Page 43 of Riftborne
“I’ll be fine. I promise. And I’ll see you tomorrow.” I gave her a quick hug, which she didn’t return. She sighed and took off in the direction of her apartment.
I exhaled sharply. The man’s timing was excruciating. He really couldn’t wait until I was alone?
For Epsrithe fucking sake.
“Shall we?” he cooed, coming to stand beside me. As soon as Ma was out of sight, his demeanor snapped back to that of the General. The snake. We started towards the gym. Satisfaction seemed to radiate with every step he took.
As we approached the familiar reflective windows, my heart felt heavy. I had stormed out in such a rage the last time. He stopped and softly grabbed my arm, turning me towards him. I jerked away from the heat of his touch.
“Aren’t we going inside?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, but we need to talk first.” His expression was serious now. “I know I’ve been hard on you and perhaps caused more frustration than encouragement. This is a new situation for me as well. I usually train people to enhance an ability they can already channel. It’s been a bit of trial and error with you. I might have made some mistakes in my approach–”
“Just tell me what the plan is,” I interrupted him. The man truly loved rambling, or maybe he just loved the sound of his own voice. I couldn’t be sure.
“I need you to forget everything we’ve learned. Approach this with a fresh mind. Pay attention. Find your focus. That is the priority.” His eyes locked with mine. There was no trace of the General I had come to know. The face staring back at me was devoid of the mystery that usually drenched his features.
"I need you to trust me.” The intensity of his eyes made me want to believe him.
I paused, but eventually nodded. It’s not like I could change my mind now.
He turned towards the door.
“Find it,” he reminded me before pulling the handle and motioning for me to step inside.
This time, there was no hesitation. I walked straight past him and into the dimly lit gym. The door closed behind me. The General’s footsteps were slow, measured. I glanced towards our practice area and froze. A chill ran over my entire body as I made eye contact with the blue-eyed guard from the dam.
CHAPTER 16
The guard’seyes darted between the two of us. Confusion and shock twisted in my stomach as I spun to face the General.
His attention was on the guard behind me. The softened eyes from earlier were gone, replaced by a callous glare. A sickening smile formed on his lips. My vision blurred with a mix of betrayal and anger, and my stomach threatened to retch as I opened my mouth to speak.
I followed his movements as he walked ahead, separating me from the guard.
“It took quite a bit of research to find the connection between the two of you. But once I did, it all became clear.” The General turned slowly and gestured towards me. “I saw the way you reacted to him at the Compound. How intriguing, I thought. My mind went wild trying to imagine the circumstances in which you two would ever find yourselves in the same room.”
I was going to be sick.
“When they delivered your records to my door, Jeremiah, I spent hours rifling through them, noting an incident at the river. It seemed innocuous at first, until I realized all of the deceased justso happen to be Riftborne.” Heat rushed over my body. The sound of that name coming from his mouth made me want to vomit. The guard was paralyzed, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the General. He smiled even wider, nodding with recognition.
“I knew this was the connection, but I was still missing details. How badly I wanted to unravel this. It really is so much fun playing detective.” He shook his head, biting his lip.
I couldn’t think straight.
“Then I looked intoyourfile.” He turned to meet my eyes again. “The ones who died… they shared a group home with you. The House of Unity.” He gritted his teeth.
“So much clicked into place then. I understood. It was no surprise to me that the death of a few Riftborne would be swept under the rug. It happens all the time.”
I couldn’t breathe. My blood was boiling. I could feel my heartbeat radiating through my limbs.
“Fia, you were on the edge of the river, correct? With Osta. You both had to watch as your friends drowned.” He spun around to the guard whose face was now drained of color.
“Did you know that she saw you?”
The guard stumbled forward. “General, please, I think there must have been some kind of misunderstand–”
The General’s eyes went up in flames as he raised his hand, cutting off the guard. The pure power of his simple gesture reverberated through the room like a sound-wave.
