Page 21 of Crime & Punishment
My fists clench at my side, the helplessness of it all boring through my core. Here in the world of Great Falls Academy, River can do as he wishes. No matter what I say, the moment I’m gone, he can take his tension out on my males. Onthemales—not mine anymore, not here. “And are you going to hurt Coal while you’re at it too? Maybe give him another scar or two, since he doesn’t have enough?” I swallow, choosing my last words to the male before I walk out of the Academy. “What the bloody hell happened to you?”
In the ensuing silence, I listen to the ringing of my own words, each hitting River’s chest as hard as it hits mine.
You happened, Lera. You did this.
Under the heavy weight of River’s beautiful, achingly familiar gaze, the truth unfurls so painfully in my gut that I can’t breathe.
When you broke that rune. When the quint split up.
Stars,I’ve been so focused on how the males’ aloofness stings my heart and hinders the mission that I’ve given little thought to what the separation might be doing tothem. Shade losing time. Coal sinking back into nightmares he can never escape, because he knows nothing of the truth. Tye, the highest caliber of immortal athlete, slipping on a simple bar. And River, the weight of the world still on his shoulders, trying desperately to hold things together—never realizing that it’s the quint he truly commands, not an Academy of human nobles that has existed without him for centuries.
If anyone has a chance of helping the males now, it’s a weaver. Me. And yet here I am, plotting my escape just when things are getting hard. Autumn might hold more answers than River right now, but leaving the males—already under the assault of the veil amulets—is too high a price to pay. They might notfeelthe quint’s magic, but it still takes a toll on their bodies and souls. A strain that will grow tenfold if we are apart.Stars take me.Quints don’t do well apart. I draw a shaking breath. In one frozen moment, I regret it all—my brash anger, lashing out at River in front of his subordinates and students. Even if I wanted to stay, it might now be too late. “River—”
“No.” The iron control River has held on to since our conversation started cracks to flaming ire. “You’ve stepped too far.” He snarls, releasing my arm, the loss of the connection hurting more than the grip did. River’s chest heaves, his nostrils flaring with short harsh puffs of air. “I suggest you make a very fast decision, Lady Leralynn of Osprey. You will either shut your mouth, go to the stables and ride the hell out of my Academy, or you will go to my study and experience firsthand the very discipline you find so objectionable.”
I halt, suddenly finding myself on the edge of a precipice I’d not realized I was climbing. River is serious. River,Riveris threatening to strike me. Naming the one cost that scares me to my core. Zake’s whip isn’t so far in my past that I don’t still feel it in vivid, excruciating color. If River does this, it will be his face I see in my nightmares. I swallow the bile already rising up my throat, together with the pleas I know Zake wanted from me and never got.
River snorts, reading my face. “That’s what I thought.” There is nothing kind, nothing understanding in his voice. “Get out.”
“No. I mean—” My hand closes around the fabric of my tunic, my voice hitching despite my best effort to still it. No, I won’t beg that River do something else,anythingelse. I’ll do what I’ve always done. I’ll survive. “I’ll accept the punishment for the disk, and whatever you intended for Coal too. But leave Coal be and don’t charge Tye with theft—he truly did nothing. Does that sound fair?”
“What?” River blinks. “No.”
“But—”
“I don’twantyou here.” The male’s shoulders spread like wings, his square jaw clenching with impatience.
A shudder runs through me, and for the first time, I have trouble meeting River’s eyes. “I thought it was Academy policy that cadets must self-select to leave,” I whisper. “Was I misinformed?”
“No. You were not.” River’s words are clipped, something between speech and a snarl.
“Then I am not withdrawing. So you must keep me on your books, by your own rules.” I speak on a single breath, fearing I’ll lose my nerve if I stop. “You can’t punish both Tye and me for stealing the same disk now, can you? And as for Coal, he thought I’d already quit the Academy before bedding me, so you can lay the entire blame at my feet.” I swallow. “If you want someone to break, breakme.Takeme.Not them. Please.”
This time, the silence settling around us is so loud, I feel as though the deep boom of a phantom gong vibrates through the room.
“I accept your terms,” River says, his voice slicing into me like a knife. “Come with me, Cadet.”
18
River
Good stars.River turned to the door faster than dignity dictated, but he needed to get outside. Away from Leralynn’s intoxicating lilac scent, which, together with River’s own fear and fury, made thinking impossible. The girl didn’t understand how River’s heart stopped when she claimed ownership of that damn disk. With Princess Katita in the room no less. A disk with symbols that could only be of the fae, that would have had a noose around Leralynn’s neck so quickly, she’d not have a chance to yell at the executioner.
A fierce, great-hearted, idiotically brave life snuffed out in a single snap. Like Diana’s.
Diana. Yes, her similarity to Diana had to be the reason Leralynn was getting under River’s skin, rousing every protective instinct he had. River reallyneeded to quit mixing up a new beautiful auburn-hairedcadetwith the soul mate he’d lost.
River’s fist tightened, a growl rumbling through his chest. Speaking of cadets, what the bloody hell was the girl thinking, not just going nose to nose with him, but doing it in front of an audience? How did she imagine the conversation could end? It was bad enough that Lera challenged River’s authority; she’d said things he couldn’t now ignore. As for how Lera had gotten hold of the disk in the first place, River dared not ask and hoped to hell she would not offer. These were dangerous times. Perhaps the damn thing had found her the same way it had found him, appearing one day in a locked drawer, calling to him with its preciousness.
Inhaling the crisp evening breeze, River savored its post-rain sweetness as he listened to the quiet squish and splat his boots made on the puddled cobblestones—though Lera’s light steps barely made a sound behind him, as if she knew precisely where to place her feet. In the lateness of the evening, most of the students and staff were indoors, the windows alight with lanterns and candles. Turning right, River chose the longest available path to the keep, giving Lera time to think.
The fear pulsating from Lera was so strong that River could scent it from several paces away, its tang making him queasy. With each step, River waited for the girl treading miserably behind him to change her mind, to stalk for the stable, to stammer explanations, to accidentally fall and twist her ankle so she could run and hide behind Shade’s infirmary wall. Except she didn’t. Leralynn was terrified and was keeping pace with River as surely as any warrior in a battle.
Yes, behind that small, exhausted body, heart-wrenchingly beautiful face, and chocolate eyes, Leralynn hid a will that would best a general. Unfortunately, her understanding of the dangers surrounding her fell far short of her courage.
Inside the keep, River led the way up the winding stairs to his study in the southern tower, notched archer’s windows at every turn letting in cold blasts of night air. He opened the door to let Lera precede him inside. As she did, the girl wrapped her arms around her breasts, the slight rise of shirtsleeves showing a shadow of bruises on her right wrist. A dusting of fingerprints, no more. Except that they were prints River had left. On a woman who looked and acted—and, stars take him, smelled—so like Diana that River still could not draw a full breath when in her company.
The door closed behind them with a final bang that River was not ready for, trapping them in the suddenly claustrophobic room. The fire River had finally gotten around to lighting a few hours ago still crackled softly. Now, Leralynn’s delicate scent of lilac and fear filled up every inch of air, and River didn’t know if he’d rather drown in it or open a window. He needed more time to think, to work his way out of this mess that threatened to take his soul and everyone else’s with it.
