Page 138 of Lunar Diamonds
My teeth wouldn’t stop grinding, my anger on a permanent boil.
If he’d succeeded in taking Riley’s power, I… I…
I’d never forgive myself.
Erin had been right about Jonathon’s vanity. He loved writing about himself. There were notebooks filled with details of people he’d killed outside of Coldharbour, as well as a family in the city six months ago.
He wrote about the ritual to transfer power from Riley to him, and how he’d be seen as the world’s golden boy again afterwards.
There was no mention of the blue orb.
One paragraph drove guilt into me like an iron stake. It said that the soul bond between Riley and I had weakened Riley, making the ritual possible. Up until then, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it work.
Guilt chewed on my soul harder than ever. If it weren’t for me, Riley wouldn’t have come so close to death.
Our bond had broken because I’d been so close to dying. I’d felt it snap, dissolving into the ether. It left behind a stitch under my ribs. Faint but constant.
You’re free of me now…
We’d tested it to be sure.
“That didn’t last long,” was all Riley said before hugging me.
My heart fractured from the decision I had to make.
Riley and Isaac were going through a lot. The entire mansion was. And I sat with them all, listening, supporting, all the while struggling to continue with life here.
You’re free now, Riley Aurora.
And so was I.
Not from my feelings. They were sharper than ever, in full focus for The Moon. I wanted him so badly, to see where we could take our fast-burning relationship. To hold him again and again and again.
But I’d put him at risk by manipulating him into saving me from Rhianna.
How could I be in his life when I’d brought so much shit into it?
That’s what useless trash does…
Sat at the desk in my room, I tapped the end of a pen on the piece of paper, listening to the waves. Procrastinating at these agonizing crossroads.
Shit.
Chapter 44
RILEY
The next afternoon, my rabbit totem full of lunar diamonds, I practiced my new power in the gym.
Like the silver page said, Tidal Pull did work like telekinesis but with a pulling and pushing vibe, echoing the rolling tides.
I pulled a punching bag toward me then sent it hurtling across the room with a telekinetic shove. It slammed into the wall, whacking the gym mat with a hearty slap.
“Nice,” my brother proclaimed. “I’m jealous.”
This seemed to be my main power, with no daily limitations or recharges like the other. From my training, I gleaned that I always had to pull in order to push, but a pull didn’t have to be followed by pushing.
Weird. But whatever.
