Chapter 23 23
RANDOM FACTS: Riven likes fun fairs because of the attention he usually gets. But none of that matters when he is with Claire.
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“Don’t trust him.” Cain had said as I walked back to him. His eyes didn’t leave Kael though he stayed speaking to me, “Keep him close. But don’t trust him. He’s nothing like… what we are. Trusting him gives the illusion that he can be understood. He can’t, okay, love? Be careful.”
It’s also probably why I feel so on edge.
All the hairs on the back of my neck stays standing as I think back to what Claire was signing. She said he had picked her from the Council place and brought her here to eat.
I think back to what Cain said. He had told me the matter was settled. So why was she there? And why was she still here if she was so uncomfortable with him?
And why won’t he stop staring at me?
Kael says nothing to me, and neither does Claire for the first ten minutes at least, but the tension pisses me off too much to stay still as I get up and demand that he takes both Claire and I out for a date.
He doesn’t know what the word is, something that has me almost snorting but he says nothing as I pull Claire along with me.
She follows me this time, though I can tell she’s still unsure if she should. For some reason, she turns back so she can look at him, but when she realizes he’s still behind us, she’s calmer.
I don’t like it. I don’t like how she keeps looking at him like they’re suddenly friendly with each other when he’s not the kind of person that she should be with in the first place.
He’s a terrifying person. And not good.
I pull her closer to me.
We go to a fun fair, a place I had wanted to go many times but was unsure of how to go about it.
Kael follows.
And it’s clear from the attention we draw that he is… handsome.
I… know first hand how good he looks. Like something that walked out of a dream. Smooth skin that glistened somehow, green eyes that looked like crystals, and long hair that he still kept in a bun. And how… powerful he looked.
He was so… large. And tall. Plus, he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up so people could see the runes and veins decorating each arm.
Maybe it was his pheromones that had them in such a tight grasp. I don't know. I couldn’t smell it. I was grateful that I couldn’t.
Claire starts to relax after I win a few games for her and we go on rides. She laughs and signs at me, content with her teddy and forgetting that she’s mad at me. Or that Kael is there.
He stays silent. Watching. Like a shadow.
But it doesn’t matter.
I forget that he's there.
For a few glorious hours, I actually forget.
Claire and I go from ride to ride, and she's laughing, really laughing, the kind that crinkles her eyes and makes her sign too fast for me to catch half of it. I don't care.
I laugh with her, let her drag me onto the spinning teacups even though they make my stomach want to escape through my throat, buy her a cloud of pink cotton candy so big it obscures her entire face.
She feeds me a piece of it and I pretend to hate it but I don't. It melts on my tongue like sugar and air and everything normal people get to have.
For a moment, I'm normal too.
For a moment, I'm just a boy at a fair with his friend, winning prizes and eating garbage and existing without the weight of everything pressing down on my chest.
Then we get off the Ferris wheel and I see him.
Kael is standing by the fence, his gaze only on me. Like he can’t see the people who keep gawking at him as if they’re only minutes away from riding him like a new carnival ride.
My stomach turns. I don’t know if it’s jealousy or fear— or maybe it’s both, but I turn to Claire, signing, “I think you should be on your way home, Doe,”
Her eyes grow rounder, and for a second, I’m sure she’s going to let out tears but before I can say anything, his voice calls out from behind me. “Here.”
I feel a shiver spread up my spine, my breath hitching slightly as I watch him hand over an extra large teddy bear. The largest ones. The ones no one ever actually wins.
Her eyes grow the biggest I’ve ever seen as she takes it from him— which is just fucking greedy because i won some for her as he says, “Rowan Draken waits for you at the entrance with your Mate.”
What?
Claire’s eyes move back and forth from him to me. I want to shake my head and tell her no… but deep down, I know I want her away from her. Away from him. “It’s fine. We… we can talk. You should… text. No. No. I will text. We… we need to talk anyway.”
The words feel jumbled as they pour out of my lips— probably because I know that she wants an explanation. Or an apology. And I’m not sure I want to give her the first but I can’t… I can’t keep her any longer.
Being with her like this even if it was for a short time felt like a load leaving my chest.
She nods, excited and I know even without an apology, I’m all forgiven for my sins. I smile at her, watching as she waves at him and starts to walk away.
I begin to follow her, ready to escort her at the very least before I feel a hand wrap around my wrist, pulling me back. “Do I not deserve a reward?”
Karl’s voice sinks into my skin like he’s whispering it right at my ear. My body responds instantly, every nerve in my body twisting before I turn to him, yanking my hand away. “You kidnapped my best friend.”
“I heard you both had a disagreement.”
“From your little spy, I'm sure. Look, I can’t fucking control shadows staring at me but a creepy bird—”
“I am far too weak to see you as much as I wish”
“Weak? You?”
He steps closer, and it hits me that he doesn’t know what personal space is, that we’re outside and I doubt he’s noticed we’re surrounded by hundreds of people and children as he says, “My thoughts… it circles over your image. Your smell. Your taste. All these… people here to feed from, but your soul calls to me the most.”
“W-wait— no—”
“Yes.” He’s only an inch away from me, his eyes glowing with something ancient and hungry— and I realize that I can smell his pheromones… and I only smell them when my desire for him is beginning to burn through my thoughts. “It aches to not gaze upon you. Or would it be better if I tell you that I would feed from every person here if you send me away?”
Find out who he is. You are the only person he will let get close. Take advantage of that.
Those are the words I tell myself as I begin to pull him away, ignoring the looks of the people around us.
We get to someplace quiet enough for me to pin him to the wall, his eyes following every move I make like he wants to miss nothing.
I wrap my hand around his neck. He tilts his head upwards, giving me more space to do as I desire. The sight has my stomach pulling, my breath hitching though I fight it as I say, “You can’t fucking threaten to eat everyone and think that I’ll—”
“Desire me? Am I yours to do as you wish, Riven?”
You are, a voice in my head snaps. It sounds like mine, but it's something else too— something possessive and raw and utterly terrifying because it's not wrong.
I’m too deep in my thoughts to realize that shadows suddenly swarming us and all of a second, I’m being pinned to the wall, my legs pulled apart with Kael… Kael on his knees.
I’m sure I’m going to pass out. The world already begins to darken on its edges as he says, “I can smell you. But this time, I wish to taste you.”
“No, no, Kael, someone is gonna—”
My protest dies in my throat because his mouth is on me. Not where I expect— not the obvious place that would have me actually passing out— but on the inside of my thigh, right through my jeans, his teeth grazing the denim like he can feel me through it.
I choke on air.
“Riven,” He starts, his eyes staying on me. “It will be best if you are quiet.”
No. No.
But I’m no longer trying to push him away.