Page 180 of Without a Trace

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Sloane: OH MY god

Sloane: WAS IT TRACE OR ALDEN OR BOTH

Sloane: WAS THERE FIRE

Sloane: BLINK TWICE IF SOMEONE DIED

I snorted into my wrist, the laugh catching in my throat.

Scarlett: Just needed to hear your voices.

Lena: You don’t need a reason.

Lena: I mean it. We’ve got you. Even if it’s bad. Even if you are.

My chest cracked a little wider.

Sloane: Please come home before you get arrested or crowned or both

Scarlett: No promises

I set the phone on the stool beside the tub, screen dimming. The room held its breath.

Steam climbed my neck, kissed the curve of my jaw. My eyes drifted shut.

For one minute, I let it all fall away.

The bloodlines. The bonds. The boys.

The prophecy I hadn’t asked for.

Just water. Heat.

And the echo of Lena’s voice in my head.

You don’t have to earn it.

Kane

Iwasn’t spying.

Not really.

I just happened to be walking by Scarlett’s villa. Again. Slowly. While sipping a beer I didn’t even like.

Sue me.

I could say I was getting some air. I could say I was checking the perimeter. But the truth? I was making sure the girl inside hadn’t cracked open like a damn egg.

She’d been… unhinged tonight.

Funny. Sharp. A little terrifying.

And yeah—hot.

Not that I’d say that out loud. Trace would kill me. Alden might too, but like, politely. Zeke would just stare at me until I choked on my own guilt.

Still, she was something else.

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