Into the Light (University of Isles #2)

6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

This was a terrible idea.

Possibly one of my worst decisions yet, but honestly, I couldn’t care less. Dressed head to toe in black, I stood out amid the vibrant colors of the frat party. I had my backpack with Rain’s camera and a pair of oversized sunglasses—yes, at night. I knew it made me stand out, but I needed an excuse for leaving my house so late. The only logical thing I could think of was Marissa’s suggestion to tell Santiago I had gotten my period and needed to run to the store. It had worked well enough as a cover before. Marissa and Pico had to take care of a few things first, so I decided to go before them. Marissa had given me a hug, confirming I was okay to go ahead of them.

“I’ll be good. Thank you,” I had responded softly before I headed out.

When I got there, I walked past the people waiting in line, and groans and annoyed murmurs came from behind me.

“Who does she think she is?”

“She can’t just cut in line like that.”

“You can’t skip us.”

I had never waited in that line before, and I wasn’t planning to start now. Strolling up to the front, I half expected to see Rain since he usually manned this post, but it wasn’t a face I recognized.

“I need to see Rain,” I demanded, positioning myself in a way that blocked him in with my body, hands gripping the arms of his white folding chair. A searing pain shot from the back of my ear as memories of last year flashed before me. I blinked, trying to will back the self-assured Ember.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” The guy tried to pry my hands from the chair, but I held on tighter.

“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” I said, pointing at his radio on his hip. “Just use it to call him.”

“And say what? Some crazy chick is demanding to see you?” He chuckled. “Come on, girl, move along. No pussy is worth this mess.”

I saw red. Without hesitation, I snatched the radio off his hip and flung my sunglasses at his face. As he screamed and grabbed my hand, I pressed the talk button.

“Get your damn ass out here,” I growled into the radio, confident he would recognize my voice.

“What the hell?” The guy grabbed the radio, but I let it slip, along with my sunglasses, from my grasp before he glanced in my direction. “Ember?”

“Oh crap, that’s the girl whose brother killed her boyfriend,” someone shouted from the line. I winced, and my confidence evaporated. My chest was caving, feeling like the air was getting sucked from me.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the doorman growled, and for once, I agreed with him. The people in line were murmuring. I was trying to focus on the small task here.

“Just let me in,” I pleaded, but he shook his head.

“No can do. It’s the boss’s rules.” He shrugged.

“Fucking bitch. You killed your boyfriend,” someone shouted from the line.

Don’t turn around. I repeated over and over again.

“Look.” I pulled the backpack off my shoulders and unzipped it so he could see the contents. “I’m in class with Rain. He left his camera. I’m just trying to return it.”

The guy shrugged. “After what you or your brother did to Ash, God rest his soul, I am not letting you in.”

The anger bubbled inside of me. The same anger I felt whenever I thought about his . . . passing. Because this asshole didn’t realize I blamed myself, too.

I edged closer to the folding chair and leaned down so I was in his face.

“I was his girlfriend,” I said through clenched teeth, my anger bubbling. “I loved him more than you can imagine. I did everything for him, spent eight months banished to Dansport because of how people saw me. But I’m tired of this.” I turned around to face the crowd, standing tall. “I loved Ash Ortiz. I have his initials tattooed on me. He had my name tattooed on him. Do you think I don’t blame myself, too? Because I do.”

I walked back to the doorman, leaned down, and screamed into the darkness, “I loved him too, and he left me. I blame myself every damn day. Let. Me. In,” I demanded, flipping his chair back. He scrambled to his feet, and the people in line fell silent.

“You little bitc—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” a deep voice warned. He emerged from the shadows, as if he belonged in the woods all along.

I paused, my heart skipping a beat. He was a beautiful man, radiating an aura of mystery. Unlike Ash, whose aura was different, I could never tell if Rain liked me, hated me, or just felt indifferent about it all. Over the past eight months, I had called him, texted him, and begged for updates, all with no response. I assumed he wanted nothing to do with me and blamed me for what happened, but I had no way of knowing because he never talked about it.

“I just came to bring you your camera,” I said.

“You needed to come to the house to bring my camera on a Saturday?” Rain asked.

“This obviously played out better in my head,” I confessed while glancing over to the guy in the chair now nursing a broken nose from the fall.

“You’re hurting my men, Ember.” His voice was so low and gravely. He stalked toward me like a lion to its prey.

“I d-didn’t mean to. I was just . . . fuck, Rain, what happened?” My voice cracked, close to crying, so I prayed I could hold it together long enough to give him the camera and go back to the safety of the apartment.

“Hey man.” I turned around to see Pico, hand in hand with Marissa, strolling up to us. “Ember.”

“I don’t even want to go to this stupid party, I just wanted to bring this to you and look at the man who maybe shared in the same grief I felt about—”

“Get upstairs,” Rain demanded, and I nodded, following his lead.

The man in front of me was different from the one I left last year. He was mad, angry, and in charge. The man I left behind shrunk beneath the shadows, but this man was . . . powerful. People listened to Ash, too, because he didn’t give a fuck what weapon he used. Rain just had to use his words, and men bowed down to him, nodding without explanation.

Once we got inside, I paused, letting my surroundings sink in. I hadn’t been here for eight long months and realized how much I missed it all. The music was loud, and the DJ played some pop song that had people crowding the dancefloor flailing their arms. In the corner of the room, were still a few people heavily making out; one girl had her top hoisted to her neck, tits exposed. Instead of cringing like I had the first time I was here, I gave a little smirk, knowing what may have happened earlier in the night.

Rain reached behind and grabbed my hand. I paused for a moment before he guided me through the crowd and upstairs where no one was allowed.

I expected since Rain was the president to be led upstairs, but he brought me to the room that he slept in last year. I looked up the stairs to the loft, then back at him.

“No one could take it this year. Didn’t feel right.” I wondered what happened to his stuff.

Rain opened the door to his room and walked in, a gesture for me to follow, but I took a moment before I followed him in. I hadn’t been alone with a man since . . . him . I took a slow step in and looked around his room.

He had a small bed in the corner, but the room was filled with books and bookshelves. I grabbed a few of them and saw some crime novels. It was rather neat, too; everything had a place.

“I didn’t realize you read?” It came out more of a question as I sat in awe of the bookshelves.

“I’m an English major, Em.” My head shot over toward where he was sitting on the bed the moment the nickname came out. My heart dropped in my chest, the familiarity of it felt so good. His deep-blue eyes blazing into mine, his hands fumbling in his lap.

“Ember . . .” I didn’t realize how strong Rain looked until now. He had definitely been going to the gym more. He was . . . bulkier. His presence commanded more of the space, too.

“You fucking hurt me after everything that happened with Ash,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I didn’t know what else to do. I was shoved into this fucking position.” He threw his hands in the air before standing. “I didn’t have a chance to breathe.”

“No,” I practically shouted, “you don’t get to use that as an excuse. I, too, lost him, Rain. You are the only fucking person I had alive who is connected to him.”

“I was trying to do what was best. I need to appease Mr. Ortiz.”

“Why?” I demanded. “You literally don’t have to. He’s the one putting in everyone’s head this rumor that it was my brother who killed him—”

“No. You don’t know anything, Ember.”

“That’s because no one fucking bothers to tell me,” I yelled.

“I’ll tell you anything you want, ask me a question.” He pulled out a small chair by his desk and sat on the bed while encouraging me to sit in the chair.

“No you won’t. Just like whenever I asked Ash for something, it was always met with some type of mystery around it. I am tired of asking questions you won’t be able to answer.”

He tilted his chin to look up at me. “That’s where Ash and I are very different. I am on your side. I think this whole war between our families is absurd.”

He paused. “Ask. Me. Anything.”