“Fucking hell, Seb,” Orok brays into the phone. “Make itstop.”
“That’s a hard no after youbetrayed meandsalted the earth on which I live.”
The guy I sit next to on the bus pops an eyebrow but pretends to be engrossed in his phone.
“YOU ARE DEAD TO ME, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME, YOU ARE—”
There’s rustling, and at least two of the voices stop.
“How did I betray you?” Orok asks. Shuffling joins the hodgepodge of background noises. Another screeching voice cuts off.
“How was Elethior at Prismatic?” I reply.
“Ah.” Orok coughs.
“Ah?Ah? You don’t sound remorseful. Hence your new surround-sound speakers.”
“You sent me to get your shit out of the lab,” Orok says. Something thuds; he curses. A few more rocks quiet. “He asked where you were. He seemed honestly upset about you running off. Sorry, about youturning invisible,then running off. Smooth move there, Casanova.”
“I will lodge a shrieking rock up your ass.”
The guy sitting next to me stands abruptly and motions to get around me. “Uh, gonna—”
“No, I’ll move. I’m sorry.” I get up and shove myself into the alcove near the rear door. To Orok, I hiss, “You told him where I’d be last night.”
“To be fair, I only told him we’dprobablyhit Prismatic after the win.” Another rock shuts up. It sounds like there’s only one more “YOU ARE DEAD TO ME” along with Chappell Roan telling Orok to raise his hands and body roll.
“Shit, Seb, where’d you hide them?”
“Hang up and do a seeking spell. It’s your punishment.”
“For trying to get you out of your own way?”
“Yes. No. For—” I rest my head against the bus door’s window. It’s grimy and disgusting and gods know what I’m letting soak into my skin.
“Under your dresser,” I mutter.
Orok coos triumphantly. “Thank you.”
“YOU ARE DE—”It shuts off mid-sentence.
But Chappell’s still going.“H-O-T-T—”
“Seb.”
I sigh. “On your bedside table.”
“There’s no rock on my bedside table.”
“Cloaking spell.”
“Asshole.”
“Yeah. A bit.” I scrub a hand through my hair as Chappell Roan stops.
“Thankgods.” Orok blows out a huge breath in his now silent room. “My head is killing me.”
The bus rattles and hits a bump.
