The Dragon Stone ↣ Riven ↢

30: Roommate swap?

''We are surrounded by all of these lies''

Rose was sitting cross-legged on her bed, absentmindedly chewing her bottom lip as she stared at the phone she was holding in her hands.

Just call them, her voice rang through her head. But should she? Should she call her parents and ask them if they've been hiding things from her? That's what Dowling was hinting at the night she had sent those spiders back to the hell hole they'd crawled out of.

The memory of it always sent her heart racing, her body aching with a hunger she'd never felt before. A hunger for power. More magic. She thought it would ease with time, but it's been a week and it's still there.

The fire she'd brought to life in that moment could be spotted for miles and it didn't take long for Silva and Dowling to arrive on the scene. Back up was brought along in case of a fight but they'd ended up helping to get the injured specialists to the infirmary as the threat had already been eliminated.

Dowling had made a beeline for Rose, a concerned expression on her features but her voice had been calm when she'd started talking. After making sure Rose was okay, she'd insisted on going over what had happened in her office. Riven had protested, claiming she needed to rest but Dowling had dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Rose had done what was asked of her, but she'd made sure that she wouldn't make the same mistakes as she had weeks ago. They'd been lying to her for so long, so why should she have put all her cards on the table. She'd given the headmistress the barest description of the events: how she'd felt a surge of power and had used it to channel a tidal wave of fire. That's it.

Dowling probably knew she'd been holding out on her as she kept prodding, but Rose had kept her mouth shut, and when the headmistress started to put her parents into the equation, Rose had had enough. She had excused herself claiming to be exhausted and Dowling had let her.

Her parents couldn't possibly know anything about this. They barely even used their magic. But then why had the headmistress asked questions about them? Why did she seem like she knew more than she was letting on? Rose had no business making judgements as she was doing the exact same thing, but Alfea had started this. They'd started hiding the truth first and they were still doing it.

Rose flopped back on her bed while letting out a frustrated groan. This was childish. Playing games instead of communicating like mature people. Lying was a violation of her most core beliefs. Was this really what it had come to?

Yes. Now call them.

She obeyed her annoying subconsciousness and quickly searched for her mother's number in her phone. Her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen until the sounds of a video call trying to go through filled her ears.

It took her mom only a few seconds to pick up the phone, and her cheery voice filled the bedroom.

"Honey! I'm so happy to see you've called. How are you doing? Is everything okay?"

A tinge of worry spiked her tone, and Rose couldn't blame her. She hadn't called her parents as often as she would've liked. They barely knew what was going on in her life at the moment, but she couldn't lie, she liked it that way. It felt like freedom.

"Hi mom! Don't worry, I'm fine. Just wanted to hear your voices."

Another lie. Alfea might just make a proper liar out of her.

Then, a second voice rang through the air. "Is that my little girl I hear?"

She already knew it was her father, but a wide grin tugged at the edges of her mouth as his face popped onto the screen.