Page 84 of Validus Vale Academy 1
I send it off with a whoosh. Stage one is complete.
Stage two questions are about all the men in my life. In just a couple of weeks, I’ve begun to fall for both Ludo and Alexis, which was crazy. I’d arrived at Validus Vale with absolutely no interest in relationships. I simply wanted to keep my head down and not get hurt again. But then I found out the twins had disappeared, and my belief in love came flooding back, the icy fortress around my heart instantly melting. “The problem is,” I tell roly-poly, who is now hanging out by a peeling patch of baseboard. “I’m greedy. I can’t bring myself to distance myselffrom Ludo or Alexis, and before you say anything, I know that’s not fair to Wes and Donovan.” I reach for an elastic and braid my hair. “What would they think of it all, you ask? That’s the crux of the problem, Roly. I don’t have a clue.”
Our six weeks together had been enough time to fall in love, but not enough to know the ins and outs of each other’s psyches. Gods, everything was happening so fast.
Where are you, guys? I NEED you.
Huh. Maybe if I concentrate really hard, I could send my own thoughts out into the ether. Maybe, just maybe, a stray strand of my mind could brush up against theirs, and it would help us all find each other.
Slowly braiding my hair, I begin a mantra over and over in my head.
—Where are you?/please hear me/I love you—
I sense nothing.
But that doesn’t mean I give up. Maybe Alexis will know a way I could enhance my mental abilities? There must be something, a hideous potion? I’ll drink it. A crystal implanted in my brain? I’ll do it.
There really aren't any lengths I won’t go to.
I lace up my high tops and then run up the stairs. First breakfast and then I’ll see about that crystal implant, or whatever.
37
Holy hell, can my life get any worse?
I’d spent all of yesterday in Havengard City, following Jordan around designer dress shops like a fucking lap dog. This wasnotwhat I needed to be doing at the moment.
My mind flits back to the little dud who dresses like a hobo circus clown; I’d bet she’d have been grateful for the first thing I picked out.
Little Dud. I pick up my phone to order her to my penthouse, but then remember she’s no longer under my control. Godsdamn it. Anyway, if Jordan saw her, it'd be a whole scene. This is ridiculous.
I throw my phone on the counter and feel pissed, through and through. Feniks and the little dud owe me a report. I’d agreed to work together, but in reality, they were working for me. I’m not a team player.
Why the hell did I agree to releasing the little dud from my mark?
Since finding Wes and Donovan is the top priority, I remind myself. The next most important thing is getting out of this fucking ‘relationship’ with Jordan, but that would have to wait. Un-fucking-fortunately.
Gods, I’m so fucking depressed. All the opulence and luxury of this penthouse doesn’t make up one iota for my lack of freedom, nope, not in the slightest. Looking out of the window and over the meticulously manicured grounds, I watch the peacocks peck at some gravel, their vibrant tails not making up for their clipped wings.I know the feeling.
At least my personal space is slightly more tolerable now that Manu has quit school (I didn’t see that coming). And Troy just needed a little physical persuasion to move out. The Farringtons must struggle to hold their heads up in my father’s organization with such an embarrassingly weak son.
But still, this place is a gilded cage.
I let my gaze lift to a series of pinholes, in the shape of a dick, high up on the wall, just below the cornice molding. The twins had invented a game, shooting puffs of air from their fingers, as sharp and narrow as darts. I didn’t want my walls looking scarred and messed up, so they chose an unobtrusive spot as their target, thinking I’d never notice.
Idiots. They should have known me better. I’m fucking observant.
They’d driven me crazy with their inanity, but still I’d loved them. Love them.
And they knew when to be serious. They’d been in full earnest when they’d made a pact to help free me from my family. Anger crawls across my skin; they’d broken their word. Left me.
But was that really true?
“She’s a penniless dud. Get your fucking brains out of your dicks and see she’s just like the rest of them. In it for your money and your power.”
Wes had curled his fingers into fists.
“There’s a choice here for you, Cosmo,” Donovan had replied in a cold voice. A tone I’d never heard from him before. “To keep us, you accept Theo. It’s that simple.”
