Page 72 of Shadow of Death

“I accept your denouncement. You are now officially nothing to each other,” Varic said, all the while fighting a smile.

“I’ll be gone in a week. I’ve moved my items out of the room and will find another to settle in. I won’t be here much longer. I have more important things to handle.”

“Completely understandable,” Varic said, sounding more pleasant to Kicks than I’d heard him the entire time we’d been there.

But what I was really reeling from was that Kicks was truly leaving. He was just up and abandoning me here.

He turned, not looking at me as he passed, like I wasn’t even in the room anymore.

Varic smiled, walking over now that Kicks was gone. “Well, he just made my life easier for the first time since I was born. I’m sorry you had to see him for what he truly is, but it’s for the best, isn’t it? Now you won’t feel bad for him or like you need to baby his feelings. I say good riddance.”

I smiled, in spite of the fact that all I wanted to do was collapse and cry. I held myself together and put on the performance of my life. “You’re completely right. Good riddance.”

“I hope you’ll be down for dinner tonight?”

“Of course.”

I was walking back to my room, wanting nothing more than to hide, when Athena stepped into my way.

Her lips were pointing down and her eyes were more squinty than ever as she stomped her way to me.

“We need to speak.”

I wasn’t sure when she’d grown a pair, but she suddenly seemed to have balls big enough to hang off a fender of a Mack truck.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but Varic is mine. No human will ever change that, no matter how big a freak you are.” People walked past, making sure to steer clear of us. She was talking loud enough that they would hear anyway. The whole place would have more juicy gossip to chew on by tonight.

I was deciding between ignoring her completely and unleashing all the anger inside me on her. I had plenty of it to spare right now. If I did lose my shit, the whole place would hear.Kickswould hear. I wouldn’t have anyone telling him how unhinged I was and let him think it was him. Whether she realized it or not, he saved her.

I stayed quiet, watching her.

She waited as if I were supposed to say something. I’d do pretty much anything to get rid of her right now, because I was on the brink of either going supernova or melting into a puddle of tears.

“Are you done? Because I’ve got things to do,” I said as casually as I could.

“You better remember your place,” she said, then turned and left.

Chapter Thirty-One

Skipping dinner was not an option.I had to put on a brave face, but I wasn’t sure how I could do that when my eyes were bright red from crying. They were almost literally a red flag, alerting everyone to my current meltdown.

If I kept my distance, maybe no one would notice. The lights were usually dimmed for dinner. Then again, shifters had great eyesight, so it probably didn’t matter how low they were.

There was a knock at my door. It was Aunt Elara. I’d recognized her steps on their way over, nearly groaning when they stopped in front of my door.

She knocked again when I didn’t answer.

“Piper?” she called.

I didn’t answer, and she knocked again.

She wasn’t going to leave. You didn’t knock three times and call out if you weren’t digging in.

I got out of bed.

“Come in,” I said, trying to keep my voice bright and chipper. Letting her in was better than the spectacle of her calling for me in the hall.

She walked in and shut the door. Her worry lines were out in full force. The story of my breakup with Kicks had clearly runthrough the pack like wildfire through tumbleweeds after a year-long drought.

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