The Heirs: The Silver Knight

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aleks

October

Something has shifted inside of me. All the usual anxiety is still there, but there's something new too. Something unfamiliar, and something entirely dangerous.

I stay up most nights thinking of her.

If I close my eyes, I can still envision it. I can still taste her, feel her, Christ, I can still smell her. Imogen Donnelly has burrowed her way into my memory.

I know she felt things shift, same as me, that night. The moment I saw her tattoo I think my heart stopped beating. A tattoo that nearly matched mine. I'd gotten it years ago on a whim, wanting something beautiful and precious in the center of my chest to remind myself to always strive for perfection. To persevere.

The moment I saw a nearly identical tattoo on Imogen's ribs, I nearly lost my mind. The way she melted against me, all tight and hot and ready. The way I could have held her all night if she'd let me.

Feeling this way is not normal. At least for me.

I distract myself with the matter at hand, with all that's going on at LU, and all that's going on elsewhere. The Rossis, the Tazzas, the ever-present stress of being the son of a Pakhan.

We'd taken care of Casimir Bosko easily enough – well, Tate Yenin did.

She and Zane have been inseparable ever since, and I can sense that Chase is getting better too. I wish I could say the same, but my head is too scrambled.

I try not to think of her. I do. But it's fruitless.

Why did she give herself over to me only then push me away?

What did she really think of me?

Worst of all: why do I care?

She blatantly ignored me after Chicago. Not that that was unusual. We found ourselves in one another's presence on several occasions, but she pretended I didn't exist. I pretended not to care.

The fact of that matter is this girl was still sneaking around, and clearly up to something, and she was so incredibly good at sneaking away from her guards. She was even better at hiding things from her cousins.

Therefore, I took it upon myself to follow her.

Mostly, she goes to the lighthouse. I don't really know what she does there, but she stays for a few hours sometimes. I watch from the forest, waiting. She's always alone.

She spends time with her cousins, but even then she seems so...alone. So sad.

The inkling in the back of my mind grows stronger and stronger by the day. The inkling that she went through something traumatic. That maybe, just maybe, she was Rory's mystery girl. I wouldn't speak it to existence though, not till I was absolutely sure.

It's a Thursday night and Ilya calls me to tell me that Imogen has apparently snuck out of the dorm and caught a ride from Jemma Mancini to the Knights mansion.

What the actual fuck is she doing there?

A sense of helplessness overtakes me as I climb on my bike and drive out to the Knights territory. It's dangerous, stupid, and unlike me – but I don't care. Leo knows the layout rather well and told me the spots we can wander without detection.