Hidden Away

Thirty-Six: Discovery

"I doubt the girl is going to singlehandedly give up the throne," she says. "She has no power right now. She can't make those kinds of decisions."

"They're mates," the man points out.

"Sure, they're mates, but she doesn't even love him. I doubt she'll be crowned queen anytime soon."

What? Are they talking about me? I lean forward and even take a step, intrigued. I need to know more.

"Yes, but he without a doubt loves her," he says. "The boss has been able to compile information about their relationship and although it's complicated, he would do anything for her."

"How would the boss know all of that?" she asks. "Does he have someone spying on them?" The man places a hand on her back and begins leading her away. I take another step forward in an attempt to try to continue to listen.

"Not necessarily. He's--"

A hand clamps itself around my mouth and another around my wrist, turning me around and pulling me back from the edge of the tent. I bite back a scream as my eyes go wide and my heart drops.

"What in the hell are you doing, Norah?" Evan's hand grips my forearm tightly – almost too tightly. I rip his other one away from my mouth and it lands on my other arm. Our faces are only centimeters away and I can feel his breath on my face. His brows slant downward and his jaw clenches and unclenches. His eyes give off a different feeling though. They look like a mix of concern and anger.

"What are you doing here?" I gasp.

"I'm the one asking questions," he whispers harshly, pulling me away from the camp by an arm. "You don't deserve to ask any right now. What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed? You almost exposed yourself. One more step and you would have been discovered."

My head turns back towards the base, curious as to what the couple was talking about. "Wait-- they were talking about something important. They were about to say something important." I pull on my arm as he pulls it, but his grip only tightens. He yanks on it tightly as I pull, bringing me to him. He catches me with grace, and even though I could overpower him easily, his expression makes me scared to.

"You would rather expose yourself and put yourself in danger for some measly piece of information than to keep yourself safe?" he asks. "What could possibly be more important than your life?" His eyes keep contact with mine. His expression is rough, genuine fear and anger grazing it. I've never seen him like this before. It scares me.

Evan must see this feeling in my eyes because his expression softens immediately. He sighs and I can hear his heartbeat slow slightly. "You're lucky I love you. I could kill you right now for being so reckless."

"I wasn't being reckless," I say. "I was fine."

His voice rises from a harsh whisper to a normal, concerned tone as we get farther away from the base. He looks back at me as he pulls me away by the arm. His eyes land on mine and one of his brows rises. He scoffs. "If you call nearly exposing yourself to thousands of Destroyer soldiers fine, then sure, you were fine." He tugs at my arm as he speeds up.

"Ow!" I yelp as I feel a sharp pain in my wrist. I pull my hand out of his hold. "What's your problem? You're being aggressive." My hand wraps itself around my wrist and massages it. We're far enough away from the Destroyer base that I'm not worried about being too loud.

Evan's eyes soften as soon as he realizes he's gotten too carried away. His gaze apologizes. "My problem is that I'm worried about you, Norah," he confesses. "Ever since..." he trails off, letting me fill in the blank. It isn't very hard to figure out what he means. He sighs and restarts. He continues walking and I trail behind him. "You've been different lately. I'm worried because it seems like you don't care anymore. You don't care about your actions and how they affect you and other people."

I sigh. The ground suddenly seems more interesting than anything else. I don't know how to tell him that he's right. I don't care about anything anymore. But if I tell him like that, I'm afraid he won't understand what I mean. It's obvious that I care about him, Rowan, and the rest of our friends, but all I care about is avenging my parents. I don't care if I make rash decisions or hurt myself in the process.

"You don't understand."

"Then help me understand," he says, turning to look at me. "Let me help you instead of letting yourself get hurt." He stops, takes my hand gently in his, and looks into my eyes once again. His demeanor is softer than the rigidness from before. "We can help you get the revenge you want and deserve without risking your life."

If only he understood. I don't care about my life. I'll avenge my parents if it means everyone else is okay. And I'll happily die in the process if I must.

"I was so close," I whisper. "I could've stayed a little longer and completely changed everything." If only he hadn't followed me. Things could turn out differently. I look back and peer at the light from the camp that is slowly fading away in the distance.

"Maybe," he says. "But it making things right wouldn't be worth it unless you're here looking at the change after the fact."

Maybe he's right. Maybe it would be worth it to be alive to see the change I want, but I would rather die to make it happen than be alive in a world where the people I love are constantly at risk.

If only Evan would understand that.

But it doesn't matter if he understands. I know what I need to do, and I don't care if he doesn't think I should do it. I'm doing it anyway. 

______________________________________________

Hello everyone! 

I've finally graduated high school and committed to college, so all the college stuff can be put to rest and I have more time to write! Hopefully, updates will come a little more frequently.

I do have some sad news for fans of FHC. I have decided to take the book down and scrap it. I started writing FHC when I was 15, and now as I'm about to turn 18, the book is not a concept I'm in love with anymore. I'm a firm believer in writing what you love and I just didn't love it anymore. I've matured a lot in the last few years and I just want to write something that will hopefully be traditionally published and seen in stores one day.

I hope you guys understand. This is what's best for me right now!

Anyways, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!