High School Diaries (A Throne of Glass Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

On the balcony in a very fashionable and respectable part of Rifthold, Aelin crouched in the shadows and frowned into the chill wind gusting off the Avery river. She checked her watch for the third time. Perrington should be leaving for his meeting with Arobynn any minute now.

There was nothing interesting about the elegant apartment, except for the neighbor. And through the sliding glass doors of the apartment next to her, she spotted the overweight man she was here because of, Perrington. 

Why anyone didn't question how a mere Vice Headmaster earn enough to own an apartment in one of the most luxurious societies of Rifthold was beyond her.

But then, the headmaster owned a mansion, even though it was inheritance. 

Perrington sat on the dining table, wearing a suit, fidgeting and tapping and looking at the clock every 15 seconds. 

Yes, she was counting. 

But anyone would be nervous if the Kings of Assassin was to visit your home. 

Aelin adjusted the position of her legs and rolled her neck. The sun had set a few minutes ago, the temperature dropping with each passing minute, giving way to thunder and gusting winds. Unless she could get into the house itself to search for the damned laptop where, according to Arobynn, Perrington had stored the video, she wasn’t going to learn much else or do something. And given the likelihood that Perrington might actually go against what Arobynn told him to and had not turn the CCTVs off, she was in no rush to go inside. Better to learn from afar and then take the next step.

It had been so long since she’d done something like this in Rifthold—since she’d crouched on the emerald rooftops and learned what she could about her prey. It was different than pit fighting. Here, now, even in a balcony, it felt like …

It felt like nothing had happened. As if she might look over her shoulder and find Sam Cortland crouching behind her. As if she might return at the end of the night not to warmth of her blanket, but to the warmth of his arms.

Aelin sighed, tucking her hands under her arms to keep her fingers warm and agile.

It had been over a year and a half since the night she’d undergone the most brutal police investigation; a year and a half since she’d lost Sam. And somewhere, in this city, were the answers to how it all had happened. If she dared to look, she knew she’d find them. And she knew it would destroy her again.

She looked behind her, beyond the doors of this apartment. Aedion and Lysandra checking out the house properly, minimally dressed but still looked classy. And important. Someone the agent left alone because they wanted privacy. Too bad that she didn’t notice the silent, looming presence of Aelin trailing them both like a shadow. 

While they were her way to enter the complex, they were also her backup. There was only so much faith she could put in Arobynn. Lysandra, looked extremely pretty in her simple knee length beige dress, but it was Aedion who surprised her. The long, unruly blond hair was combed, tied and gelled for once. Even his formal attire accented his no-nonsense persona. But he was too oblivious to notice the heart eyes agent was giving him. She noticed Lysandra’s face go all contemplative and it sent a pang through her heart. In a different world, they could be a couple actually searching for houses.

She rolled her shoulders once, observing Perrington jump upright all of a sudden, the same time the voice in her earpiece said, “He's here." 

"Okay. You stay hidden." She whispered to Kaltain, who was in front of the complex, monitoring Arobynn's car. This was the closest Aelin was letting her near these apartments. She was her second backup, because Kaltain was adamant on not getting Chaol and Dorian involved.