Page 29 of Oblivion
“Phee—”
“I didn’t call you to go over this, Atlas. I’m calling because this is the last time you will ever hear from me, and I need you to listen carefully.”
I could hear shuffling from the background, and within seconds, he answered again. “I’m all ears.”
“There’s a mole in the club, just like we suspected. And I need you to keep an eye on them. Tell Storm and whoever else needs to know, but I suggest you keep it between yourselves and monitor her.”
“Her?” I could almost see the surprise on his face.
“It’s Nova.”
“What?”
“Yep,” I answered. “Her real name is Natalia Asterova, and she’s been planted by The Syndicate. Why? I have no idea. Not yet.”
“But she’s your—”
“Yeah, she’s my cousin, a distant one, but she’s from my family. I’m pretty sure she was the one that left a message in my room just before I ran away. I’m almost one hundred percent certain that she wasn’t there for me, but for Storm. Do you have your eyes on her?”
Silence descended, and I looked down at the phone, checking that the line was still open. “Atlas?”
“Oh, I have eyes on her all right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing for you to worry about, darling.” He chuckled. That’s when I heard him, loud and clear.
“Who are you laughing with?” Storm asked Atlas, and I shivered at the sound of his voice. God, I hoped that one day he would understand why I had to get away from him. “Atlas?”
“It’s just a friend,” Atlas answered, chuckling nervously.
Goddammit, A. He would see right through it.
“Which friend?” Storm asked him, while I basked in hearing him one last time. “It’s Ophelia, isn’t it?”
“No!” Atlas answered, but the shuffling coming through the line told me that he wasn’t exactly in control anymore. “Dammit, Storm!”
Storm spoke directly to me, “You can talk to Atlas, but you didn’t have enough balls to stick around and talk to me?”
Anger laced every single word. There was no love, no nothing except for the red, hot anger.
“Answer me, dammit!” he roared, making me jump in the spot.
I slid down the wall, hugging my knees with my one hand and holding the phone with the other one.
“I thought I deserved more than silence from you, Ophelia.” He did. He deserved the world, but I couldn’t give it to him. “You are a coward,” he spat out, making me close my eyes at the violence coming off him. “A fucking coward who I never should’ve loved.”
Fuck.
Tears ran down my face and as I looked up, I could see Cillian standing there, watching me silently. I shook my head, trying to tell him to stay away.
“I wanted to give you everything, Ophelia. The world, this universe… I would’ve taken down the stars from the sky, only if you asked for it. But you ran. You fucking ran away from me, not once, but twice, and now you won’t even talk to me. I deserve better than you.”
“You do,” I whispered.
“Then why?” he yelled. “Why, Ophelia? You tore my heart out of my chest and stomped on it. Was I really that insignificant or are you really that coldhearted?”
I had no answer to that.
