Chapter 53: It's getting stronger - Callista's POV

I pulled back slightly, glancing into his eyes. “We don’t know that you need to for certain. Not yet.”

“The demon is getting stronger every day, Callista,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “You saw it the other night how bad it can get. That’s not the worst it will do. I’m cursed. Without his training and without whatever he’s offering, I’m—”

“We don’t know if his help is actually help,” I interrupted. “It could be something much worse. That’s why we need information, Riven. Real information. Not just what we think or what he told us.”

Riven pulled me in closer, which I wasn’t expecting. My face pressed into his chest while he held me. “Do you really think they’ll have anything at school that will change what I know we need to do?”

I groaned. “Well, I don’t know, but sitting around waiting for a deadline isn’t going to give us answers.”

For a moment, we just held each other. I enjoyed his warmth more than anything else.

“We have to get dressed,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re right. We do,” I said, pulling back slightly. “We have three days. Let’s use at least one of them to see if there’s another option. If we come up empty, then fine. We’ll accept his deal.”

He studied my face, then slowly nodded. "Okay. We try. But Callista—" his voice dropped even lower, "—if we don't find anything, if this is just wasting time while the demon gets stronger—"

"Then we'll deal with it," I said firmly. "I can still bring you back.”

“For now,” Riven murmured.

A car horn honked outside. That must be Tyler getting impatient as he waited for Sabine.

"We should get ready," I said, stepping back. "Twenty minutes?"

"Twenty minutes," he agreed, leaning down to gently peck me on the lips.

I slipped out of his room and into mine, closing the door softly. My heart was racing, but not from fear. This time, it was with determination. There had to be something we were missing, some piece of information that would help us understand what was really going on.

And if we couldn't find it at school, then at least we'd have tried.

I got ready quickly, pulling on my blue and silver uniform and fixing my hair into a ponytail. Through the wall, I could hear Riven moving around, getting dressed. There was a thump, another two thumps. Then silence.

Probably his shoes.

The normalcy of it felt surreal against everything else. By the time I went downstairs, Sabine was already gone. My parents and Riven’s were sitting in the dining room, their voices low and tense as they discussed something.

Riven appeared a moment later, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” I said, turning to look back at our parents.

We said our quick goodbyes to our parents, promised again to check in regularly, and headed out to his car. The moment we were inside with the doors closed, the tension we both felt released.

“Okay,” I said, buckling my seatbelt. “So, here is what I’m thinking. We can split up during lunch. That way we can cover more ground. I’ll talk to Kalley and some of the other girls. You can talk to the guys, especially the ones who challenged you at the ceremony.”

Riven started the car, his eyes widening. “You can’t be serious? They’re not going to talk to me after what I did to them.”

“But…they may have overheard something from their fathers,” I whispered as he backed out of the driveway.

“As much as I love the idea that they have, they’re not going to talk to me,” he said, chuckling low under his breath. “I beat them to a pulp.”

“They probably challenged you, thinking they could win,” I said quickly. “Or maybe because their fathers are close to the Alpha King.”

He almost stopped the car at that, then shook his head. “No, they won’t talk to me. It’s like an unspoken alpha heir code. If you’re beaten in a fight over a woman, they won’t ever help you, and if they do, it’s only they can benefit later.”

I groaned again, frustrated at how reluctant he was. “What could they benefit from you later?”

“Our children,” he said in a low voice.

“Why are you thinking about children at a time like this?”

He laughed, and looked out the window on his side, but only briefly. “They may have a daughter or a son. Could be fated…or arranged.”

I scoffed. “Like you’d let your future child be in an arranged mating. I need you to get serious.”

"I am serious," he said, his tone shifting back to business. "But you're right. I'll try talking to them, even if it's awkward. Maybe I can use the mate bond as an excuse and say I'm trying to make sure this decision is right for both of us."

"Good. And I'll work the angle that I'm worried about you, trying to gather information to protect my mate." I paused. "Which isn't even a lie."

"None of this is a lie," he said quietly. "We really are trying to figure out if this is the right choice."

We drove in silence for a few minutes, the school coming into view ahead. Students were already streaming through the front doors, backpacks slung over their shoulders and groups clustering together before the first bell.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Riven asked as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Anything about the Alpha King. His history, his patterns, and why he might need you specifically." I watched other students walking past. "And anything about his son. Maybe our books mention the demons, but don’t say that specifically. There has to be something somewhere. There’s no way he covered up all the other cases completely, nor could the ones before him.”

Riven found a parking spot near the back. “What if someone asks why we’re so interested in the Alpha King? Won’t that look suspicious?”

“Our history project is about his territorial expansion, or rather one of the previous Alpha Kings. No one is going to suspect a thing.”

Riven found a parking spot near the back. "What if someone asks why we're suddenly so interested in the Alpha King? Won't that look suspicious?"

He nodded slowly, then reached over and took my hand. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked, my voice tense.

“For not giving up on me and for trying to find another way, even when it feels impossible.” His thumb traced circles on my palm. “I know accepting the offer seems like the obvious choice, but—”

“But we’re not making choices based on fear,” I finished. “We’re going to make them based on facts, if possible.”

We got out of the car and headed to the school. The moment we walked through the door, all eyes were on eyes, followed by whispers. Word must have spread about our meeting with the Alpha King.

Perfect. That meant people were already talking.

“So, lunch we split up?” Riven asked as we reached our lockers.

“Yes, and if it’s too awkward—”

He gave me a wry smile. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to them, even if they hate me. Wounded pride makes males talk sometimes.”

I had to admit that he had a point.

Kalley appeared almost immediately, grabbing my arm. "Oh my god, you're actually here. I heard about the Alpha King. Is it true? Did he really summon you and Riven?"