Audible breathing on the other end of the line should probably be creepy, but it’s not. It’s a connection to Steel I’m desperate to hang on to. The last two months he’s been gone have been . . . hard.
I’ll only admit it to myself, and under duress I’ll deny it to my dying breath, but I miss him.
The frustrating part is that I can’t put my finger on what exactly I miss. Steel was a grade-A jerk to me ninety-five percent of the time. He pushed me and aggravated me and didn’t let me get away with anything. He never took it easy when we trained, and the tender moments we shared were few and far between. But since he left, I feel the hollowness inside more acutely. I’m over trying to figure out why.
My grip on the phone goes white-knuckle as the silence continues.
“If you’re not going to talk to me, please check in with your family. They’re worried sick about you.”
His parents and siblings haven’t heard from him since the day he rode off. The youngest twins seem to be taking Steel’s absence the hardest. They’ve practically adopted me as a surrogate sibling. I’ve even found them hiding in my dorm room a few times. They claimed they were making sure I hadn’t been devoured by monsters, but I knew better. They missed their older brother and were looking for some sort of connection to him. Unfortunately, they weren’t going to get what they needed fighting the dust bunnies under my bed.
Even though Steel and I had buried the hatchet—kinda . . . sorta—he probably wouldn’t be okay with them seeking me out. When it comes to his siblings, his protective instincts run deep, and who’s to say I don’t still have a target on my back?
“Steel, at least tell me if you’re okay,” I say. I don’t hold out much hope that he’ll respond, so when he does, my heart stutters.
“Em . . . I found her.”
I stop breathing.
There’s no mistaking who he’s talking about: Silver, his twin sister, thought to be deceased up until we learned she orchestrated the youngest Durands’ kidnapping to lure me into a trap. It didn’t work, but it was a close call. I still don’t know what the Forsaken want with me, but if the Nephilim from Seraph Academy hadn’t tracked us down that day, I have no doubt I’d be dead now.
Steel has been hunting her since the day he found out she was alive.
My lungs start to burn, reminding me I need oxygen. I drag in a ragged breath. “Tell me where you are, Steel. I’ll talk to Sable and she’ll send help. Please don’t do this alone.”
Steady, Emberly. He spooks easily.
I press a hand to the floor beneath me. The thought of Steel going up against his sister sends earthquakes of trepidation rolling through my body.
Silver isn’t your average Forsaken. She’s cunning and strong and somehow seems to have retained part of herself even after being possessed by a Fallen. She’s dangerous in a way I don’t fully understand.
Steel doesn’t want to admit it, but he needs help.
My fingers curl as the silence stretches and pulls. My nails scrape across the porcelain tiles as if dragged against a chalkboard.
“I have to.” And then the line goes dead.
I lower the phone from my ear, but my grip tightens until it snaps. I’ve broken the glass screen. A long fissure splinters its way from the bottom corner to the top.
I tap the screen and only feel a mild sense of relief that it’s still working. What I really want to do is yell in frustration, but I don’t want to wake Ash, so instead I simply squeeze my eyes shut and let my head fall back and bump into the wall.
Relief that Steel is still alive and safe wars with fury at his refusal to accept help. And although I’m glad he’s at least checking in with someone, he’s put me in an impossible position.
Now that I know he’s actually found Silver, I don’t know if I can keep this secret anymore.
The room brightens behind my shut lids, and I blink them open. Ash stands in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. The pink eye-mask she wears is pushed up on her head, keeping her hair off her forehead.
The girl gets epic bedhead when she’s too lazy to wrap her hair before sleeping, like tonight. The curls on one side of her head are squished flat against her scalp, while those on the other are fanned out in an afro. She’s rocking a half-mohawk that’s going to be a nightmare for her in the morning.
After shuffling a few steps forward into the bathroom, Ash catches sight of me folded in the corner. She tilts her head and draws her eyebrows together.
“You okay?” she croaks, her voice heavy with sleep.
Pressing my lips together, I shake my head before pushing to my feet. This weight is too heavy for me to bear alone.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter Two
“He just breathes into the phone? That’s very Stalker 101. He’s going to tarnish the family name with courting skills like that.”
“Something to share with the class, Mr. Durand?”
“Oh snap, bro. He just ‘Mr. Durand-ed’ you. You’re in trouble.”
Greyson levels his twin with a harsh glare before apologizing to Seth for interrupting his demonstration. But as soon as Seth goes back to showing the benefits of defensive sparring, Greyson’s interrogation resumes.
How long have we been communicating? Did Steel tell me not to tell them he was calling? Did I know where he was? How heavy was his breathing?
What made me think combat class was the perfect time to tell the twins about my midnight phone liaisons? Oh right, Ash wouldn’t let me keep the secret for a moment longer and forced my hand as soon as we ran into the brothers, which happened to be during mid-day training.
I scowl at her before quietly trying to answer Greyson’s questions. She returns my glare with narrowed eyes. She wasn’t happy I’d kept Steel’s calls a secret and had been very vocal about her opinions last night. I felt berated as well as defensive.
“He’s only spoken once,” I whisper-hiss back at Greyson, worried I’ll get called out as well. I hate having a class full of eyes on me. Greyson doesn’t share the same concerns.
“If he only talked once, how do you even know it was him?”
That was the question I was hoping to avoid, but knew I wouldn’t be able to.
“I could just . . . tell.”
Greyson’s mouth puckers and twists to the side as he considers my weak explanation. His gaze bounces around my face as if he’ll learn some truth in one of its contours. After a beat, he moves on without pressing me further on the subject. I hold in my sigh of relief.
“And when he did speak, he only said, ‘I found her’?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re sure he meant Silver?”
“Who else could he have meant?” I mean, really?
“Maybe he meant ‘her’ as in ‘the one,’” Sterling suggests with raised eyebrows. “Maybe he fell in love and wanted you to be the first to know.”
My heart skips a beat before resuming its normal pace. That doesn’t even make sense. Sterling needs to lay off the romance novels.
Ash discretely elbows Sterling in the ribs.
I shoot Sterling a deadpan stare. “Get real.”
Greyson is quiet for a blessed moment, his brow creasing as he thinks. “The only choice we have is to find him. He’s going to need our help.”