Page 71 of Devour the Dark

She’s braver than I am.

I might be afraid of what label he’d give us if pressed to give one.

Fuck partners? Just friends? I couldn’t bear it. To come this far, only to realize I meant so little…

Roc pulls on his shirt just as his eyes burn to bright yellow-gold.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

“I’m…yes. I’m fine.”

“Your eyes?—”

“Both of you stay here while I go find Vane. Don’t leave this room.”

“You shouldn’t be alone.” Wendy slips off the bed. “We can come with you?—”

“No.” He turns for the door. “Do not leave. Understood?” He looks at me, waiting for my acknowledgment.

“Very well.”

He turns to Wendy next. She’s standing by the bedside, arms crossed over her chest. She tells him nothing.

To me, he says, “Don’t let her leave.” Then he pulls open the doors and shuts them quickly behind him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ASHA

“There’s a look on your face.”

I know Winnie has been watching me.

We have drinks—a signature concoction for the night called Bloody Twilight. It tastes like licorice and cherry. I’ve barely sipped mine. Winnie’s is already gone. She’s assured me that the shadow makes it nearly impossible to get drunk. I’m not so lucky.

“What kind of look?” I ask.

We’re tucked in a back corner partially hidden by a pottedcalycanthus Aphroditebush, its bright red blooms perfuming the air around us.

“Like you’re trying to undress Malachi with your mind.”

“Meh. Not my type.”

“Okay, but—wait, what is your type?”

Despite my objections, Iamwatching Malachi closely. But Winnie asked me a question, and when data is requested, I sometimes have difficulty denying it. “The twins have the kind of body I like. Solid and stocky.”

Winnie smiles wide. “So solid.Sostocky.”

“I tend to like my men a little more detached, though. I don’t do emotion well.”

“So a Bash body, an emotional state like Pan. How do you like to be loved?”

“I would tell you if I knew.”

She watches me quietly for several seconds. “I understand,” she says. “More than you know.”

We scan the ballroom again. The party is well underway, with the room very close to capacity. The dance floor is in the middle of a choreographed number, the rest of the room crowded around the perimeter to watch.

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