Page 49 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

Kissing him reminds me of blood. I know that thought.

“Promise me,” I remember begging him outside his house just before high school. “Promise you won’t find someone else at that school.”

He nodded. We didn’t touch back then. Our interactions were just slights, glancing off each other before disappearing. The impact didn’t hurt as much as it does now.

“And promise me one more thing.” I balled my fists. “That you won’t kiss me until you can forget about what happened.”

The man on the motorcycle died in front of us.

That’s what ties us together.

That is the day darkness clawed its way inside us.

“I promise,” he agreed.

What’s breaking a promise worth to you?

I shudder.

I didn’t know then. I didn’t know that he’d crawl deeper into me. That the obsession would give way to something else entirely—something much more fragile. If I was deserving of love, I would say it’s that. If Theo could accept it, I would, too.

We’re too broken for that.

So I close my eyes and set my plan for the next two weeks: time enough for Sebastian to get his fill of me, for Theo to realize he can’t do this, for that murder to be resolved. I can do two weeks. Fourteen days.

I’ve gone longer without seeing him.

15

Lux

Day three: Theo is nowhere to be found.

And yet, I can’t stop thinking about him.

Ruby helps me chart my course around campus to get to all my classes. For some reason, I have three back-to-back-to-back Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I’m already stressed about it. My Tuesdays and Thursdays are easier. They’re all general education classes to help me narrow my field of focus, but I will say right now: Biology is not it for me.

I manage to make it through the day without seeing anyone I know, not even Sebastian.

Weird, since I figured he would be all up in my space.

Maybe that drink I threw sent the message.

Day seven.

I go to class and study, and most of the time Ruby reminds me to eat. She drags me to the dining hall with her, either on the West campus or the main campus. She studies with me in the library, although sometimes she pulls a disappearing act.

I’m too busy to notice.

Too busy hunting for signs of Theo.

Sebastian, though, has manifested. He sits with Ruby and me at dinner or lunch—or both, if we’re unlucky—and tries to get me to agree to a date.

Ruby usually storms off during those barrages, leaving me to either follow her or fend for myself. And honestly, it’s a bit tempting to try to toss my drink in his face again. My drink always seems to be low when he slides into the seat next to me, though…

And I’m beginning to suspect it’s on purpose.

Day eleven.

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