Chapter 45 Help from nowhere
Chapter 045
RAVENNA
My cheeks flooded with red. Heat spread across my face so intensely I thought I might actually combust.
I sat there, dazed, unable to fully process what had just happened.
One minute Darius had been sweet— cosy even and almost romantic— whispering words about how beautiful I was, touching me like I mattered and looking at me like I was something precious.
And the next minute, he was back to his cold, ruthless self— pushing me away, mocking me and treating me like I was nothing.
At least he had pushed me onto the chair and not the ground. That would have been worse, considering I had stood up without my crutches.
My ankle was already throbbing from the brief moment of standing on it.
"Asshole," I muttered into the empty space.
But it was useless. Darius was already gone. And I was alone.
Suddenly, I felt vulnerable. Actually vulnerable in a way I had not felt since arriving at this academy. Sitting here in the dark injured and unable to move quickly if I needed to.
"Fucking little asshole. I wish you'd rot in hell!" I screamed cursing.
He was the reason I was in this pathetic state. I was crippled and powerless because of him.
Everything crashed down on me at once. The weight of it all became too much.
First, there was the hatred and rivalry I had to deal with. The constant battles with Darius both on the ice and in the classroom. The business seminar class we still had to complete. The unfinished speech hanging over our heads like a sword.
Then the rogues appeared. The attack at the gala. The accusation that I was somehow involved. The suspicion that followed me everywhere.
And now I was a cripple confined to crutches unable to ride my bike and defend myself properly. Now I'm forced to accept help from other people.
Nothing pained me more than being crippled. I hated being confined and not being able to do things on my own. Hated accepting help.
But that was the situation I was in now. And it was all because of Darius.
I broke down. The tears I'd been trying to hold since I fell on the chair now streamed down my face, lazily and unstoppable.
I wondered how I had gotten to this stage. How everything had spiralled so completely out of my control. One moment I was living my biker life, enjoying the freedom that comes with it and the next I was in an academy, facing off a hotheaded pompous alpha heir in a rivalry bullshit.
I was so lost in my crying that I did not notice the pair of eyes watching me from the path.
"Raven?"
I turned quickly, wiping my face with the back of my hand. Samantha and Dorian were standing there, both of them looking at me with pity in their eyes.
They must have stood there for long watching me cry if they'd had that pity look on their faces.
But I so much hated that look. I hated being pitied.
"Are you ready to go back to the room?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Yes," Samantha responded quietly. "If you are ready."
I grabbed my book and my crutches, positioning them under my arms. Samantha hurried to my side immediately, offering support.
"Are you alright?" Dorian asked, his voice gentle.
"I am fine."
He did not look convinced, but he did not push. He just walked with us back to the dormitory building, making sure we got there safely.
When we reached our doorstep, he stopped. "Goodnight, both of you. If you need anything, let me know."
"Thank you, Dorian," I managed.
He nodded and walked away, his hands shoved in his pockets.
Samantha helped me inside and closed the door behind us. Then she turned to me with concern written all over her face.
"Was Darius the reason you were crying?"
I nodded, unable to speak around the lump in my throat.
"What did he do?"
So I told her about finding him watching me and then him taking my book. I told her about the moment when he pulled me close and whispered those things and how I thought, for just a second, that maybe there was something real there.
And then about how he pushed me away, mocking and reminding me we were enemies.
"I felt so powerless," I whispered, my voice coming out shaking. "I could not fight back. I could not defend myself. I just had to stand there and take it."
Samantha's expression darkened with anger. "That bastard. Raven, you need to be careful. Do not fall for his charms. This is exactly what he does. He pulls you in and then pushes you away. It is a game to him."
"I know."
"Do you? Because it looked like you were starting to believe him."
"I was not believing anything," I protested weakly. But even I could hear the lie in my voice.
Samantha sighed and helped me to the bathroom. After I bathed, she sat me down on my bed and pulled out the herbal mixture the healers had given us.
She massaged my injured leg carefully, working the mixture into my skin.
"This is going to get better," she promised. "You are going to heal. And then you are going to make Darius pay for everything he has done to you."
"I know."
When she finished, I settled back onto my bed, exhausted emotionally and physically. I just wanted to sleep and forget this entire night had happened.
But then I noticed something. A white package sitting on my pillow.
"Sam?" I called out as I grabbed the package. "Is this yours?" I held it up.
She came over and looked at it. "No. That is not mine. I never ordered a package."
"How did it get in here then because I didn't order one too?"
"I have no idea. A delivery should not be inside our locked room. It should be outside the door."
My heart began beating rapidly. Samantha did too. I could see the panic rising in her eyes.
I grabbed the package with shaking hands and tore it open. Inside it was a CD.
"What is it?" Samantha breathed.
"I do not know. But there is only one way to find out."
We put the CD into my laptop and waited as it loaded. The screen stayed black for a long moment, and I almost thought it was blank.
Then the video began to play.
It was Richard Pike in what looked like a private office meeting with several men I did not recognize. They were discussing something in hushed tones, but the audio was clear enough to hear every word.
It was damning. Absolutely damning. The kind of evidence that could shake the foundations of his entire business empire.
"Oh my God," Samantha whispered. "This is... this is huge. This could destroy him."
"Who sent this to us?" I wondered aloud, my mind racing.
"I have no idea. But whoever it was, they knew what we were planning. They knew we were looking for dirt on Richard Pike."
"Which means they have access to our room," I pointed out, a chill running down my spine. "They got past our locks and left this here without us noticing."
"That is terrifying."
"Or it means we are safe," I countered, though I did not entirely believe it. "If they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it already. Instead, they gave us exactly what we needed."
Samantha looked at the screen, at the frozen image of Richard Pike making deals that would ruin him. "Whoever sent this is either helping us or setting us up."
"I guess we will find out at the gala."
We both stared at the laptop for a long moment, the weight of what we had just received settling over us.
Someone out there knew our plans, our secrets and had just handed us the weapon we needed to take down the Pike family.
The question was: why?