Page 168 of Rebellious Royals

But Rose chuckled, gesturing to the side where Ms. Rhodes' door was closed. "This way, young lady. And I do have some power myself, Torian. We've got this."

I nodded to show I'd heard, but waited until Rose actually had a grip on Isla. Then I spun, making my way back into the hall. My feet turned the way they knew, carrying me on autopilot. Yes, I probably should've told Ms. Rhodes what Isla had said. I would definitely check in with her later, but right now, I just really needed to walk.

For a brief moment, I'd thought things were different. For a second, I'd convinced myself everything was going to be ok. I'd lied - to me! I wasn't ever going to be allowed to find happiness. No, I'd have to watch everyone around me figure it out, but as long as I was caught in the middle of a war between seasons, I was the one and only thing that could bring it all crashing down.

I had to go. I needed out. Even the air around me felt heavy and oppressive. I had to do something, and as I turned into my biology class on autopilot, my eye landed on the solution.

"Rain," I snapped. "Come with me."

Her head whipped up and she looked at me for one long moment. I wasn't sure what she saw, but for once, she didn'ttry to push back. No, Rain just grabbed her things - and quickly - then headed toward me. Jack fluttered over to land on her shoulder.

"Torian?" she whispered. "What's wrong?"

"I need your help," I breathed.

That was all she needed. Catching my wrist, Rain pulled me toward the door. "When the teacher gets here, tell her we had something come up," she told the class. But the moment we were in the hall, she let go, allowing me to take over again.

"Where are we going, Tor?"

I didn't know. I hadn't thought this out, so I picked the one place I knew was safe right now. "My room."

And when I turned that way, Rain le Fae followed like the Morrigan she was.

Chapter Fifty-Three

TORIAN

Iwas supposed to be in class. I should've been telling Ms. Rhodes how close Isla's words had been to The Silent's. Instead, all I could think about was how I could destroy everything. How people actuallywantedme to.

On the way up in the elevator, I kept shoving my hand over my mouth, thinking up and discarding ways to explain this to Rain. I couldn't tell her I was desperate for a little attention! I certainly wouldn't say I was lonely. I knew how lucky I was to have the court as my friends, and only a spoiled, pampered little prick of a prince would take that for granted.

So I said nothing.

She kept looking over at me, but it was as if she knew - or maybe thought this was another one of those things we didn't talk about in public. Yet when we reached my room, she closed the door and spun on me.

"Tor, what's wrong?"

I pulled in a breath and let words tumble with it as I forced it back out. "I need you to remove all of my power. Put those cuffs on me? Rain, you have to dosomething!"

She stepped back, confusion taking over her face. "Why?"

But Jack fluttered over to one of the chairs. "Shadow!" he cawed.

I saw Rain glance at the floor, where her shadow was still attached to her like normal, but then she dragged her eyes up to me again. Her brow furrowed. What she didn't do was react. I could see her thinking, but there was no yelling with it.

"What happened?" she finally asked.

Yeah, I didn't want to talk about that. "Rain, we both know I'm the problem. As long as I'm Aspen's heir, I'm a threat to all the good we're doing. We're into summer now - magically speaking - so it's easy to avoid using Winter magic, but what happens in the fall? How do you think The Silent, or the Children of the Exodus, or even the fucking Summer lovers will take it when I accidentally grab the wrong season and my power comes out white instead of green?!"

"Why now?" she asked, looking over at Jack.

"Morrigan?" he asked.

Subtly, she shook her head. "No, Jack. Right now, I'm just his friend."

Those words felt like a fucking knife into the middle of my chest. "Then stop!" I snapped at her. "Fuckingthink, Rain. I know you love Aspen. It's not a damned secret, so this is for her."

"And what, exactly, do you want me to do?" Her tone was carefully calm and measured.