scoff as he collapses onto the sofa across from me.

“You’d be right.” The bite to his tone and the sharpness of his jaw confirms he’s beyond pissed, but it’s no surprise.

“Are you actually this mad at him, or are you frustrated that Addi is mad at you, and you’re redirecting all of that?” Cassian muses, perching himself on the arm of the sofa to my right, earning himself one of Raiden’s signature death stares.

“You can shut the fuck up.”

Touchy subject. Noted. Something clearly went down after we left, but I’m guessing now isn’t the time for me to find out the details.

“How about we address one situation at a time?” Kryll asks, standing with his arms folded over his chest between the two sofas.

It’s weird. I’m usually the one in his position, trying to calmly placate everyone, but not today, it seems. Today I’m the one in the hot seat.

“We can start with Brody,” Raiden decides, completely shifting away from whatever drama he has with Addi right now.

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