Page 88 of Break the Ice
The falsity twists in my gut with another silent retch.
“When?” Obviously, he noticed that the self-inflicted cut is scabbed over angrily from all the times I’ve picked at it since.
“A while back.”
Matheo and Auguste barrel into the showers behind us, making more noise than I can bear. At least it cuts the interrogation from Jayden short so that I can get myself out of here as quickly as possible.
It takes me longer than usual to throw my clothes on. Every time I move, my neck screams in agony while my head gets one jerk closer to blowing. One loud laugh nearer to overload.
“Hey, Elijah,” one of the interns for the PR team meets me as I leave the locker room. From the pinched expression on her face, I’d say news of my incident on the ice has reached the administration offices. “Reception handed this to me,” she offers me an A4 manilla envelope with nothing other than my full name stamped across it in block capitals.
“Thanks,umm…” When I glance at her as a way of apology for not knowing her name, I find her watching me as though she’s afraid I’ll drop dead in front of her.
“You can call me Cecilia, or my friends call me Cece.” After a silent beat, she adds, “Not that we’re friends. God, no… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”
“It’s okay,” I stop her rambling before it’s the reason I do die in front of her.
Her saving grace right now is that the tunnel like corridor leading out of the changing room is dark, and about the only place where I’m not being assaulted by light or overstimulated by the racket of the other guys talking about their Thanksgiving plans.
“My boss calls me Intern Four,” she whispers, taking a step back when I tear the envelope open. “You can call me that, too.”
“Thank you, Cecilia.” I hold up the envelope like a token of my thanks.
“You’re welcome.” Backing away, she gives me a top to toe inspection before she tells me, “I hope you get better soon.”
“Thanks.”
I lean into the wall, pulling the contents of the envelope out as she walks away with a wave. “Happy Thanksgiving, Elijah.”
As I look down at my hands, my heart stops dead in its tracks. The world tips on its axis, turning everything on its head.
Bile burns up my throat as a sickening retch pulls from deep in my gut.
“Fuck, Eli,” Jayden’s frantic voice pounds my ear drums. “You can’t leave like this.”
The fussing spurs the retching as I attempt to tell him to stop. To leave me be. But his panic is so wild, it’s smothering me.
“Jayden,” I murmur, trying to get him to pause. He doesn’t, though, instead he’s trying to lead me back into the locker room. “Stop!”
My voice echoes through the tunnel, ricocheting from the wall, back to me as he freezes.
“You’re making it worse,” I finally tell him.
I hate the helpless expression on his face. More than that, I hate that I put it there.
“What can I do to make it better?” He whispers.
I clumsily slip the photos back into the envelope and roll it up like that’ll make them go away. Maybe for now it does, until my head isn’t screaming and I can think straight. Because The Fellowship wouldn’t be so stupid to pull this off again after last night. I don’t trust them, but I know how they work. The Elders, my father wouldn’t risk everything they’ve built. Finley and I aren’t that important.
“Take me home. I need to go home.”
“But you’re not well, Eli.”
My vision is threading at the edges as I nod at him, “It’s a migraine, Jayden. The sooner I rest, the sooner I’ll be better.”
“Okay.” Taking my gym bag from my shoulder, he focuses on the envelope clutched in my hand. “What’s that?”
“Photos.” I swallow down the churn that burns up my sternum, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other while we head out to his iX.
