“And I see what it’s doing to you. How it hurts. How you’re trying to stand upright while your own body is screaming.”
His words fray, going rough around the edges. “It’s killing me to watch you like this. Do you get that? Every time you wince, every time I see that hunger clawing under your skin, and you pretend it’s not there…it's tearing me apart.”
I can’t breathe.
Because it’s not just the heat or the pressure or the ache. It’shim. It’s always been him.
We’re too linked. Too wound together in a way I don’t fully understand. He feels me when I unravel. I feel him every time I try to rethread myself. We don’t have a bond. Wearethe bond.
And still, I can’t touch him.
Still, I can’thavehim.
The unfairness of it punches through me like fire through glass, white-hot and blinding.
“Then don’t watch,” I snap. “Go work the front door. Go do whatever broody solitary thing it is you do. But I’m not going home.”
“Aura—”
“No!” I whirl on him. “You don’t get to make this choice for me. I finally have a life. I have friends. Ilikewho I am here. Ichoosethis.”
His jaw tightens, nostrils flaring. “You can’t pretend anymore that you aren’t cursed.”
“It’s notmycurse.” Only when the words reverberate off the lockers do I realize I yelled them. Still, it doesn’t stop the anger from pouring out. “It’s my father’s.Hewas the one who broke it off with a Midnight Fae princess and married my mother. Why should I be the one to pay the price? I don’t deserve this. I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t do anything. I was just a baby when she cursed me.”
Chest heaving, eyes stinging with unshed tears, and the hunger still burrowing through me with relentless need, I register my own words. I’ve never openly blamed my parents until now. It feels like a betrayal. They love me and work so hard to take care of me, but finally tapping fully into the anger and blame feels good, freeing. But it doesn’t change a fae fucking thing.
If Talon is surprised by my outburst, he doesn’t show it. “You don’t deserve it,” he agrees. Behind his words is the same tidal wave of injustice I feel about the situation, but it comes out so even, so controlled. “But it doesn’t change the fact you’re hurting.”
“I’m surviving,” I yell back, needing to drown out his logic. I can’t be composed anymore, not when I’ve finally cracked inside. “And that matters more than whatever version of myself you want to keep me locked inside.”
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t stop me when I storm past him, my boots loud against the tile as I shove the locker room door open and disappear into the thump of the club beyond.
I know he’s probably right.
But going back to who I was? I can’t do it.
Iwon’tdo it.
Chapter 14
The Starving Girl in the Shower
TALON
Aurora refused to talk to me, or even look at me, the rest of the night. She manages to steer clear of me when we get back to our impossibly small apartment, an impressive feat.
When she vanishes into the bedroom, she still leaves the door open. It never fully closes between us. It always stays slightly ajar. Like her heart. Like her pain.
I kick off my shoes and settle on the lumpy couch again, shifting every few minutes as the cushions dip too far to one side. I fixate on the stained ceiling that gives off a faint mildew smell I still haven’t gotten used to.
The bedroom is patched up and I could sleep in there if I wanted, but I need to be within eye-shot of Aurora. Especially now. We don’t fight often, and I feel like absolute shit.
Lucifer hops up onto the armrest and immediately begins purring like a possessed creature. I never pet him or feed him, so I'm still mystified by what the hell he wants from me. Still, his eyes track me as if I owe him something.
I stare into the next room at the lump of Aurora's body in bed.
My jaw clenches tight, a vise of frustration and helplessness. She’s thrust me into an impossible situation.
