Beyond the Border | ✔

24 | rule 32

RULE 32: THE OUTSIDE WORLD MAY APPEAR TEMPTING. RESIST ALL TEMPTATIONS OR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MAY FACE CONSEQUENCES.

✷ C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - F O U R ✷

Even as I escaped the situation Theo orchestrated with Eva, my mind continued to reel from the events, distance unhelpful in clearing my mind. I couldn't believe the nerve Theo had — the nerve that made him feel like he could control my life. It made me feel like I was just a side character in my own story.

Logically, I knew I was not an ideal match for Theo. I was born and raised in the Borderlands, hate for his kind ran in my blood and flowed through my veins. On top of this, I was merely a human. I didn't have any supernatural abilities. I did not have a supernatural life span. I was not bred for a life of being a leader — a Luna. I was simply Sage Whitemore, an extraordinarily ordinary human.

    My head was screaming to admit I hated him — to admit I hated Theo. It would make everything so simple, but I couldn't bring myself to harbor such strong feelings against him. He was so infuriating I was sure anyone in my position, Borderlander or not, would hate him.

    Why didn't I?

    The bond was the obvious answer, but I couldn't explain why that answer did not settle quite right with me. He looked like a beast, but he seemed to have perfected the art of appearing like he was not one.

    Beasts are deceptive, I told myself. He was just being supernaturally deceptive. I mean, if he truly was not a beast, he would not have sprung Eva on me like that. But, then again, was that just his humanity showing?

Nevertheless, the more I thought about what Eva said to me, the more upset I grew. While she did have authority over me when she was my babysitter, we were no longer children — that was apparent by her own growing child. She couldn't expect me to obey her every (or almost every) word anymore.

    Was this what the Outside does to people? Turn them into someone so far from who they used to be in the Borderlands? I could only hope the same thing had not happened to Ma if she was lucky enough to survive. On second thought, luck might not be the right word for it.

    My mind was growing tired from my continual thoughts, but, physically, I was wide awake. Resting on my plush bed, I tried to force my body to sleep. I tried imagining nothing to pull me into sleep's embrace, but my mind would wander off. Then, I would have to remind myself to think of nothing once again. It was a constant back and forth, and I was growing even more awake with the realization I was not able to fall asleep.

    Giving up on thinking about nothing, I tried to make a game plan for the next month. Being open to the mate bond was going to be tricky. I was not exactly in an open mood anymore. I didn't want to be all open arms when it came to our bond. However, I knew I would have to if I stood any chance at being able to get close to a witch.

    A witch.

    I was still at square one when it came to that. Mina made it seem like good witches were hard to come by. Even worse, Mina said the best witches liked to stay hidden. In telling me this information, I realized Mina might be the key to finding one. Theo probably knew where to find one, too, but his slow-moving nature was discouraging, and I knew I could not place my bets on Theo to pull through for me after today.

    As for Ma, I decided I would try and get Theo to look for Ma, but I would eventually have to abandon finding her if it came down to that. I knew it would shatter my heart to come back empty-handed but finding a witch had to be at the forefront. Pa would surely understand.