69. Aurelia

Chapter 69

Aurelia

S cythe leads me back into the ocean and we swim back together through the dark.

"It's you and me against the dark, shark-man," I muse.

"Dawn is coming," he replies quietly.

He held me after he'd come. Undid the fabric binding my wrists, wrapped me in a soft blanket, and positioned me in the crook of his arm. He was quiet as he'd pressed his nose into my hair and I'd fallen into a little doze.

I'd woken to his lips brushing against my mouth before he'd pressed a gentle kiss to my shoulder, where there was a faint pink mark. He fussed over that before turning me over and inspecting every part of my skin. It makes me smile to see him fuss over my body, worrying about every mark as if they are injurious to my health. I heal each one with my power before his very eyes and watch as a faint line appears between his silvery brows. I took his hand and kissed it before wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pressing myself to him. He sweeps his hand down my back in long strokes as if that comforts him. It settles something in me to know that my touch doesn't bother him. That he does want it and doesn't find me disgusting like Xander does.

We make it back to the beach while it's still dark, the smell of petrichor in the air, the storm seemingly passed. We hurry naked to the car where we dry off and get dressed in the spare clothes he has stowed in his boot. Then we sit in the car for a while, in silence, and to my great pleasure, he takes my hand as the eastern sky lightens.

Something in the air around Scythe changes when the sun begins to clear the horizon. The sky turns a fiery orange-gold, and as I glance at my shark, his damp, silver hair reflecting the golden hues, I realise the space around him is actually dark.

He turns to look at me, and the moment his gaze catches mine, everything turns dark. The entire car is swamped by a murky, wholly cruel power. It's not at all like Ghoul's shadows, which look and feel like the void of space. This energy roils like a maelstrom in the middle of a violent storm.

"You see it, don't you?" Scythe's voice is like nothing I've heard before. It is dead. Devoid of life. Of hope.

And then the screaming starts.

I clap my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes shut against the violence of the shrieking permeating my mind. Multiple voices, shrill and sharp attacking me all at once, vying for the loudest position. They're saying something and though I can't make out the awful sentences, I know it's inherently malevolent.

I don't realise that I'm also screaming until cold fingers press against my temples.

"I'm sorry." That rasp is frantic, deeper than the rest. "I'm so sorry."

Something swallows me whole and pulls me down, down, down.

When I wake up, I'm still in the car, but I'm bundled into Scythe's lap, lying across the back seat. Looking around, I see that we're back in the basement car park of The Lily Sanctuary.

It's achingly quiet.

"You fell into me, just then," Scythe rasps, gently setting me into my own seat. The car feels so much colder. "It must have been the sex. We won't let it happen again."

I straighten myself and sit there in silence, clutching my seatbelt in one hand, wiping my eyes with the other.

" That's what you see all the time. Hear all the time?"

The distance between us, the sheer cold, feels like a valley. We stand on opposing mountain peaks, an eternity between us. "Lately, yes."

The fact that he endures this on a daily basis just to be here—I can't fathom it.

"You are so strong. All of my five mates are so strong."

He looks at me sharply. "You'll never have five mates, Aurelia."

My head snaps to regard him. "So I'm doomed to have an empty space within me the rest of my life?"

"Two. Maybe three."

"What?"

"Three empty spaces. Xander will never agree to be yours. His will is too strong. And Ghoul fights for your enemy. He is a lost cause. He always was."

The pain of his words is almost too much to bear. My soul is scored with five names. I can never change that. Don't want to change that. They are mine. They always would be, whether they wanted it or not.

Scythe does not look at me. He stares out the windscreen, his hands loose in his lap. "However…" I hang onto his every word. "I have a replacement planned. Beak's nest is dead. His regina died a very long time ago, and he's been looking for a home ever since. He's a powerful eagle and…you're missing an avian in your pack."

Every word he speaks is the swipe of a machete. Cutting me down. Tearing me open. Scarring me. Horror is the coil of a whip around my neck.

"You've been planning this for a while," I whisper in disbelief. "Planning to leave me?" Planning to replace himself, just like he replaced Sabrina's mates.

"You've always had a chemistry with Beak, and since his regina is gone?—"

"Fuck you!" It's a scream that tears from the depths of my being. "Fuck. You. Scythe." I shove open the door and hurl myself out, furiously wiping tears from my eyes. He thinks he can just swap himself out of my pack, my life?

I sprint across the carpark and jab the button for the lifts over and over again, my vision blurry. The elevator groans on its cables as Scythe's hand finds my elbow.

"Do not fucking touch me!" I scream, jerking out of his grip. "I am not my mother, Scythe. I won't let you do whatever the hell you want to me. You think you can just— Who the fuck do you think you are?"

He steps back like I've slapped him, his face going stone cold. I'm so furious that I don't even feel bad.

"After everything we've been through?" I hiss. "After everything you've said to me?" I wipe at my face. The elevator doors open and I step inside, jabbing at the button for the ground floor.

The entire metal box shudders as the doors close.

"Aurelia," Scythe warns. "You need to control?—"

"Fuck you," I say viciously. The floor trembles again.

Scythe grabs me by the arms and twists me to look at him, his eyes flaming with cold fire. "You do not speak to me like that, Aurelia Boneweaver. Control. Yourself."

I wrench myself out of his grip and he allows it. But I say nothing. Do nothing, except pant, my mind racing in a furious storm.

The doors open to the ground floor. I step out.

"We need to get back to the academy," he says calmly, placing a hand on the door. "Xander is waiting on the helipad."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I say viciously.

His stare is challenging. Dominant.

Well guess fucking what? No one tells me what to do. I turn my back on him and stride out into the busy lobby. Healthcare workers, service staff and families linger at the cafe, the pharmacy and convenience store. It's bright and airy. Impressive, but I can't appreciate that right now because my eyes are set on the big sliding glass doors that lead to my freedom from the cold-hearted predator stalking behind me.

People stare as I storm past them, but I give them no heed as my power pulses dangerously around me like a massive, lethal dome. The front doors slide open and I stride out into the fresh air, inhaling deeply and letting the cold air cool my lungs.

"Aurelia, stop. Where are you going?"

"I'll make my own way," I say furiously, turning back around. "I always have. You can stop following me now."

He's calm. Way too fucking calm. "No."

The glass behind him shatters. He flinches in surprise as tiny glass shards rain down onto the concrete sidewalk, bouncing off his broad shoulders and the back of his head. Someone inside screams. I press my lips together, determined not to show a reaction. He's equally determined to stare at me, unblinking. Unmoving. "Send me the bill," I say, before exploding into my eagle form and hurtling into the air. I fling my telepathy across the land. I can make my own way back to the academy. I roughly know the way from the dragon flight and what I'd seen of maps. But fuck, I've left my phone in Scythe's car.

It doesn't matter. I'll just follow the roads, and once I get closer, I can track Savage and Lyle by feel.

"Regina?" Savage's voice is faint in my head because of the distance, but I still hear him clearly.

"Hi," I say dryly.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

A low warning growl.

"I'm flying back to the academy by myself. I'm pretty sure I know the way."

"Baby, no," he says disapprovingly. "Lyle is going to flip. I'm going to flip."

"I'm not flipping." Lyle's voice is dark in my mind. "But I'm not happy. I'm coming to get you, angel."

"I'll be faster," I mutter in annoyance. "Eagle, remember?"

"Did you two have a fight?" Savage asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." I find the freeway and follow it inland. The roads are easy enough to follow. There is something calming about flying in my eagle form and, in truth, I love the thought of a long flight to clear my head. It would probably take me the better part of the day to get there. I'm also cognisant of the fact that Xander is around the city somewhere and could very well track me down on eyesight alone. I'd given Scythe my power last night, so he'll be able to track me easily too.

I hope he's smart enough to leave me alone, because Goddess help him if he tries to stop me from flying.