Delta [Epsilon #2]

Chapter Forty-Three

Raina

*******

(A/N): Sorry for the short chapter. I'll make it up in the next one!

I rushed around the halls, passing anxious residents and fast-footed soldiers. The attacks had died down an hour ago, but we'd only been let out of the safe rooms a few minutes ago. I'd found myself trapped in one on the Eastern Wing, along with several others. I had to admit, the idea in itself was genius. It made the dungeons back at the Southern Court look like child's play. 

Still, praising the Northern Court's logistics wasn't what plagued my mind. I'd bitten my nails down to the quicks, and my lips were bloody from how much I'd chewed them. With every face I passed, I searched for hers. If something had happened to her... I couldn't allow myself to finish the thought. I had to find her.

Exhausting all the busy halls, I anxiously continued my search down the quieter ones. It was only on the third floor of the Western Wing did I find her, her face tight as she strolled the corridor. It was only when she spotted me that she came to a stop, and any signs of anxiety diminished in an instant.

"Azure!" I yelled, my shoulders sagging with relief. I ran several paces before I stopped, staring at her. She wasn't moving toward me. In fact, she wasn't moving at all.

She gave me a curt nod. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

She turned, and before I could think better of it, I lunged forward and grabbed her wrist. She whipped around, something like pain painting her features. 

"Wait, Azure. Please," I breathed. I waited, the words taking a moment to reach my tongue. "I'm... sorry." 

Azure jerked her arm away, turning so I couldn't see her face. "Don't, Raina. I don't want to hear it."

I swallowed. The action felt like swallowing needles. "Please, Azure, just hear me out. I didn't think rationally. I freaked out and hurt you. I was wrong, I was--"

"I said save it, Raina," Azure said, silencing me in an instant. Her eyes locked mine, and what I saw in them made my body go cold. Resignation. "What's done is done. We grew close, we had fun, but the mate bond drove us apart. That's it. That's all there is to it."

A heat formed behind my eyes. "You're saying it like it was... like it was nothing!"

"Because it was nothing, Raina. You made that clear when you broke the bond." Anger entered her eyes for a split-second, before that resignation took over again. "It was your choice, and your choice sent a message, loud and clear; I wasn't wanted." She took a step back. "I'm sorry, Raina. It's over."

Tears stung my eyes. "But we can still be friends, right, Az?"

She didn't respond. My throat tightened more -- to the point my voice was nothing more than a whisper. "Az?"

She sucked in a tight breath. Part of me expected her to yell, but her voice was unnervingly even. "I don't believe that is possible, Raina. This is where we part ways -- as friends, as lovers, whatever. I won't bother to put a label on it."

I shook my head slowly, my mind not wanting to comprehend what I was hearing. "Don't do this to me, Azure," I whispered. "Please. Don't do this to me. I have no one. Don't--" I choked on a sob, "--don't leave me..."

Azure shook her head. 

"I'm sorry!" I wailed. "I'm sorry, okay! I screwed up. I should have left the bond in place. I shouldn't have been so rash and broken it and hurt you. I just wasn't thinking straight. It was... it was all a stupid mistake!"

Anger flashed through her eyes again, and for a moment, her composure fractured. "You're right Raina. It was just a stupid mistake. Our whole friendship was. I--" she caught herself, then, and shook her head. I blinked as though I'd just been slapped, and as her words settled on me like dust after a battle, more tears pooled in my eyes.

Azure breathed a long sigh, locking my gaze. I could have sworn something like agony flashed through her eyes, before being replaced by that cold resignation again. "You know what? I'll go. You... take care of yourself, alright?" Her throat bobbed. She turned away. "Goodbye, Raina."

With that, she strode off, the fading echo of her footsteps haunting the halls. I watched as her figure faded into the distance, as she turned the corner and left me wholly alone. I don't remember doing so, but I sunk to my knees. I remained there as I cried, as I recalled the cool look in her eyes, over and over again. So different to the Azure I knew, to the one who cared about me. This one... this one didn't care about me at all.

And she had every right not to.