Page 40 of Under an Endless Moon

It wasn’t like he’d given me any time to even respond between the call and the texts that kept blipping through.

Still, my stomach twisted.

I could feel his worry woven in the words, though he should have known I was with Otto and was completely safe.

Okay, maybe safe wasn’t the best definition.

Because my heart definitely wasn’t safe. Not when the man shredded it without even knowing it.

But my body was at least.

Me

Sorry, can’t come to the phone. Busy bleaching my eyes.

A tweak of mischief pulled at the edge of my lips as I sent it.

Yeah, I was so going to bust his balls about this.

I lifted my head as I stepped deeper into Otto’s bedroom.

My stomach twisted in an entirely different way.

I’d never been in here before, and my gaze jumped around to take stock.

It mimicked the rest of the house. Everything black and steel. His bed was enormous like the man. Fit for a king except he hadn’t made it. The heavy black comforter and gray sheets were a rumpled pile on top. The bedframe itself was black, and the headboard butted up against the far wall that was also made completely of glass.

A buzz glowed in my belly at the thought of him there, naked and bound in the fabrics, all those colorful tats rolling over his flesh.

I blinked the vision away.

Dangerous, dangerous thinking, Raven. Do not go there.

I let my attention drift.

He had more artwork on the walls, and a massive dresser sat on the right side of the room.

Old pain clutched my spirit when I saw what was sitting on top.

I eased over and picked up the picture.

Haddie was there. Her head tipped back as she laughed toward the sky.

Always, always laughing.

I ran my fingertips down her face like I could reach out and touch her. Remember. My first true friend.

Grief splintered through me as I thought to the way it’d spiraled. The way we’d lost control. I’d tried to stop it, but I couldn’t break through. Couldn’t do anything before it was too late. Before the insurmountable pain had come.

I squeezed my eyes closed when the memory raked through my consciousness like a blade. A ghost. A specter. My own depravity that I’d kept shored and secreted. The one thing I could do. A victory that still felt as if it’d stolen a piece of my soul that I could never get back.

The tattoo on my side burned like a branding.

I will make it to the sunrise.

I startled when my phone started ringing in my hand, and I nearly dropped the picture, though I managed to right it and set it back onto the dresser. Then I couldn’t stop my smile when I saw who was calling.

Blowing out the strain, I accepted the call as I moved toward Otto’s bed.

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