Rooming with the Wicked

46 | run

All the air left my lungs in a soundless whoosh. "T-talk?" I squeaked.

Warmth radiated from the towering form in front of me and I stumbled back a step. Dark crimson eyes bore into mine. Eyes that I knew all too well by now. Eyes that had seen too much.

My stomach dropped.

He looked at me differently—or maybe he was different. His face was the same, but those eyes held more than simply annoyance and dislike now. They weren't playful either. No, he was angry.

But not at me.

Maybe.

I swallowed.

Why? Why did he have to show up here now?

Haze nodded, hooded eyes focusing on my tightly clenched hands. Dark brows drifted up, but instead of speaking to me, he turned his attention to something behind me. "What's wrong with her?" he asked quietly.

"I was 'bout to ask the same thing," Syn mumbled.

"Surprise, surprise, our little human's not using her words again."

Little human?

If I didn't have a multitude of thoughts going through my mind a million miles per second I would have been annoyed, pissed off even. Who was he to talk anyway? A part of me wanted to stay—wanted to confront him. But I couldn't. Not here. Not now.

Not yet.

Haze's wary eyes were still locked on—most likely—Syn as he said something about the disadvantages of a lack of communication. Whatever Syn replied was lost in the loud rushing in my ears. I released a shaky breath and slowly sidestepped the walking furnace in front of me.

In a quiet voice that somehow sounded much more resolved than I felt, I said, "Whatever you need to talk to me about can wait."

He didn't say anything, but I could feel his burning gaze shift to me. His arms tensed beneath his long-sleeved black shirt, but he didn't move to stop me.

"I need to go," I added, still not looking at either of them. "See you later."

Once I was out of arm's reach, I bolted.

The distance back to the administrative building felt longer than it had not even two minutes ago. Or it was my backpack suddenly weighing me down. Either way, I couldn't sprint up the front steps fast enough, half-expecting a pale hand to wrap around my shoulder and hold me back. Both wanting and dreading precisely that at the same time.

Damn it. Why did I have to run into him? How come even now I didn't want it to be him?

It couldn't be him, right?

But I'd trusted the wrong people before.

Not again.

Never again.

The door slammed shut behind me, silencing everything but the sound of my unsteady breathing. My feet slipped on the smooth floor, but with one clenched fist on the cold wall, I kept myself from falling. Cool air caressed my likely flushed face as I burst through the barred iron door leading to the portal room below. I couldn't get down the gloomy steps fast enough.

The low-glowing lux crystal lanterns guided me to the entrance at the bottom. A shiver ran down my spine as I passed the two unmoving sentinels on either side of the doorway. Their eyes, tiny black voids, seemingly stared at nothing and everything at the same time.

Countless times I'd walked through here, countless times the somber atmosphere came as an unwelcome change, yet something felt different now. Probably just my general anxiety. And the conversation I was about to have with Dad.