Page 96 of Violet

“Leave her be. She needed to rest up away from little ghouls.” Iris smacks Rue playfully on the head, making her shriek, which brings everyone else rushing in.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Mari says to Iris, who’s most definitely not sunshine, “you’ve had her for five days now. We want to catch up with Vi and hear her dish.”

“My…” I trail off as heat burns my face. “Marigold,” I hiss. “Nothing happened.”

“No, a lot happened,” Mari says, “and we want to know what it’s like.”

Dahlia appears with an armful of books. “She means the heat, not the sex.”

“No one,” Heath thunders, “is having sex.”

“You know what I think? If Heath isn’t getting any, he doesn’t want us to have any S-E-X.” Rue sings the letters out.

Heath stalks up to her. “You shouldn’t even be using the word. Hell, you shouldn’t even know about what it is. Now go and…do some chores. As penance.”

As Rue scampers off, laughing hysterically, he looks at something on his tablet. I’m exhausted and I want to sleep. I want to wrap myself in dream Stephan until I can do the same with the real one.

Maybe he told the truth about wanting me, and I think he did, just like I know there’s a world of difference between want and love.

For someone who never wanted a mate, I heard how he spoke of Cecilia. With love and?—

“Vi, study,” Heath says.

With a sigh, I follow him in and close the door.

“Did he touch you?”

I lift my chin. In my head I can hear an alternative-Violet challenging him on if he really wants to know, but I’m never that. Heath might want to half murder his friend most of the time, but he’s anxious too. For me and my virtue, for the family, our reputation, our chances of Stephan’s?—

Oh, crap. Stephan’s loaded and, beyond the Emporiastain, comes with a stellar pedigree, and it must crush a part of Heath that he now has to rely on his friend to help us.

“No. He was good.” Hedidtouch me, but not in the way my brother’s asking. The dream stuff doesn’t count, and neither does him getting me off by just stroking my clit. My virginity is still useless and intact. “Stephan took care of me…well, Iris and Mom did. Stephan had to stay away through most of it.”

I don’t want this conversation. At all.

All these rules…

“Nothing happened.”

He nods and sits, rubbing his chin. “Are you okay?”

“It’s life for an Omega.”

“Christ, Vi.” He slumps a little.

I want to ask about Cecilia, but I don’t. I’m not ready for that. I’m not jealous. She’s gone, but Stephan loved her, I heard it, and— “He told me he can’t have kids.”

His brow rises. “He did? You’re okay with that?”

“We could adopt. There are options…”

Heath frowns. “Maybe. I don’t know if they’re on his agenda.” Then he looks at me. “Vi, you’ll work it out. You always do. And people change their minds. Fuck, I just wish there wasn’t our whole world riding on this.”

He tosses a cream-colored letter at me. “Arrived this morning. Mom’s waiting in the drawing room for you.”

I look at the letter. “This is an invitation to an exclusive masked black tie, black dress persons-of-mystery party, thrown by the Monarch. Tomorrow night.”

“Go catch up with Mom. I guess you’ll be seeing Stephan again sooner rather than later.”

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