Chapter 74: Stop Lying To Me - Callista's POV

My throat went dry as my stomach twisted into knots. I shut my eyes as my thoughts spiraled. The door opened, creaking as it was pushed.

Riven stood in the doorway, his eyes locking with mine. I took him in. He was dressed too, with his bag slung over his shoulder. “It looks like plans have changed.”

“Yes, it has,” I mumbled. “What do you think he wants?”

“I don’t know,” Riven whispered. “It could be anything.”

He jerked as footsteps thundered down the hallway. Our parents were in my doorway, right behind him the next second.

“You have to go back to him?” Alpha Nightshade said. “I just got the message that your presence was requested. What happened to Friday evening?”

“We don’t know,” I said when I saw Riven suck in a breath. His eyes were wide with panic. Something told me he might know more, but I wasn’t going to out him in front of our parents. “We’ll find out, though.”

Riven looked at me then, his gaze narrowing. “Right. We’re going now and then if we can, we’ll go to the academy after. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I nodded, though my stomach was twisting tighter and tighter with every passing second. The Alpha King’s summons was never “nothing”. The quiet tension between Riven and I vibrated in the air. I knew our parents were picking up on it, but I hoped they mistook it for nervousness. To me, it felt like a thin thread that was about to snap.

Our bond pulsed, reminding me that Riven and I were in it together. Yet, at the same time, I remembered the demon’s words. I wouldn’t know if it was Riven or him.

“Go, then,” my father said, his voice low. “Keep your phones on you and report back. Go to the academy if you can. I don’t want this affecting your studies.”

“We will.”

We moved quickly through the house, the sound of our parents’ footsteps following behind. Riven grabbed his keys from the counter. I was glad it was him driving, because my hands were shaking and unreliable. When he reached the door, his jaw was tight and ticking.

We said our goodbyes and went to his car, both of us sliding in silent. The drive was quiet as well. Neither of us seemed to be able to come up with anything to say. Even outside was muted. I kept my hands on my bag in my lap, my knuckles whitening.

“Do you think…he’ll be angry?” I finally whispered, not sure I wanted an answer to that.

Riven didn’t even look at me. His hands gripped the wheel tighter. “He’s always intense, but we can handle this together.”

Together. It was such a funny word as I thought about last night again. “The demon is bonded to me too, isn’t he?”

Riven’s eyes widened as he sucked in a breath. “What makes you say that?”

“I felt him, Riven,” I said, turning to look at him fully. “There is a coldness right next to the warmth of our bond. That’s him, isn’t it?”

Riven shook his head, still not tearing his gaze from the road. “Do we have to do this now?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “I need to know what in the world is going on.”

The bond throbbed faintly. Warmth spread through me, as if the bond was trying to reassure me that it was real, but the coldness I felt last night was there, right beside it. It intermingled around it, demanding that I pay attention to it.

“No, he’s not—”

“Don’t lie to me,” I demanded. “You are going to tell me the truth. After hearing all that last night, I deserved to know the boy I’m bonded to.”

Riven’s jaw tightened. I could see conflict flicker across his face like a shadow passing across the sun. His hands clenched the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles pale against the leather. The hum of the engine and the sound of the tires against the road filled the silence, yet it was suffocating.

“I…Callista,” he began, his voice low and hesitant. “There’s…more to this than I can explain right now. It’s not that I don’t want to, but it’s…complicated.”

I leaned slightly toward him, over the center console. “Complicated?” I echoed. “Riven, I can feel him right next to the bond. There is something there and you can’t pretend it’s not real. We are sixteen with a bond that shouldn’t even be happening right now, so it’s time you were real with me.”

His eyes flicked to me briefly, haunted and almost pleading. “It’s not pretending,” he said finally, his voice rough. “It’s just… it’s hard to explain without…without scaring you.”

I swallowed hard, gripping the edge of my seat. “Well, I can handle it and deal with whatever it is. But you can’t keep hiding things from me, because it’s going to come out.” The bond pulsed again, almost like it was echoing my plea. The coldness lingered there too, like ice curling at the edges of the warmth. I flinched as it pushed against the bond.

Riven exhaled, long and ragged, like he was trying to push away something invisible. “He’s not bound to you,” he said, swallowing hard. “It’s just me.”

My gaze narrowed on his face. “So, the coldness I feel is you as well?”

He looked at me, his eyes wide with panic. I was almost certain he was lying to me. “Yes. It’s all me. Only me.”

Heat rose into my cheeks. My eyes blurred with tears as I heard those words. Something about the way he said them, so soft and hesitant, told me what I needed to know. He was lying to me, even when I demanded the truth. We were supposed to be in this together and yet here he was, not really being with me at this moment.

“So, you’re choosing to lie to me when I can’t do this half-blind. We’re supposed to be in this together,” I whispered, then looked away as tears poured down my face.

“You think I’m lying?” He asked, his voice sounding more sure now. “Callista, you are only tied to me, okay? I’m your mate.”

I shook my head, uncertain if I should believe him or not. The coldness coiled around my heart, becoming tighter and tighter.

Riven’s voice trembled slightly, but there was a firmness underneath it, like he was holding onto a fragile truth with all his strength. “Callista… I’m not lying about being your mate. But there’s…there’s other things. Complications. Things I can’t explain while we’re driving.”

I swallowed against the lump in my throat, my chest tightening so much I could barely breathe. The bond throbbed in response, the warmth rushing to meet the coldness, but the chill didn’t vanish. Instead, it lingered, pressing at the edges, sharp and demanding. My hands gripped my bag so tightly I thought I might crush it. “Then… then you need to tell me. I can’t ignore it, not anymore.”

Riven’s eyes flicked to me again, and for a long moment, he said nothing. The silence should be comforting and in most cases, it would be, but it only made the tension more suffocating.

“I…” he started, his voice low, almost swallowed by the car’s interior, “there are things about me… things about us… that you wouldn’t understand right now.”

I clenched my jaw, heat rising to my cheeks. “Try me. I have to understand. We’re tied together, Riven. The bond doesn’t give you the right to keep me in the dark.”