Forbidden (The Secret World Of Atlantis 2)

Chapter 14 - Stirring Trouble Up

I glance between my friends, shocked to see disappointment and even anger on their faces. Elena’s question still lingers in the air and as I look at her to respond, I realize there’s fear hidden in her eyes. What is she afraid of? I remind myself, that I’m expected to answer and take a deep breath. But before I’m able to speak up, Adrian beats me to it.

“Yeah, I thought you trusted us and wouldn’t lie to us again,” he remarks coldly, his expression showing how unhappy he is with me. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

“Hold up, what lies are you talking about?” I ask, completely flustered at his accusation. I glance around the group, surprised to see the same judgmental expressions on their faces. I am completely taken aback.

“The girls told us everything about Daniel. Or rather, Patty did. Why wouldn’t you let us help you? We thought we were your friends!” Lykos speaks up. I widen my eyes in surprise. Him too? What happened in this past week, that made them so angry with me?

“Listen, I’m sorry for keeping this from you, but this was my burden to carry. I didn’t want to drag you into my problems,” I apologize, trying to justify my actions. But by the looks on their faces, it doesn’t seem like they believe me. “And if I knew about the bond, I would tell you. I only felt it, when I came close to Eros,” I explain furthermore.

“Save it,” Korinna scoffs, shaking her head. “This isn’t just about your lies. It’s the way you left the island, without even bothering to tell us. You had us worried sick. And what were you doing in the meantime? Snogging your … I don’t even know what to name him. Your true fiancé? Bonded? Your bloodsucker?”

“Stop it. This is my brother you’re insulting,” Elena points out in a warning tone. Korinna squeezes her lips together and stands up. She refuses to look at me, as she grabs her bag and storms off without saying a word. I gape after her in shock, my lungs seeming to crush, as the boys follow her example soon after.

I look at Patty, who seems to be contemplating very hard, whether to leave or to stay. But as her eyes meet mine, she shakes her head and averts her gaze to the table. “I’m sorry, Arya,” she mumbles, before leaving too. I feel like I’m being suffocated from the inside, as I turn my gaze to Elena. My best friend. I bite my lower lip, to prevent it from trembling.

“Not you too …” I trail off, barely keeping myself together. She watches me for a moment, before clasping my hand. I draw in a sharp breath, delighted that at least she’s decided to stand by me.

“I’m not going anywhere. But I also hope you aren’t, after hearing what I have to say,” she begins, a spark of fear once again gleaming in her eyes. I squeeze her hand, shaking my head in confusion.

“No, why would I?” I ask, a nervous feeling creeping up inside me. She sighs, pulling her hand away from mine. She glances around, as if trying to make sure, that no one would be looking at us. But that turns out to be impossible at the moment. We seem to be the main act of the show.

“Because I was only pretending not to know about your bond with Eros in front of our friends,” she admits, making a breath hitch in my throat. I stare at her in complete shock, unsure of how to even respond to a bomb like that. After a moment I shake my head in disbelief.

“This doesn’t add up at all. How would you know about it when I didn’t?” I ask, trying to make some sense out of what she just told me. I just can’t bring myself to believe, that not only Eros, but Elena was keeping this from me too. If I accept this fact, I’ll feel like a complete and utter fool.

“Because I was there, when your first connection happened. In that bar, while you still thought you were a human,” she continues explaining, even if I would rather not hear the whole story. I feel sick already. “I tried to talk him into telling you, but he refused. He said that you were better off without the burden of being bonded to an Undefined one.” Wait … I remember that. When I was out, I was able to catch snippets of their conversation. Until now, I thought I was only imagining it. I stare at her in horror.

“But how did you manage to keep this from me all this time? How did I never catch his thoughts? Not even at my betrothal, when he was drunk and completely out of control? How did he manage to keep a shield up at all times?” Questions keep pouring out of me, I just can’t seem to stop. Elena bites her lip.

“He might be mad at me for telling you about this, but you need to know, so you can understand what’s going on. He always had his shield up around you, he said, that you’re not ready to know about your bond yet. He thought that you also had your shield up, because he was never able to read your mind. But when he was watching your betrothal, he couldn’t keep it for himself anymore. He opened his mind to you, only to realize, you weren’t able to hear his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to make them reach you. That’s why he got so drunk, apart from your hand being given to Daniel,” she reveals, making me go numb. There’s no way I was ever expecting her to tell me something like this.

“How is that possible?” I ask, not really willing to believe, that the bond just didn’t work. “I felt the bond with Silver as soon as I touched him. As in, I was able to link my mind to him immediately. Why didn’t it work with Eros? Why does it work now?” I keep questioning her, unable to stop. She shrugs, leaning back on her chair.

“Bonds aren’t that common. We still know too little about them, to be able to understand the way they function, but we did realize, that they come in different varieties. It’s up to you and Eros to figure out, which one is yours,” she concludes. I raise an eyebrow, before letting out a heavy sigh.

“You’ll have to pray a lot for that to happen,” I scoff in a dismissive way. Elena frowns at my words, then tilts her head curiously.

“Don’t tell me he’s still acting like that,” she implores in a disapproving tone. Her disbelief would make me burst into laughter if her statement wasn’t so true. My sour expression tells her everything she needs to know. “Please say, that he at least spoke to you,” she practically begs me.

“If constant bickering counts, then yes. He did … speak to me,” I answer, barely able to finish the sentence, as I see him walking through the archway. I thought he was going to hide away, just like he’s been doing on the ship for the past few days. Elena is about to respond, when she notices the look on my face.

She turns around to see, what caught my attention and gasps. But she isn’t the only one that does so. It seems like the whole Hall takes a breath at once, before it falls into a deafening silence. Everybody is staring at Eros in complete shock, as he walks to the buffet with a blank expression. He could give lessons in how to not give a damn.

Elena turns back to me in surprise. “By constant bickering … Did you mean, that you were together for all this time?” she whispers, after a few murmurs start rising into the air. I lean my chin onto my hand, giving her a slight nod.

“We slept in the same cabin. It didn’t have the effect I thought it would,” I admit, attempting to make a joke in the grim situation, that we’ve found ourselves in. Elena can’t hold back a smile at my words. She smacks me playfully, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Never change, Arya,” she remarks with a hint of amusement evident in her voice. I chuckle softly, but my smile fades as soon as I look at the buffet and catch Eros staring at me. He looks away soon enough, but he’s still able to see a blush creeping up to my cheeks.

I am surprised, that I don’t hear from the Headmistress as soon as my first class ends. Is she truly so unbothered, or did she leave the school once again? I bet it is the latter. She wouldn’t just let me off so easily.

My friends are still mad at me and I still can’t get the mystery of the bond out of my head, which is how I find myself wandering towards Eros’s class a bit before lunch. Elena doesn’t even try to stop me. I actually expected her to want to come along, but she knows, that I need to talk to him alone.

I wait by the door, that leads to the Training Grounds, hoping that he’s going to be the first one to barge in, just like usually. But you can imagine my surprise, as the door swings open and reveals Daniel. He smirks as soon as his eyes land on me. “Care to pick up, where we left from?” My whole body goes numb as I remember what happened the last time, that he was near me. There’s no way I’m letting him close enough to kiss me again. The thought makes me want to barf and I instinctively take a step back.

“Never,” I grit through my teeth, but my words get lost in a loud roar, that comes from behind Daniel. Before I even wrap my mind around what’s going on, Daniel is pinned onto the wall by his neck. And the person holding him is none other than Eros. His icy blue eyes are glistening with fury, as he glares at Daniel with all his might. The Callisto family crest doesn’t have a Nemean lion on it for nothing.

I shake my thoughts away, is this really what I’m thinking about at this moment? There’s a code red situation in front of me! I need to stop this, before it gets too far!