Torn (A Wicked Saga, #2)(34)

I forced myself to show no reaction. “Barely lived to tell the story.” I smiled tightly as he let go of my hand. He turned sideways, and I felt a weird pressure clamping down on my chest.

David moved to the center of the room. “Okay guys, listen up. We’ve got two members from Colorado here. Their names are Kyle Clare and Henry Kenner.”

A muscle was flexing, doing overtime along Ren’s jaw as he folded his arms across his chest. There was not a single doubt in my mind that Ren was very unhappy that they were here.

I wasn’t too thrilled myself.

“I’m going to cut through the bullshit. Henry and I are here to find the halfling,” Kyle announced. There weren’t any gasps of surprise from the other members. Apparently they’d been filled in on all that and the whole secret society of Order members known as the Elite, but unease was brewing in my belly as Kyle’s dark gaze flickered around the room. “Here’s the thing that all of you are missing. If that girl was truly the halfling and the fae knew that, they wouldn’t have her anywhere near that gate,” Kyle said. “They would’ve kept her safe and sound. She isn’t the halfling.”

~

I hauled ass out of the meeting the moment I could without looking suspicious. I had to, because the longer I stayed in there, the more it felt like the walls were closing in. Panic burned my lungs and the acids were churning in my stomach.

I’d barely heard anything else Kyle and Henry had said, and there was no way I was hanging around to talk to David about what had happened last night. I knew I needed to, and I knew it was important, but I had to get out of there for a moment.

Once outside, I sucked in deep mouthfuls of cool air and headed down the street, not really paying attention to where I was going. I just needed to get far away from Kyle, from the Elite member who had discovered that Ren’s childhood best friend was a halfling, and had calmly followed the young man from Ren’s home and killed him.

He was here, and he knew that Val wasn’t the halfling. The others would soon realize that, and they would—

“Ivy,” Ren called out, and I kept walking, stepping around people. “Ivy, just slow down.” He caught up to me easily, catching my arm and drawing me to a stop. “Are you okay?”

My heart was pounding so fast I could hear it in my ears. I shook my head, feeling sick.

His brows knitted together, and concern filled his emerald eyes. “What’s going on?” When I didn’t answer, he pulled me aside, into the narrow alley between two buildings. “Talk to me,” he said.

I could barely breathe as I stared up at him. What had Ren told me before? That he couldn’t go through that again. Having to make a choice between someone he cared about and duty. And he was smack dab in the middle of that horrible situation again.

“Babe,” he said, cupping my face, his thumb sliding across the curve of my cheek. “What’s going on?”

Two choices loomed in front of me. I could continue to keep Ren in the dark about what I was and hope for the best. Pray that Kyle wouldn’t figure out it was me, and that somehow we’d be able to deal with the prince and the ancients without me getting outed in the process. But I knew as I stared into his eyes, that was a lot of foolish hoping and praying—a dangerous level of it.

Telling him the truth, which was my only other choice, was so incredibly risky. I loved him. I was in love with him, and maybe that made me a little blind, but because I loved him, I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t allow him to find out through Kyle or other members of the Elite. I didn’t know what would happen if I did tell him, and I fully recognized that I would virtually be handing him a loaded gun. I had no idea what he’d do, but I knew if I spoke those words, it was over between us.

And I couldn’t ask him not to do his duty. He would be required to turn me over to the Order, or worse, to take me out himself. I knew I couldn’t let him do the latter. I was too much of a fighter for that. I knew myself. I would fight anyone who came for me even if I understood why I’d be turned in.

“You’re really starting to scare me, Ivy.” His eyes searched mine. “For real.”

The sound of traffic and the hum of conversation faded into the distance as I took a deep breath. I had to tell him. He had to know, because I wouldn’t let him be blindsided again. I couldn’t lie to him anymore.

My breath lodged in my throat. I had to do the right thing.





Chapter Twelve


My heart felt like it was about to stop in my chest. “I’m the—”

“Hey, what are you two doing down here?” a voice called from the mouth of the alley, halting me. I jerked back, and my heart nearly fell out of my chest when I saw Henry standing several feet away.

Holy crap on a buttered cracker, I’d almost admitted to being the halfling in front of Henry—an Elite member.

“Well, nothing like explaining the obvious,” Ren said. “We’re talking. You know, something two people, sometimes more, or hell, even when a person is alone, like to do without interruption.”

I gave Ren a long side-look.

Henry strode down the alley, the color of his cheeks starting to match his hair. “Kyle warned that you were a smartass. I see he wasn’t exaggerating.”

Ren smirked. “What’s up?”