Page 64 of Bound

Once Ellie was gone, Hayden glared daggers at River. “Stay away from her.”

“Hays, c’mon.” Ethan foamed whip cream into two to-go cups, sprinkled them both generously with cinnamon, and snapped on lids. “We’re all tired. Everyone’s had a shit day.”

But Hayden wasn’t through. “You did this to her. I don’t care if you were ordered to or not. We all make choices, and you chose to be a coward.”

The room stilled, no one daring to breathe.

River didn’t look away. “If you think I don’t regret that day—”

“Don’t.” She bared her teeth. “This isn’t about you. There is nothing you could say or do to earn my forgiveness. And you will never deserve my sister.”

Shrugging off Ethan’s touch at her elbow, Hayden grabbed the drinks and stormed up the stairs.

River lowered his head, saying so quietly that I barely heard him, “On that, we agree.”

A stiff silence settled over the room.

Clearing his throat, Topher hooked a thumb towards August. “We’re going to head out.” He didn’t quite meet my eyes.

I rose from the bar, following him to the door. “Is everything okay? I tried texting you earlier.”

“We were out on calls all day. I didn’t see your messages until just before you got here.” He still wouldn’t look at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing—”

“Bullshit. You’re pissed at me about something.”

The bell over the door jingled, and I noted August had slipped outside and was waiting by the street under the awning, making himself scarce. Everyone else had developed a sudden interest in their phones.

Topher raked a hand through his hair. “We really have to do this right now?”

“Toph—”

“I gotta go.”

And as I watched him follow August out to the street, it felt like someone had punched me in the chest. Ethan cleared his throat.

“You look like hell, River. When’s the last time you ate something that didn’t come in a paper sack with a side of fries?”

River came over to the bar, accepting a bowl of chili and a cup of cocoa. Sniffing the cocoa warily, he took a drink.

“Asshole.” Ethan tossed a stack of napkins at him. “We’re all out of rat poison back in the kitchen, thank you very much.”

“This is great, E. Thanks.”

“What the hell happened?” I said quietly. “You showing up out of the blue like this, and with Ellie—”

“I didn’t have a choice.” River wolfed down a mouthful of chili, chased it with another swallow of cocoa, and sighed. “There’s some effed-up stuff going down right now on the Council. And I’m not sure where things are going to fall out when it’s over.”

“How bad?”

“Guillermo warned me from the start that attachments came at a risk, for me and any person I got close to. I made the mistake of revealing too much, and now that may have placed both of us in danger.”

I exchanged a look with Ethan. “Does he know you’re here?”

“He will soon enough. I didn’t have a choice. Rewrites only work when the information stays vague and non-specific. It would have gotten back to Ellie that we’ve been outed. She would have started experiencing more severe side effects the harder her mind tried to recall the truth. Seizures. Blackouts. You remember how bad things got for Juliet Blair before Lacey fought to get her memories released? I couldn’t allow that to happen.” He looked down. “And the truth is, with trouble brewing on the Council, I need Ellie to be aware of her surroundings. She needs to know to call me or Hayden the instant something doesn’t feel right.”