Chapter 74
***~Riley~***
The following week or two flew by without consequence. My attention was split between classes and missing Draven. He’d not been home since he left in the middle of the night to meet his sister. He did, however, send me texts throughout the period. Apparently ‘other’ matters came up and while I was annoyed by the vagueness in which he communicated I reminded myself that I had no real reason to be upset.
A reminder wasn’t enough to help me treat the entire scenario with grace. Especially not when his ex-fiancé kept glaring at me every time she saw me. I tried multiple times to smoothen things over with us, to let her know that whatever had happened between her and Draven wouldn’t inform my perception of her.
I wasn’t surprised that she stonewalled me every time. I, was, however, confused. Wasn’t their ‘engagement’ just an arranged plot? I could understand her feeling rejected when it seemed that Draven was the one against the union, but her dislike for me was a tad bit much. Wasn’t it?
“Talia, you spar with Riley.” Jacob’s voice brought me back to the present and I found myself moving to stand before Talia as everyone else moved to their sparing partners. I saw this as another opportunity to befriend her. We circled each other, both looking for an opening. Talia made the first manoeuvre and I side-stepped awkwardly, my feet tangled together and I tripped. Talia took the opportunity to slide in behind me, toppling me to the floor, her arms snaking around my neck. I clawed at her arms but the straining oxygen supply made me erratic.
“Talia, stop.” I breathed, hoping she’d listen to the strangled mess of my voice and loosen her grip.
“I don’t know what makes you so special to him,” she hissed against my ear, her hold on my neck tightening as she wrapped her legs around my stomach, coiling around me with a snake-like grip.
Fuck. I struggled against her, my sight blurring. We weren’t sparing anymore; this was a full-blown attack. One I should have anticipated. I don’t know how the hell I did it. Whether it was sheer luck or the adrenaline from the panic that set in, I broke free. Talia’s frustrated cry followed me as I crawled away, regaining my footing and turning to face her again. She was on her feet too, regarding me with contempt.
“Just so you know, I am not special.” My throat was scratchy and I marvelled and how difficult it was to speak. We circle each other again and this time I manoeuvred first, reaching a leg out and knocking her off balance. Talia landed on her ass with a scowl.
I lean down on my hunches and extend my hand to her, “I had him first you know.” A tear fell from her left eye and down her cheek and I inhaled a sharp breath. So, they were involved. I swallowed past the rising jealousy. I hadn’t known that. I had suspected it in the beginning but I was naïve to have believed it especially since Draven never denied a relationship with her.
“Doesn’t matter who’s first or second. I won’t be his last, he said so himself.” I say, a well of emotion flooding my chest. Would I feel this spiteful when I was forced to watch him with someone else? I didn’t like this feeling. That I was the sole cause of the pain in Talia.
Talia laughed. A humourless, eerie thing that raised my pores. “If you think that then you don’t know Draven.” She ignored my extended hand and rose on her own. I followed suit. “It’s a shame that I lost to someone who barely knows how to read his heart and emotions.”
Ouch. That comment struck the cord it was meant to. “No, I just prefer not to talk myself into a delusion.” I answer softly, certain that Talia and I could never be civil with each other. Her scars with Draven ran too deep and I was merely a reminder.
***
“Fuck. I am sorry.” Jacob was eying my neck. I knew there was a bruise from Talia’s hold, I saw a glimpse of it but it was nothing a few days with high necks or scarf couldn’t hide. “I didn’t think Talia had that much strength in her just yet.”
“It’ll fade in a few days, no worries.” I brush it off, not wanting to draw too much attention.
“I would prefer to keep my head, Riley and if Draven…” he sucked in a breath, eying my bruise as if his death sentence was concealed in the red blotches.
“I’ve noticed that everyone seems to fear him, I just didn’t think that extended to the instructors.” I grin, attempting to lighten the mood. Draven couldn’t be upset, the entire point of these classes was combat. I was bound to have a bruise or two.
“Girl, do you even know who you’ve caught the eye of?” amusement danced in Jacob’s eyes. Amusement and fear. For me or him? That was indiscernible.
“I haven’t caught the eye of anyone.” I answer immediately, nodding my goodbye before heading to my next class. I had an hour before it started but the room would be empty.
“Whoa,” Eli whistled as he saw me enter the room. “What in the hell happened to you, Riley?” that caused Fran to spin around, her gaze narrowing to my neck. The classroom was usually empty except for these two. Strange, since there was always so much animosity between them. I didn’t comment on it because I liked having them both around and I was waiting for the day they admitted their feelings.
“Making friends, I see.” He drawled, coming to stand behind Fran as she pressed her fingers to my skin.
“Shut up, Eli.” She snapped at him.
“It’s fine.” I shoo Fran’s hands away from me.
“Bruises like that don’t happen within the first four weeks, Riley.” She commented, moving away as per my wish. “Especially not with the level of training allowed to break in the new recruits.”
“I guess we got a bit overexcited.” I grin, setting my bag down. The last thing I needed was to talk about Talia. That conversation would open up topics that I couldn’t speak about.
“Uh-huh,” Fran glared at me and I held her gaze, Eli laughed behind us, obviously amused by the entire situation.
“I have a scarf, it’s best to cover it before everyone stops you to find out what happened or worse concoct a story for dramatization.” Fran muttered, leaving my side to rummage through her bag to find it. She took the knitted scarf and came over to me.
“I’ll help you wrap it to ensure everything is covered.” She offered.
“Thanks,” I smiled and she nodded. Fran draped the scarf around my neck, the two ends falling over my shoulders, she was about to work on wrapping it when her cell phone rang. “Shit,” she groaned, pulling her cell phone from her pocket.
“It’s my dad, I have to take this.” She said with an apologetic look but I shook my head.
“I can wait.” I assure her but Fran wasn’t having it, she narrowed her eyes on Eli.
“Make yourself useful and help her,” she commanded him as she exited the room.
“I have no idea how to do this,” Eli was next to me, eying the scarf as if it were some complex equation. “But she’ll have my head if I don’t try. She’ll also berate me if I do a poor job.” But he didn’t look scared, he seemed smitten.
“I can wrap it; I just need you to let me know if any of the marks are showing.” I say and he nods. I do my best without having the luxury of a mirror and when I was done, Eli attempted to pull at the fabric to cover the spots that peeked through.
“I really need to stop finding you like this.”
Eli and I turned to find Draven leaning up against the doorframe. My heart skipped several beats and my first instinct was run into him and wrap my arms around his neck but the blazing in his eyes halted me.