Chapter 69 The Confession

Chapter 69 The Confession
JAXON

I walked out of the bathroom shamefully.

My legs were shaking. My hands were trembling. The primal urge that had consumed me was finally fading, leaving behind nothing but guilt and regret. I could still feel her skin beneath my fingers. Could still taste her lips on mine. Could still hear the way she'd whispered my name. Could still see the tears in her eyes when I'd finally pulled away.

What had I done?

I slipped through the shadows, moving faster than I'd ever moved before. The world blurred around me as I transmigrated, desperate to escape the scene of my crime. I needed to get back to my room. I needed to be alone. I needed to forget the look in Desiree's eyes when I'd finally pulled away.

The hostel appeared in front of me. I stumbled through the entrance, my body heavy, my mind reeling. The cold air hit my face, but I barely felt it. I was numb. Hollow. Empty.

Then I heard it.

A fluttering sound. Like bats. Hundreds of them.

I looked up. The statue at the entrance—a massive eagle with wings spread wide, its stone eyes gleaming in the moonlight—was moving. Its head was turning slowly, its stone eyes tracking my movements. The wings seemed to twitch, like they were about to take flight.

My internalized fear spoke to me in a voice that was cold and cruel.

\[You hurt her. You used her. You're no better than your father.'\]

"Shut up," I mused.

\[She'll never forgive you. She'll never want you again.\]

I closed my eyes. "I said shut up."

When I opened them, the statue was still again. The bats were gone. The silence was deafening.

I walked inside.



Jaden and Jett were both awake, sitting on their bunks like they'd been waiting for me. The lamp on the nightstand cast long shadows across the walls.

Jaden's wings were half-spread, tense and alert. Jett was fully solid, his silver eyes fixed on the door.

"Jaxon!" Jett said, his voice sharp with relief. "What's up? Where have you been? I thought you wanted to take a walk or something."

"I did," I said, my voice flat. "I took a walk. I'm back."

Jaden raised an eyebrow. "You look like hell."

"Thanks. I feel like it too."

Jaden laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Seriously, man. What happened? You've been gone for hours. We were starting to worry."

"I just needed some air."

"Air? At midnight? In Alaska?" Jett shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. It's freezing out there."

"Nothing makes any sense anymore," I muttered.

I collapsed onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. The wooden beams above me seemed to blur and shift. My brothers were talking, but I wasn't really listening. I heard words about the hot water not working, classes, girls, the food in the dining hall—but they floated past me like leaves on a river.

"The hot water in this place is terrible," Jaden was saying. "I tried to take a shower earlier and it was lukewarm at best."

"Lukewarm?" Jett snorted. "I'd kill for lukewarm. The water in our room is practically frozen."

"You're a ghost. You don't even feel temperature."

"I feel it. I just don't complain about it as much as you do."

"I don't complain. I make observations."

"You make complaints disguised as observations."

I heard them laughing, but the sound was distant. Muffled. Like I was underwater.

"Jaxon?" Jaden's voice cut through the fog. "Are you okay? You've been quiet for a while."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I said I'm fine."

Jaden and Jett exchanged glances. I could feel their concern, their confusion, their growing suspicion.

"Jaxon," Jett said slowly, "did something happen? Did you see Desiree?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't. The words were stuck in my throat.

"Jaxon." Jaden's voice was sharp now, demanding. "What did you do?"

I laughed. It was hollow, bitter, crazy. "What did I do? What didn't I do?"

"Jaxon, I'm not joking. Tell us what happened."

I sat up, my hands shaking. "I was with her. Desiree. I went to her room. Her bathroom, actually. I slipped through the shadows and found her. I talked to her. I kissed her. And then I—"

I stopped. The words wouldn't come.

"You what?" Jett asked, his voice barely a whisper.

I closed my eyes. "I disvirgined her."

Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence.

Then Jaden exploded.

"YOU WHAT?"

"I said I disvirgined her. I took her. I claimed her. I—"

"YOU BETRAYED US!"

Jaden lunged at me, his wings spreading wide. His face was twisted with rage, his eyes blazing with fury I'd never seen before.

"JADEN!" Jett grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Calm down!"

"Calm down? He just admitted to—to—"

"I know what he admitted to!"

Jett turned to me, his silver eyes cold and accusing. "Jaxon, why? Why would you do that? Why would you do that to her? To us?"

"I didn't mean to," I said. "I lost control. My succubus side took over."

"Your succubus side?" Jaden laughed, but it was bitter and broken. "You're blaming the succubus? That's your excuse?"

"It's not an excuse. It's the truth."

"The truth is you're a selfish, impulsive—"

"JADEN!" Jett's voice cut through the room like a blade. "Enough. Fighting isn't going to fix anything."

But Jaden wasn't done. He shoved Jett aside, hard, and grabbed my collar. His face was inches from mine, his breath hot with rage.

"We had an agreement," he snarled. "We were supposed to wait. We were supposed to do this together. And you—you just—"

"I know."

"Do you? Do you have any idea what you've done? You've ruined everything. We were supposed to be together. All four of us. You robbed us of that. And I knew you weren't gentle with her. She will never trust us again."

"Jaden—"

"I should kill you."

"Then do it."

Jaden's fist connected with my jaw. The impact sent me sprawling across the floor. I didn't fight back. I didn't even try.

Jett was between us in an instant, his ghost form flickering. "Stop! Both of you! This isn't who we are!"

"Stay out of this," Jaden snarled.

"No. I won't. We're brothers. We don't fight like this. We don't tear each other apart."

Jaden's breath was ragged. His knuckles were bruised. "He betrayed us, Jett. He betrayed all of us. He took something that wasn't his to take."

Jett turned to me, his expression unreadable. "Did you?"

I met his eyes. "Yes."

Jett's face crumpled. The betrayal was written in every line of his body, in the way his hands trembled, in the way his form flickered.

"I trusted you," he said softly. "We both trusted you."

"I know."

"I thought—I thought we were a team. I thought we were in this together."

"We are."

"Are we?" He laughed, but it was hollow, broken. "Because this doesn't feel like a team. This feels like you doing whatever you want and expecting us to just accept it."

"Jett—"

"Don't." He stepped back. "Just don't."

The silence was suffocating. Jaden was still breathing heavily, his fists clenched at his sides. Jett was staring at the floor, his shoulders shaking.

I felt the weight of their disappointment pressing down on me.

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "I know that doesn't fix anything. I know it doesn't change what I did. But I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Fuck off!!" Jaden mused, turning away, his wings folding tightly against his back.

I lay on the floor, with a smirk on my face, unaware of what was coming the next day.