Whitethorn Academy

Chapter Thirty-Nine

My mind reeled. Snippets of conversations rolled through my head too fast for me to focus on a single one. Thoughts, feelings, and images jumbled in a tangle, and nausea churned in my stomach.

"Selene?" I heard Inara ask, though she sounded far away like she was speaking to me through a pane of glass. Or like I was underwater, drowning. Yes. I was drowning. I couldn't breathe.

SELENE. The voice in my head was sharp. Intense. My head snapped up, meeting Alek's eyes. For the first time, I recognized why that voice sounded so familiar whenever I'd heard it.

It hadn't been Jason. All this time, I'd been hearing Alek's voice in my head. I've been seeing through his eyes, listening in on his conversations with Inara. He'd been in my head more than once. Maybe more times than I'd ever realized.

And now, here he was, his voice like a tether, snapping me out of my spiral. I wanted to lose my mind all over again.

Forcing myself to look away from him, I turned toward Inara, feeling angrier than I had during Parent's Day. "Why have I been seeing conversations between you and Alek? What is happening to me? Why have you both been keeping secrets from me?"

Inara sighed, her shoulders slumping as she moved to sit in her chair. She instantly looked older and worn out. Like she held the weight of the world on her shoulders. She placed her head in her hands for a moment before looking back up at me.

"You really should take a seat, Selene."

Ms. Rose placed a gentle hand on my arm and I allowed her to guide me to a seat, which thankfully was not next to Alek. Instead, she sat between the two of us, as if she knew I needed the buffer.

Alek was leaning back in his seat, his usual indifference plain on his face.

"There are many things that we've kept from you, Selene. And I am sorry about that. Your introduction to Whitethorn was not the one Id wanted for you. I wish your mother had told you about your heritage, your destiny. But she kept you not only in the dark, but at arm's length. And I'm so sorry about that. I'm so sorry for everything."

I stared at her, confused. "What does my mother have to do with the conversations you've been having with Alek about me? And why have I been seeing them? Why can I hear him in my head?"

Alek shifted in his seat, but said nothing.

"Aleksander—"

"No." Alek's voice, laced with anger, was quick to cut off Inara and whatever she'd been about to say.

There was a heavy sigh from the headmistress, and she shot a venomous look Alek's way. "I do not care about your personal feelings on this matter any longer. You've had long enough to either step up or back away, and you've chosen to do neither. Therefore, the decision is no longer yours."

Alek opened his mouth as if to respond, but Inara waved her hand, silencing him. Though I couldn't tell if it was magic or simply through the action itself.

"You've been astral projecting into Alek's head in your sleep, because Alek is your true Bond."

Even though I'd already suspected that, the shock felt like an ice-cold dousing. It had been hard enough trying to reconcile the thoughts of Jason being my soulmate. But Alek? He'd clarified that he hated my guts the entire time I'd been here.

"Aleksander had wanted to not share this information with you, which I allowed him to do, as I was unaware the connection was affecting you in such a way. The mind connection of Bonds is rare to occur in Unbonded pairs, as Naomi informed you this morning."