SERAPHINA'S POV
"Can we meet?" Those are the three words I text Kamila, along with directions to the place that started it all, the very reason our stupid deal ever came to be: The Obsidian Library.
The location was scribbled on the gold card, and I slipped out of the school grounds, sneaking into the lavish compound that surrounds the main building-a grand structure that towers over everything for miles.
Despite its cathedral-like beauty, holding untold secrets, I find no room in me for admiration today. I don't even feel excited.
I never imagined I'd need her number, exchanged during one of our passing encounters. Yet, here I am, infinitely grateful for those two seconds I spent saving it.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
My lower lip is caught between my teeth as I pace frantically, hyperventilating, on the brink of full-blown panic. My heart threatens to leap out of its cage.
A chaotic mix of terror, anxiety, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of sorrow holds me captive.
He knows!
Why? Why did I agree to this wicked plan? Only now do I see just how cruel it was - so selfish and bad!
Regardless of my desperation, regardless of his past actions, he didn't deserve this betrayal. His face, broken and torn, haunts my memory, tearing me apart once more.
I shut my eyes tightly, fighting back tears drenched in guilt, as I inhale deep, steadying breaths.
He was always there, in the background of every scene that played out. Just there. Consistently. He wasn't perfect, like anyone else, but he was there and, at some point, he was honest.
And I fucked it up.
My fists clench into my hair, gripping so tightly it's a struggle not to rip it out to satiate the guilt and remorse eating at my soul.
It couldn't have been Olivia; she's not close enough to him to reveal anything. That leaves only one person-it must be her.
Speak of the devil.
Finally, Kamila appears, sauntering leisurely toward the building as if she owns the world. Her arrogance irks me, tempting me to lash out.
I resist the urge.
"Despite the fact that I gave you that number for ease of communication between us, I'd rather you make less of impromptu meetings like this," she comments, her tone laced with disapproval.
My eyes meet hers. My messy hair partially hides my swollen face, sparing me her petty remarks on the welled-up tears in my eyes.
"Why am I here?" She seats herself comfortably before locking her gaze onto me. My resentment bubbles over.
"Did you tell him?" My words are a whispered inquiry, a test.
Her face remains stoic and calm. Either she's genuinely clueless, or years of perfectly deceiving others have built her into an emotionless monster.
"I'm sorry, I don't follow."
"Did you tell Artemis about the plan?" I press, my voice cold and rigid.
She pauses, head tilted, fingers tapping her chin as if sifting through memories. Then her eyes widen.
"Perhaps I might've let a bit of it slip during an argument," she says, feigning innocence but making it painfully obvious that she really isn't, with the smirk that graces her face now.
She's mocking me.
I gnash my teeth, my lips trembling, holding in my temper so I don't blow up or explode.
"We had an agreement," I seethe, rage boiling over as I take a step closer.
But she remains unfazed.
"None of which implied me not telling him eventually."
It finally hits me, just the kind of person Kamila is, and I can't believe I didn't see it before, even after all she's done.
Twisted, mean, the personification of evil. She's not someone I could have ever been friends with.
A snake.
"I thought it was a given that you would at least let me know, let me prepare for when you'd say something to him, at least goddamn it, not go behind my back and push me into the curb."
"You thought wrong, sweetheart," her voice snaps, sharp and deadly. I meet her blue eye again, watching me like a predator would its prey. "You seem to have misunderstood what this was along the line. This is a simple, clear arrangement. You scratch my back, and I scratch yours; besides that, I owe you no favors."
"Of course, it's always a deal with you, a deal where you have to be the one benefiting. I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I can't believe I listened to you!" I yell, feeling my patience crumble. Hurt and pain from her betrayal vibrate off me.
She scoffs now, rolling her eyes and folding her arms.
"Don't patronize me with that good-girl act. Anything I did only worked because that greedy desire was always inside you. You're not as perfect as you think you are, Seraphina Hawthrone" she snaps coldly, with hateful blue eyes.
I want to see the good in her; I desperately do. But damn it, she makes it so hard to the point that I doubt there's any in that cold heart of hers.
A short bitter laugh escapes my lips.
"I regret ever agreeing to this stupid truce with you. No, I regret ever saving you in that forest. I should have left you to those wolves, and maybe the world wouldn't have to deal with manipulative, two-faced devils like you. I was stupid once, but I promise, Kamila, never again."
I don't care to catch the fleeting flash of emotions on her face before I roughly fish into my pocket, pulling the golden card out, knowing I'd have to fix this one way or another.
She pauses to stare at me, a tight frown following. Deep blue eyes shift from the golden card to my face.
"You've got to be kidding me," she sighs, rubbing her temples from mental exhaustion.
"I want to return this back to you. I want nothing to do with it anymore."
It's the proof of my sin, proof that I'm not as good as I thought I was, and the first step in righting this wrong might be giving this back.
Finding the truth isn't worth burning bridges with Artemis for. I could have found another way without stooping to her level.
"He has a taste of you; he's done and knows you're not so different from every other desperate, horny girl. And now you want to return my reward?" She asks, like it's the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard.
But I'm not fazed by any of her opinions.
This isn't for her entertainment.
"I'll advise you to rescind that offer before you actually regret it." She warns in a lower-toned voice. "Don't waste a perfectly good sin."
I take a step closer instead so she hears my words clearly, knows that I want nothing to do with her anymore, and whatever alliance this was, is over.
"I'll take my chances."
She glares at me, annoyed by my new attitude and the fact that her deceit doesn't work again and that I'm immune to it.
We're locked in a staring match next, her eyes searching for a weakness to exploit as always and me, not backing down, despite the intensity of her look.
Her mouth moves; she wants to say something more, and I'm ready for it, but the words don't leave her lips before we're interrupted.
"Hey you two!" A middle-aged man yells from afar once he spots us.
He dashes over, wearing a security uniform, and I'm reminded that I'm, in fact, here illegally. Snuck in over a fence.
I dash off before he can get to me, leaving Kamila there because she's Kamila, and she'll find her way out of it because she's an Alpha princess.
I run closer to the main building to hide, thinking that I'm free until I spot another security.
Our eyes meet, and his disapproving expression is enough to convince me to find a new hiding spot.
Luckily, I do, behind a pillar, pressing myself against it. That's when something peculiar happens.
The golden card contacts a section of the wall, which lights up. A block sinks into the wall, the floor vibrates beneath me, and the wall begins to pivot, pulling me inside.
When it stops, I find myself in the rumored library that holds all secrets.
Now, I know how the key works.
I lean away from the wall, taking a step forward and looking, unprepared by the sight that greets me before my jaw drops.
It's an infinite library with endless shelves in the widest building I've ever seen. Floors upon floors of books, some shelves so high they seem to require special access.
I almost gasp, then catch myself, remembering I'm here illegally.
But for the moment, I'm hidden, and maybe even closer to the secrets I so desperately seek.