Gabriella Poole: Blood Ties (Darke Academy)

With a sigh, Ranjit slid down the wall to the floor, resting his arms on his knees. After a moment’s hesitation, Cassie sat down at his side.

‘Ranjit.’ She picked at a hangnail, her voice quiet. ‘Why are you here? Really?’

She knew the answer she wanted – for him to tell her he’d been wrong, that he never should have abandoned her. That he loved her.

She needed him to say that.

Ranjit turned his head so he was looking into her eyes. That brought his face, his lips, so very close. She could smell him. His skin, his

hair, his essence. Cassie struggled to control her breathing. In, out. In, out. No panting, now. She felt dangerously vulnerable under his

gaze.

‘Really?’ he said. ‘Truly? Because I wanted – I needed to see you. I’ve missed you like hell. I wish to God that I didn’t have to do what I

did. You have to believe me, Cassie. But I still had to do it. And I just wanted to explain myself, so that maybe, just maybe, you won’t hate

me so much.’ He hesitated, his eyes imploring.

Cassie nodded. ‘Go on.’

He turned his head away to stare at the floor again. ‘And I need to tell you why we can’t be together any more.’

Those words hurt so much, and so unexpectedly, she had to pause for long moments.

‘Right.’

He took a deep breath. ‘I wanted to be with you at the Council. The night of the meeting, I was ready. In my room. About to come to get

you. And …’

She sighed. Why did he expect her to make it easier for him? ‘And?’

‘And Sir Alric came to see me.’

‘I see. So you left me alone because you had a more important meeting.’

‘You don’t understand!’ he snapped. ‘He told me what he was expecting that night – at the Council. He told me he’d have to fight tooth

and nail just to keep you out of the Confine.’

‘Did he really?’ Cassie arched an eyebrow. ‘It didn’t show.’

‘I think it’s true. He said he had to convince the Elders he could control you. That he could monitor you within the Academy, restrain you,

train you. And …’ Ranjit took a breath. ‘And that he couldn’t do that if I was there with you.’

Cassie bit a nail. ‘What? Why?’

‘Because we shouldn’t be together, Cassie.’

When she could finally breathe out, the sigh was shaky. ‘I see. Well, in that case there’s more nothing to explain. Sir Alric has spoken,

so—’

‘Cassie, it’s not like that. Please listen. There’s … there’s so much to explain. It’s not that I don’t – it’s not that I don’t like you. Very …

very much. It’s not that I don’t desperately want to be with you.’

Cassie let out a short, mirthless laugh. ‘Hard to see what it is, then.’

Miserably, he raked his hands through his hair. ‘It’s our spirits, Cassie. You must feel it too. The way things are between us? So volatile?

One second wanting to tear each other’s hair out, the next wanting to tear each other’s clothes off? And what happened last time we were

together. Remember? You think you have trouble controlling yourself? Well, so do I. Especially around you.’

She bit her lip, watched his tormented profile.

‘Yeah.’ She hesitated.

‘Cassie, Sir Alric had already explained it to me that night he called me back into his office after he saw us together. I didn’t want to

believe him. I tried to ignore it. I argued. But what he told me is right. If you think about it, you’ll know it’s true. We bring out the worst in

each other, Cassandra.’ He shook his head sadly.

‘Yes we do, Ranjit.’ She got to her feet, suddenly desperate not to cry in front of him. Not to grab him, hang on to him, beg him not to go.

She had trouble controlling herself …

‘Not us, I mean what’s inside us. Our spirits bring out the worst in each other, that’s what Sir Alric told me. God, I’m doing this so badly

…’ He took an exasperated breath. ‘We’ll become worse, Cassie – we’ll egg each other on. We’re like a pair of evil twins. You know what

else he said?’

‘Surprise me.’

‘If I had shown up at the Council meeting,’ he said intently, ‘he’d’ve let you go to the Confine.’

‘He did what?’

‘He said he wouldn’t have a choice. If I’d insisted on supporting you he’d have cast his vote to imprison you. For your protection and

everyone else’s. So what choice did I have?’

She put her head in her hands. ‘The choice to fight for me?’

‘Oh, Cassie, don’t you see?’ He touched her hair, and it was like a tiny electric shock. ‘I tried. But I couldn’t ignore the basic fact that he

was right.’