Page 52 of Dancing With Death

Even if he avoids all eye contact and rarely, if ever, speaks to me. I’m still here and in his face. I won’t let him forget about me.

Is that pathetic?

Fuck, it is, isn’t it?

Shaking my head, I force myself to focus on Wren. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay?” she asks. The look she shoots me is daring me to lie to her, but what’s the point?

“Not really. I don’t like how unsettled everything feels.” My eyes find Nex once more. It’s like I can’t help myself. They’re always drawn to him—something I both love and hate. “You see how Nex acts around me. There haven’t been any major blowups between Cassian and Wraith, but it’s coming. I can feel it. Plus, waiting to get to Michael is killing me.”

Wren hums, offering me a soft smile. “You have a lot going on. No one can blame you for feeling overwhelmed. Are you at least leaning on your mates?”

“Probably not as much as I should be,” I admit. Although I don’t tell her I’ve been avoiding them fairly regularly—at least as much as I can since none of them are above stalking me.

It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with them. I love them and our time together, but everything feels off without Nex and Cassian there. It feels like parts of me are missing, and when I’m surrounded by my three bonded mates, it’s even worse. And it’s not like I can admit that to them.

I can just imagine how that conversation would go. Sorry, I love the three of you, but you’re just not enough for me.

They’d love that.

“We could hang out tonight,” Wren offers, and I shake my head.

“I wish I could, but Cassian’s coming over tonight. He has something planned for us.” I play with the ends of my hair, following Nex’s progression around the room with my eyes.

Wren waggles her eyebrows. “He does, does he? I wonder what that could be?”

I wave my hand at her, dismissing her words. I’m sure we’ll end up having sex. That’s practically a given any time I’m around my mates. We can’t seem to keep our hands off one another—except Nex, who never touches me.

I love sex just as much as anyone, but the relationships with my mates are about so much more than that. I like who they are as people, which means the world to me. I’m sure the Fates wouldn’t pair me with someone who I wouldn’t get along with, but since they fated me to one of the most stubborn demons to ever live, who the hell knows?

Yes, I’m feeling sorry for myself and the lack of relationship I have with Nex—sue me.

“I just wish he would look at me,” I mumble, but Wren catches my words, her face falling.

“I wish I could do something to help you with that.” She sighs. “Of course you’d end up with a mate even more stubborn than you.”

I’ve all but given up on speaking with him—with trying to convince him he should give us a chance. Not so much by choice but because he flees in the opposite direction every time he sees me.

Brenden assures me he’s working on it, but I’ve yet to see any progress when it comes to me. There’s been a ton of progress between Nex and Brenden. At least that’s what he tells me. They’ve made out a few times, but nothing more than that.

Not that I would hold it against Brenden if things progressed with them. Although, it makes me sick that Nex doesn’t seem to mind getting closer to Brenden when he wants nothing to do with me. Shouldn’t he be worried about what happens to Brenden with the curse?

A thought occurs to me, my gaze drifting back to Nex.

What if that is his plan? To get close to Brenden, to fall for him, and when the curse kicks in, he no longer has to worry about me or Brenden.

Holy shit. That better not be his plan. If he hurts my mate, I will eviscerate him.

“Umm…Audrey?” Wren’s voice wavers for a moment. “Why are you growling at Nex?”

Jerking my head toward her, I realize I’m baring my teeth and growling.

I cut that shit off immediately, filling Wren in on where my thoughts strayed before we both consider the man in question.

“I want to say he’d never do that,” Wren begins hesitantly, “but it totally seems like something he would do.”

“Right? If he hurts Brenden, then I don’t want anything to do with him.” I toss my hands in the air. “I know Brenden comes off a little crazy—”

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