Page 133 of Ink Deep Devotion

This was it—the end.

But I’ll also have to endure seeing Dash. This would be my life until I found a way to escape it.

Nova joins me on the couch. She’s not one for tears, but she knows mine are not stopping anytime soon.

“A part of me thought it was real when I accepted my fate. That night, Nova…it was like being back with the boy I knew. But it was just a lie so that he would seal the contract with my father.” A lie I begged him to tell me. And he did. He lied so damn well. I wanted that fairytale. I wanted to bind it into a book and hold it tight like a shield that would keep the monsters away as I slept.

I know it’s silly, stupid, and emotionally reckless, but I’m a girl, and we were taught to believe in fairytales. I’m just doing as I was raised. Dash is acting as he was raised, too. Boys are nottold that prince charming will save them. They are taught to save themselves, to be their own hero.

Dash did; he sealed his heart off.

If only I were raised like a man was, I’d be strong and have thicker skin, and I’d always have the confidence to take what I needed. I wouldn't have to beg for respect because I would have been led to believe that it was owed to me.

“Everything was planned down to the pictures.”I sigh. Dash finally confessed his love for me, over and over again. That was real, but it was tethered to the reality that they would cut the rope soon.

“This is what it will be like. Dash will come to me, then leave as he wants. Who knows if he isn’t leaving me to be with another woman?” A man like him will eventually sleep with another. I know it.“Dash has all the freedom, and I’m locked in the castle.” I throw my hands up.“Nova, you said you would help me.”

Her lips tug up in a devious smirk, like a kid that was swinging their fork into the entire cake and not just a single slice.“What exactly do you need help with, Mila?”

Nova has been waiting for this day. It’s her nature to corrupt and make men suffer, especially the Kings.

It didn’t escape my knowledge that she and Titan hooked up when we were on the island; I noticed her on the plane ride home and how Titan stayed closer to her side. He feared she would run away from him, too.

I think Nova approached Titan because he was the biggest and baddest predator at Empire University; she saw him as the ultimate victory. She wanted to fuck his body and his mind, but I think along the way, she started to feel something for him. Her actions regarding her relationship with Titan were like seismicshifts; some days, she was violent toward him, and others were like small tremors, and she welcomed him into her dorm room.

“The king’s way or the coward’s?” Nova questions me. It wasn’t the first time she asked me this. I could run and hide, accept my fate, or I could do what a king would do and fight to the death.

“I could never kill Dash, Nova. I love him. Plus, it’s not like we would really kill him. I know you’re joking about that.” I bit my lip. Plotting an escape is new, and I have no idea where to start.

“So what do you want, Mila? Are you happy with this life of yours?”

Something dark takes root in my belly, churning and thrashing till it grabs hold of my mind. Vengeance. That’s what I want. I don’t just want to escape.

“I want to make Dash feel as I do,” I admit. There are stages of grief, and right now, I want to hurt Dash. How could he love me so fiercely and then let me go? Why wasn’t I enough?

“And how do you feel?” Nova’s voice sounds like a sweet and sour candy. It makes my cheeks pucker, but my tongue salivates for more.

I sit taller, embracing this new me. My eyes now feel dry.

“Alone. I want Dash to feel alone.”

???

A few weeks later.

I was starting to come to terms with the fact that Nova wasn’t who she claimed to be. After our conversation, it took her less than sixty seconds to call a friend and have a fake identity made for me. I’m not normal—look who I’m married to—but I don’t have a person on speed dial who can make me an ID that is CIA-level good.

“Have you ever used a fake ID before?” I ask as I grab a lollipop and watch her flat iron her long black hair. I insisted on going with her to pick up the ID, but she refused. Maybe she needs to keep this person’s identity secret.

“Look at me, at my body. I didn’t need a fake ID to get into clubs.”

“I’m talking about more than underage drinking.” I question.

Has she made a new identity before? I think she has. Why else would this be so easy for her?

I think you ran before Nova, which is why you have a clear understanding of all the dirty details I need to stay hidden.

Who did you escape, Nova?

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