𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

83. 𝑆𝑎𝑦 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟

Syn

I heard her as soon as she stepped into the building, quiet murmuring and praises as she neared the elevator. I sighed, slouching in my chair wondering what she was doing here. I was always happy to see her but her coming here would only complicate things for me. I'd have to spend the next few days shutting down rumors of her return. My chest rumbled in annoyance at the disappointment I'd see in their eager faces.

I flipped the pen in my hand, watching the seconds on the clock in anticipation as she neared. I had no idea why she was here. With the way she had been acting these past few days, I was surprised she wanted to see me at all. Granted, it was my fault...I shouldn't have lashed out at her the way that I did.

I had a ton of things to say to her that I had been holding in for weeks. The day of our argument truly tested my nerves. I had just gotten back from the meeting, the news of the death count weighing heavy on my mind.

Eight hundred and twenty-three Underworld Creatures dead.

The majority of them were children and even worse, more than half of them were unidentified and some were still missing. My head throbbed and my mind raged with the thought of the families I couldn't bring peace. My mind was set on putting a stop to this, even if it killed me. But I didn't think it'd cost me Queen in the process.

It felt like I was being forced to make a choice. Either stay on Earth and work on us and my problems or save my kingdom. I hated that I couldn't do both and my anger was directed toward her that day as resentment filled me. It left as soon as I left the house but my words were already out in the open. I couldn't just take it back. It was a bitter truth that I planned on burying until it didn't bother me anymore. But clearly, I failed.

There had been so many times in the past few days where I almost cornered her and begged her to speak to me- to just look at me. But she was far too stubborn and I was just too tired to have the conversation we needed. So I opted for silence- stealing glances at her when I'd get the chance and speaking to anyone but her just to get a reaction.

It was immature on my part, but I missed her.

My focus moved back to the sound of her heels when the elevator doors opened and I waited, listening. "Mia?" I heard.

Fuck! I shot up from my desk, forgetting the information I still hadn't told Queen. It wasn't like it was a secret, I just hadn't gotten the chance...

I opened the thick door, stepped toward the reception desk, and looked between the both of them. I cleared my throat, Queen's eyes falling on mine as a questioning expression bore into me. "I can explain."

For the first time in a while, I felt nervous- maybe a little bit afraid of what she'd say. This wasn't a small secret that we could laugh about...it was fucking huge. Not only had I killed her friend, but I let the person who witnessed so much of her pain occupy her body.

I knew this moment would come eventually, but I truly forgot about it. I let my mind glimmer over lying and saying that I resurrected Mia and got her some real therapy, but that was selfish and would put D in a tough spot. Besides, I had enough secrets on my plate, this one just needed to come out.

"This isn't Mia," I said cautiously.

She crossed her arms, looking between the both of us in disbelief. "Are you serious—"

"Listen," I stopped her. Damn. Our first interaction in the past few days and it was about this of all things. My plans when we finally did speak against entailed fucking her attitude out of her and making her think twice about ignoring me again, not this bullshit.