Page 173 of Haunt Me

“Why am I incredibly stupid this time?”

“Because,” Wes stops as well, and turns to face me. “Eden gave up a palace to come here, and you are just standing there, pale as a corpse. She was supposed to be in Asteria today, by special invitation from the crown. Apparently, they are hosting a stately dinner where Princess Olivia will announce stepping up to the throne to her intimate circle of friends. They call it ‘an unofficial announcement’, but the event will be televised and broadcast all over the world. They were supposed to be having a formal rehearsal as we speak. Eden is a guest of honor, one of the few non-royals invited.”

I just gape at him, trying to wrap my mind around what he is telling me.

“She and the princess have gotten very close, apparently,” he goes on. “They have been talking on the phone for weeks now.”

“Did Eden tell you all this?”

“She did,” he nods. “She told me she told you as well.”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t realize—”

“You are too preoccupied by your own pain to understand what is happening in her life.” His tone isn’t judgmental, but maybe it should be. “She is moving on, that’s what’s happening.”

I swear, if it was anyone else than stupid Spencer standing in front of me right now, telling me this, I would have sank to my knees, but I won’t embarrass myself in front of him. Not any more than I already have, that is.

“At the same time,” Spencer lays a hand on my shoulder as I turn to go, “you should know that Eden told them that the rehearsal of the royal dinner would have to wait, because she wanted to come here, to see you.”

“What?” I miss a step, and nearly fall flat on my face. Wes holds me up. “And they agreed?”

Spencer shrugs. “Apparently, Olivia likes her. Loves her.”

“She is not the only one,” I murmur under my breath.

Spencer lets out a frustrated sigh and slaps me on the back.

“Isaiah,” he says, and I think he says as a way of saying goodbye, but then he adds something: “Sixty twenty-two.”

Eden’s Poetry

ENOUGH LOVE LYRICS

{excerpt}

Everyone stood away from me

As if I were a bomb

About to explode

As if I were about to

Fill your body with shrapnel

That’s what happens when

You don’t get enough love

You become a weapon

You become a curse

And if I ever got enough love

To survive in an unfriendly climate

It was from you

---