Breeding in the Academy: Searching for Freedom (All 14)

Chapter 17

Raven's lips turned downward. "Axel informed me about Kayli and Kevin. I am... unclear."

I stared at him. "Unclear? Do you mean confused?"

He nodded, looking down. "Kayli would always bag at me for not getting my words wrong."

Anger filled me. How dare she! I wanted to revive her and kill her again for what she had done to Raven. Instead of helping him or encouraging him, she nagged at him and belittled him. I have never seen him so lost.

Reaching out, I grabbed his hand. His brown eyes looked at me in sadness. "She should not have done that, Raven. English is your second language. I know that you think in Russian and have to translate into English so it's reasonable that you'd mix up words. You shouldn't be ashamed of that. All of you deserve to be happy."

His eyes lingered on our intertwined hands. feeling awkward, I tried to release him, but he latched on before I was out of his grip. His fingers, which have hurt and killed, played with mine. "Do you think that we can find happiness?"

I smiled. "Of course."

He frowned again. "What about you?"

I felt as if I was missing something, but I dismissed it. "My happiness?"

Axel looked at me. There was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't understand. "You'll find your happiness, too, Sang."

I sighed, looking at the cloudy sky. I imagined that the sky was clear and that stars were twinkling in the sky with the Polaris shining brightly, but my life was like this cloudy sky. The clouds were the obstacles and the starry sky was my happiness. The clouds may disperse but they will always come back, blocking me from my happiness. "I finally got my brother back. I'm happy." I peeked at them, seeing their tight lipped expressions. All four of them seemed stiff. "My life is more dangerous than yours. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, and I'll be alright."

"Will you?" Brandon asked me. His sad blue eyes looked at me over his shoulder. His gaze pierced me, daring me not to turn away from my feelings.

"I-" I started to speak when I noticed where we were. A few yards away was the cave that was Destination Cinderella. The cave was the entrance to the safe house. There was a false back of the cave that opened to a staircase that winded downward to a dugout area the size of a small house.

"G!" Milo yelled before he appeared and threw himself at me. His arms came around me, and he squeezed me tightly. "You're all right, right?" He drew back before he started to pat my arms.

I smiled, forcing Brandon's question away. "I'm fine, but Corey is injured."

"What?" Sean's shocked face appeared from behind a tree. He stepped towards us, looking a bit nervous as his gaze shifted from us to the wounded Corey. "May I look at his injury?"

A lightbulb went off inside my mind. A memory of the Bidding came to mind where I remember that it was announced he was a doctor. I nodded. "Go ahead. We need to move quickly, but if you need more time, we'll give it to you."

Sean nodded. His green eyes were filled with kindness and an unrecognizable emotion before he ran towards Corey who was being taken towards the cave. Milo ran after Sean. I along with Brandon and Axel made our way after them.

Halfway to the cave, Marc ran up to me and pulled me into a hug. He was always the one in the Toma team who would initiate a hug. His warmth comforted me, and I relaxed. When he pulled away, his mismatched blue eyes looked at me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

His lips thinned. "And Kayli?"

I looked down, feeling my emotions ice over. "I had to do it."

He sighed. "I'm not blaming you. I'm asking if you're okay about what had to be done with Kayli?"

I looked up at him, warmth blooming inside me. "I'll have to live with it. You should go see Corey."

When we came to the mouth of the cave, I looked at the Prime as Marc went down below. They looked haggard. Dark bags were underneath their eyes, and tiredness made their shoulders sag. Dirt and sweat marked their skin from their hike, and I knew that they were not used to this harsh environment. "You should get a nap. I don't know how much time we'll have until we have to move again."

Some of them nodded before going down into the underground living space. When I went to go down, a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up to see gray eyes. Mr. Blackbourne was a few step down than me and was holding his hand out towards me.

I stared at him. "I'm not injured."

His lips twitched, and amusement flickered in those gray eyes. "I assume you are not, but I would like to help you down the stairs, Ms. Lyons."

A smile came to my face as I took his hand. His hand wrapped around mine warmly. "Thank you, Mr. Blackbourne."

"No, thank you, Ms. Lyons," he said as he moved with me. "Thank you for letting Sean help."

I raised an eyebrow. "what do you mean?"

His hand tightened around mine before his group loosened. "Sean was treated as a genius for getting his doctorate at such a young age, but he never had the opportunity to use his abilities. Even if the others or I were injured, the Academy doctors would take care of us, and Sean felt useless."

My lips turned downward. "He wanted to be depended on." I hummed. "The Phoenix will love to have Sean help them in the hospital."

Mr. Blackbourne's head swerved towards me. I was speechless at the surprise in his eyes. "You'll let him help?"

I nodded. "The Phoenix doesn't care what blood type we have. They care about what one's ability. If it was healing, or even cooking, cleaning, teaching. Anything." I stepped down a step so our eyes were level. "I'm glad that I learned something about you."

A slender brow curved. "And what did you learn about me?"

"I knew that you cared for the others, but I assumed that it was because you were their leader or their friend. I was wrong. You care about them deeply as if they were your family." I watched as he digested my words. When he didn't speak, the atmosphere turned a bit awkward. I coughed, looking away. I stepped down to another step. "Do you hold the memory of me buying you against me?"

Mr. Blackbourne started walking with me. "I don't. I was ready for that moment when we were to be sold off. I am more shocked to learn that you bought me instead of your brother."

I bit my lip, nervous. I didn't know how to out my feelings at that moment into words. "I don't know why either. When I saw you, I spoke before I could think."

I felt him glance at me from the corner of his eye. "And do you regret that moment?"

I looked at him, straight in the eye. "No, I don't. As to why I did that, I'm still figuring that out."

Before we came to the last step, he leaned in until his lips brushed against my ear. "Truthfully, I am glad that you bid on me."

He stepped away and let go of my hand. Although we were in the dark, I could see the blush on neck. I wanted to smile at him being so cute.

"Mr. Blackbourne," Axel spoke, attracting both of our attention. His almond shaped eyes latched onto the Prime. "I need to see your violin."

A/N: Finally updated! Whew, it was hard trying to get this and BITA 9 out because I haven't felt any inspiration until now. Thanks for sticking with me and i hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me your thoughts about anything. 

<3 Azallya