Beyond the Border | ✔

15 | rule 83

RULE 83: WHILE THOSE WHO LEAVE THE BORDERLANDS ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD, NO FUNERAL WILL BE HELD. WE MUST NOT MOURN THEM. INSTEAD, WE MUST ERASE THEIR MEMORY FROM OUR LIVES. 

✷ C H A P T E R      F I F T E E N ✷

"It just doesn't add up," Theo emerged from behind the desk, his fingers drumming softly against the wood, abandoning his hiding spot. Hastily, I shoved the book behind my back; my cheeks heated up at the thought of Theo knowing I was poking my head around the idea of mates – would he think I was showing interest in him?

"What doesn't add up?" Trying to suppress my surprised gulp, I was not prepared for Theo to be this quizzical about my homeland so soon. The Council had reassured me the crash would quench his thoughts. His primal instinct would take over, and he would have been more consumed with my well-being. The Council had reassured me of it; there was no way they would have led me astray. But then again, when I really thought about it: what did the Council actually know of the Outside?

Surely, they had not taken a step outside the Border. The Border between the Borderlands and the Outside was heavily surveillanced on both sides. There was an underground compound (that I had just been made aware of), so I couldn't have been too sure they hadn't. If Memphis and his family were able to sneak out undetected, then certainly the Council could pull off the same feat. It made me feel dirty inside to know there was a possibility the Council was not living strictly by the Borderland rules.

Okay, okay, don't freak out. Act natural. Act like nothing's wrong, I told myself when, in fact, I knew that was a lie.

Theo was now a few feet away, leaning up against the nearest bookshelf. He was not smirking, but I could tell he found this amusing. It was like he was stalking his prey, his animalistic side coming to the surface. He was a natural. More so, he enjoyed it — the way his emerald eyes shined even in the dim lighting.

"Tell me why you jumped out of a window to get away from me, yet less than twenty-four hours later, you were on your way back?" He breathed out, eyes narrowing in as if to squeeze the answer out of me. "You see, I've thought about it quite a lot. None of it adds up."

I took a deep breath in, waiting a couple seconds before I shakily exhaled. To be frank, I did not have much of a game plan here. I couldn't possibly tell him the truth. It would seal the fate of my homeland, but I could not bear that weight so early on in my attempt to find a witch.

"I'm sorry," was all I could muster up, my un-casted hand clutching the book with an iron grip.

Think. Think, Sage, think, I was yelling at myself.

My mind whirled around all the different possibilities I could feed to Theo:

1). The truth — while a bad decision, it was an option, nonetheless — but it felt like an option to keep in my thoughts in case things ever got dire. Luckily, from what I could tell, things had not escalated to that point yet.

2). I could sputter off something about the bond between us, how it was calling me back here. I almost gagged at the thought of saying this for the simple fact that — besides it being untrue — it was so cheesy. I imagined I would have a hard time trying to sell him this lie.

3). I could say that Memphis tried to help me escape, but once I told him my mate was someone named Theo, Memphis freaked out and decided to take me back since he knew Theo was very powerful.