Chapter 94 Calm Raiden

Chapter 94 Calm Raiden
THE ACADEMY LIBRARY

The red dot on Delaney's laptop pulsed faster, casting a harsh light on everyone's faces.

"We have to go down there and kill it before it wakes up completely," Cassian ordered, his hands turning to stone,

"Nobody is going down there," a calm, deep voice echoed from the end of the dark aisle.

Twila turned her head quickly.

Raiden stepped slowly out of the shadows. He wore a plain black shirt and jeans instead of his usual combat gear. His hands weren’t sparking with lightning, and his eyes weren't with storm magic. He looked completely calm, and that scared Twila more than his anger ever did.

"What do you mean we aren't going down there, Raiden?" Levi asked, frowning at his best friend. "Delaney just found a monster buried under the school."

"Delaney didn't find anything," Raiden said quietly, stopping at the edge of the table. "Look at the magical signature on the screen, computer boy. Look at the heat wave sequence."

Delaney dropped his hands onto the keyboard, typing quickly to display the raw data. His black eyes scanned the complex numbers, and his face went pale.

"Fuck," Delaney whispered, slamming his laptop shut. "It's a feedback loop, the heat signature is artificial."

"It’s a trick," Raiden confirmed, glancing around the Squad. "There is no second door, and there is no buried monster. It's just a magical decoy."

"Who would plant a fake monster under the floor?" Island demanded, crossing her arms tightly.

"Grandmaster Orion," Twila breathed, the awful realization hitting her like a block of ice.

"Exactly," Raiden nodded slowly, his eyes cold and serious. "He wants us to panic, he wants us to waste our energy digging up a blank floor, or worse, to walk into a sealed room so he can trap us down there forever."

"I thought that crazy old bastard was gone," Neon groaned, rubbing his face. "I wished he would crawl into a hole and die from his rotting leg."

"He is still alive, Neon," Raiden said, his voice dropping low. "He is hiding outside the Academy wards, licking his wounds and playing mind games with us. We have to be ready because he could walk through those gates at any second."

Amorette shivered and grabbed Neon's arm tightly. "I am so sick of looking over my shoulder."

"We are not going to be victims anymore, Amorette," Nyx sneered from the bookshelf, playing with her knife. "If that old man shows his ugly face, I will scream his brain out of his skull."

Twila stood frozen by the desk. She suddenly realized she was leaning against Niles's chest.

Quickly, she stepped forward, putting space between herself and the vampire, her cheeks burning with guilt.

Raiden noticed her movement, his eyes tracked her distance from Niles. He didn’t yell or do anything, he just looked at Twila, and the heartbreak in his eyes felt incredibly heavy, making her want to drop to her knees and cry.

"Are you comfortable, Twila?" Raiden asked.

His voice was soft. There was no anger, just quiet sadness that shattered her heart.

"Raiden, please," Twila managed to say, her hands shaking.

Niles stepped back, putting his hands into his pockets, he respected the painful tension between them.

"I will check the perimeter wards," Raiden said calmly, ignoring Niles. "Levi, Cassian, come with me. We need to ensure Orion hasn't breached the outer walls."

"I'm coming too," Island declared, grabbing Cassian's arm.

"Me too," Nyx added, walking over to Levi.

Raiden turned and walked away without looking back. Cassian, Island, Levi, and Nyx followed him, leaving Twila alone with her brother, Amorette, and the vampire.

Twila couldn’t let him walk away like that. The disappointment in his voice was crushing her.

"I have to talk to him," Twila whispered, dropping her books on the desk.

"Twila," Niles said softly, his eyes filled with sadness. "Don't force it."

"Shut up, Niles," Twila cried, wiping a hot tear from her cheek. "Just leave me alone for now."

She ran down the aisle to chase after him

"Raiden, wait!" Twila called, her voice echoing against the walls.

Raiden stopped and told Cassian and Levi to go ahead without him. He turned around slowly, waiting for her to catch up. He shoved his hands into his jeans and leaned against the wall.

Twila stopped in front of him, panting heavily.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?" Twila sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Why aren't you throwing lightning or screaming at him? You just caught me leaning on him, Raiden!"

"Do you want me to yell at you, Twila?" Raiden asked quietly, his eyes searching her face.

"I want you to act like you care!" Twila shouted, hitting his chest with her small hands. "I want you to fight for me!"

Raiden didn’t flinch when she hit him. He gently grabbed her wrists to stop her hands.

"I am fighting for you, Psycho," Raiden whispered, his voice raw and full of emotion. "But I'm not going to fight over your body anymore. I won’t compete with a vampire."

Twila looked up at him, her eyes wide and confused.

"I don't want to force you to choose me out of fear," Raiden explained, a tear slipping from his eye. "If you’re starting to like him, if you feel safe leaning against him, throwing lightning at him won’t change your heart."

"I don’t love him, Raiden," Twila cried desperately, stepping closer to him.

"But you don't hate him anymore," Raiden pointed out, stating the truth.

Twila froze, she couldn’t lie to him. She had enjoyed the date at the arcade, and the mate bond made her feel drawn to the vampire's touch.

"I see how you look at him," Raiden said, stepping back to create distance. "You used to look at him like a monster. Now you just look confused."

"I am confused, Raiden!" Twila sobbed loudly. "The bond is messing with my head, and I can’t turn off these feelings!"

Raiden nodded slowly, wiping a tear from his cheek.

"I know it's the bond, Twila," he said in a quiet tone. "But I can’t compete with it. I can’t fight the universe."

"Please don’t walk away from me," Twila pleaded, grabbing the edge of his shirt.

"I am not walking away from you," Raiden promised, gently pulling her hand off his shirt. "I will protect you from Orion. I will protect you from whatever. But I won’t beg for your love, Twila."

Raiden looked right into her crying eyes.

"When the thirty days are over," he whispered, "you will have to make a choice. If you want him, go to him. But if you want me, you will have to prove it."

He turned and walked slowly down the hallway, leaving her alone.

Twila slid down the wall, pulling her knees against her chest as she cried.

The calm Storm King hurt a million times more than the angry one.

Before she could wipe her tear-streaked face, a dark shadow fell over her.

Twila looked up, expecting to see Niles coming to comfort her.

But it wasn’t the vampire.

Standing before her, cloaked in dark grey, was Grandmaster Orion.

"Hello, my beautiful weapon," Orion smiled.