Jace’s expression hardened into a mix of fear and disgust. “You’re half Narco?” He spat the word as if it tasted bad in his mouth.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’m sorry. But yes, Jace. I am.”
Reese stood beside me. “And I’m half Shythe.” He stretched out his hand. A current of Charge flickered across his palm. “But, no one knows. And no one can.” I heard the threat in Reese’s voice.
Jace stared at Reese as he doused his Charge, and then he turned his glare on me. “How could you not tell me this, Dez? I trusted you. I love—” He clamped his mouth and eyes shut at the same time. Then he looked at me again, pain swirling inside the blue light of his irises. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not Shythe. Just…” He hung his head before looking straight into my eyes. “I want nothing to do with you.” He turned and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
My legs gave as I fell to the floor. The rejection I’d feared from him my whole life had finally happened. His words stung worse than if I’d been stabbed with my own Charge Dagger. I’d rather have been stabbed.
Reese knelt beside me. “Dez, he’s in shock.” He picked me up and carried me over to a desk. “He’ll calm down. I just hope he doesn’t say anything to anyone in the meantime.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Jace is loyal. Despite his hatred for me now, he’s always loyal. He won’t tell anyone.” A hot tear slid down my cheek. It hurt to breathe.
Jace wouldn’t betray me. Not like I’d betrayed him. But he’d never look at me the same again. Ever. I’d hurt him in so many ways. I’d deceived him—with Reese, behind his back. And I’d lied to him all these years about who I really was. The latter probably hurt him more. No. I’d equally crushed him when he saw me kissing another guy. I buried my face in my hands. I’d just lost my best friend forever.
Reese brought me to his unit against my pleading and fear we’d get caught. However, I didn’t want to go back to mine. I couldn’t face Lana without her knowing something major had happened. She’d know the moment she saw my face, and I didn’t know what to tell her. Reese assured me his roommate was gone for the weekend and the faculty wouldn’t find out. I didn’t have the strength to argue.
Lana had sent me a data message, wondering where I’d disappeared to. She obviously hadn’t talked to Jace yet or she’d be freaking out about our breakup. I was sure Jace would tell her that much. Her message was too calm. I sent her one back, telling her I’d gone to visit my mom. I’d have to invent an explanation for why Jace and I’d broken up, eventually. But I couldn’t think about that now. Truthfully, I was tired of all the lies and secrets.
I lay down on Reese’s bed, and he covered me with a blanket. “Just relax,” he said. “Don’t try and figure everything out right now.”
My eyes stung as I pressed the heel of my hands against them. “I could’ve handled that better somehow.” Tucking my hand under his pillow, I glanced up at him. “There are so many problems now. Not just with Jace, but the Councils, too. I feel like things are completely falling apart.”
Reese sat down on the edge of his bed and stroked my hair. “It seems worse right now because you’re upset. We’ll figure it out, but not now.” He raised his eyebrows. “Okay?”
I nodded into his pillow. “So we’re good? I mean, you and me…together?” My face prickled with heat. I wanted things to be right between us.
“Yeah.” Reese lay down beside me and stared into my eyes. “I’m sorry. But when I saw Jace kiss you”—his eyes flashed—“I went a little berserk. Not to mention when you kissed him the other night.” He huffed out a long breath. “I’ve been raised differently than you. It’s not an excuse, but it does make it harder.” He pressed his lips together. “I figured out I was being an ass, though.”
“You do realize I only did that because I had to stop Jace from starting a fight in front of everyone. I was angry you wouldn’t talk to me, and he thought you’d done something to me.” I lowered my eyes from his. “But I’m such a jerk for what I did to the both of you. I deserve whatever Jace says to me or calls me.”
Reese tilted my face up. “No, you don’t. Things are complicated.” He brushed my hair from my eyes. “I just couldn’t handle it. I knew how much closer you were with Jace, and I wasn’t going to go through the long process of losing you to him.”
“You kind of forced that to happen, you know.” I ran my finger along his forehead, feathering his dark hair away from his eyes. “I want to be with you.”
Reese’s lips tugged into a smile, and he pressed them to my forehead. “I know that now.” He sighed. “But I have a lot of competition with Jace.” I squinted, but he continued. “You didn’t want to hurt him, Dez, and you didn’t want to hurt me. One thing Jace and I have in common…we’re definitely both hotheads. At
least when it comes to you.”
I smiled. Then the day came rushing back to me. “But what are we going to do? I mean, the Councils are definitely up to something. That’s why we snuck onto the airship last night. We were trying to find out what.”
“Well, you won’t find anything on the airship. They’re way too cautious for that.” He paused a beat. “But, there’s some good news about all this at least.”
“What?”
He smiled. “We don’t have to hide our relationship anymore. If nothing else, we’re doing the right thing according to them.” Reese traced his thumb over my lower lip. “That’s at least one thing solved.”
“True. But I think most Kythan will still have a huge problem with it. Although, now that Jace knows, there’s no reason to keep it a secret.” It killed me knowing I had to explain this to Lana. How was I going to tell her I’d rejected her brother for a Narco? After what we went through breaking into the Council’s airship, and after she revealed her feelings for Devon…it was like a whole new betrayal.
No. There was one way. I could tell her the truth about me and Reese—who we were. Reese’s comment reminded me about my thoughts of telling them the day before. It was at least time to tell Lana. She’d still feel hurt for her brother, but then she’d maybe understand how I could be with Reese over Jace.
Reese’s comment also reminded me about the Shythe girl. “So, Shythe tutoring?” I asked, studying his face. Part of me wanted my suspicions validated, though I probably didn’t deserve as much.
He raised an eyebrow. “I see you met Shawna.” He grunted. “She hates me. Though, I helped that along pretty good. I wanted it to seem like I knew nothing about the Shythe race.” He smiled. “Extra precautions.”
“Yeah. I suspected that the whole time.” I buried my face under his blanket, hiding my shame.
Reese pulled the cover down. “Do you really trust Jace not to expose us?”