Page 144 of Eternal

Alex nods, even if he’s still watching Mila, and I leave them to their uncomfortable staring contest to head through the crowd.

Bodies fill Sigma House, and tonight, it’s suffocating. The only person I want to be around is Teal, and she’s not here. She’s the calm in the middle of the chaos as I clean up the Council’s mess.

I thought it would be harder to go against them when I’d been conditioned to be an obedient soldier, but it’s been easier than expected. With my father and Paul Donovan both behind bars, I’m able to actually put the House first. I can live up to the words carved into the wall in our meeting room. And I’m using every second to my advantage.

For the House.

For Teal.

I’ll become who I was always meant to be. Someone ruthless for the right people.

Teal has yet to visit her father, just like I’ve yet to visit mine. With my father out of the picture and his assets seized, my lawyer was able to unlock the trust fund my grandparents left for me, so I was able to cut all ties with him. So there’s no reason toassociate.

Besides, while the legal system works, it’s ultimately irrelevant. Sigma House will ensure they both meet their untimely ends.

I weave through the party and find my way out to my car. Climbing in, I make the short drive to campus.

Teal has been locked in her studio for the past couple of weeks, working through everything that happened, and I’ve been trying to give her space to process. She contacts me when she needs me, and I take care of business with the House in all my free time.

I don’t regret orchestrating our marriage to protect her from her father, but I understand that it will take her time to process that there’s no end to this. She’s mine.

I pull my car into the campus parking lot and find it mostly empty. The students that are still here are at Sigma House getting wasted, and anyone else has already left for the summer.

Everyone except Teal, who will spend time in her studio up until the second we leave for Paris.

Making my way into the courtyard, I find her sitting on the bench where this all started. She has her earbuds in and her head tipped back so she can watch the stars. She’s added more blue and pink to her hair these past couple of weeks, and at this rate, there won’t be much blonde left by the time we leave.

In her hands, she has a piece of paper, and I refuse to let myself think she’s called me out here to serve me with divorce papers, no matter how resistant she can be. If she does, I just might have to chain her up. Remind her why she submitted to me in the first place.

Teal doesn’t spot me until I’m a few feet away, and when her gaze meets mine, I don’t like that there’s hesitance.

“Hey.” She pulls one of her earbuds out, and I drop down onto the bench, taking it from her.

I pop it in my ear, surprised she’s listening to classical music.

“I wasn’t expecting that.”

“My new doctor said it might help, so I’m trying it.” She shrugs. “We’ll see.”

After Paul Donovan went down, Dr. Parish was right behind him. There was more than enough evidence that he was overmedicating Teal to get his license revoked. And the farther we dug, the more we found that everything he was doing was contributing to her slow psychotic break.

Plus, as it turns out, she wasn’t the only patient he was mistreating. He was accepting bribes to alter treatments and using nonresponsive patients, too, as human lab rats. He’s getting exactly what he deserves for his part in this, and by the time the House is done with him, he’ll be the one spending the rest of his life in Montgomery Psychiatric Ward.

With Dr. Parish out of the picture, Teal was finally able to work with a doctor who wants to help. While every other therapist had been an extension of her father’s manipulation, now she’s being treated.

She doesn’t say much to me about it, and I only hack her files to check in on her progress on occasion. But she’s clear in a way I haven’t seen her since she was a kid, so I know they’rehelping.

“I have something for you.” She fiddles with the paper in her lap. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about us. About this.”

Her fingers move from the paper to the ring around her finger. Every time I see it, I breathe a sigh of relief she hasn’t taken it off yet. Although, right now, she makes me nervous each time she twists it around.

I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to try and end this after what I did. I just can’t let her.

“What did you decide?” I ask, pretending she has a choice.

Her gaze lifts to meet mine. “You didn’t give me a say in this decision, Declan, and I’m still pissed at you about that. You’ve also never apologized for it. Not really.”

“I told you no more lies.”

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