Page 161 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

Me:I saw Sirius tonight.

Me:It’s just as bright over here as it is at home.

The next morning.

Me:Is there a reason you’re not answering? Some kind of game you’re playing?

That afternoon.

Me:At least tell me you’re okay.

The following morning.

Me:Six.

Me:I’m not in the mood to play anymore.

That evening.

Me:When I get home, I better find that the entire country is in a state of panic because all the phones and computers have abruptly stopped working.

The following morning.

Me:I swear to fuck, Six.

*Message cannot be delivered*

I stare at the bounce back text I just received, ice frosting over my veins as I realize she blocked me.

I’m halfway around the world and she blocked me.

My fist clenches so hard around my phone, the screen cracks in my grip. I have no idea what’s going on, no clue why she abruptly blocked me. I’ve been trying to reach her for three days, desperate to get updates from her and it’s been radio silence.

She’s ignored all my texts and has sent me straight to voicemail when I’ve tried to call. Her friends are similarly ignoring me and my friends are doing their best ostrich impressions, burying their heads in the sand and refusing to help me if it means getting in the middle of their own relationships.

“What thefuck,” I roar in my hotel room, throwing a bottle of the complimentary champagne against the wall. The way it shatters into pieces gives me only a brief moment of satisfaction before reality crawls back into focus.

The frustration I feel being so far away is maddening. I’m helpless and like a caged animal pacing the length of my hotel room.

It was one thing when she wasn’t answering my texts, I could potentially have explained that away. But blocking me? That’s confirmation that something is very wrong and I’m not spending another second here without getting to the bottom of what’s going on back home. Fuck this deal, I should never have come anyway.

I call my father and announce that I’m taking the plane and going back to Geneva. I hang up when he starts cursing me down the phone, cutting his tirade off. Next, I call the pilots and tell them I want to be wheels up in two hours.

The next fifteen hours feel like the longest in my life, stretching into entire lifetimes of spiraling about what could possibly be wrong. It’s unbearable and when I finally touch down in Geneva, I resist the urge to get on my knees and kiss the ground.

***

I’m clearing the steps of my house three at a time, in a rush to find Rogue or Rhys so they can tell me what they know about Six, when someone calls my name.

“Sorry Claire, I can’t talk right now.” I tell her, continuing up the steps until I’m on the landing.

I hear her run up the stairs after me. “Wait, I think you’re going to want this.”

“Later, I have to find Rogue. Have you seen him?” I ask, marching down the hall. I’m surprised to hear her continue to follow me.

“It’s from Sixtine.”

That stops me in my tracks. I turn around and finally look at her. She’s a little out of breath and holding a white envelope firmly in her hand. It’s your typical rectangular envelope except it’s not flat like it would be if it had papers in it. I can make out the outline of something 3D buried inside it.

---