“Boss.” Lambert is at my back, and to his credit, he doesn’t even seem smug. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out.”
Beyond him, Jasper is making his way towards me, but North and Leo look like they’d rather be anywhere else. I don’t blame them. Who wants to be stuck in a room with a hysterical woman?
I shouldn’t want them to see this. They’re going to be future parriarchs, and that means one day I’ll have to lookthem in the eye and remember the time I acted like a pathetic mess. They’ll know how trapped I am, and use that wound against me, the same way any of their forebears would’ve done.
“I’m fine,” I insist, even though my throat feels like it’s closing over. I don’t remember crying involving quite so much snot. “I can cope with this. I’ll just… If you’ll excuse me for just one second.”
Like a coward, I push free from Dakari’s arms, merging with the building and flinging myself back into being high above, in the privacy of my room. I land on the bed, my face smooshed into the pillow as, without Dakari to hold me together, I give in and fall apart.
Six
Lambert
Kyrith’s departure steals the warmth from the room, literally. All six of us are frozen, staring at the empty circle of Dakari’s arms as we try to process what just happened.
She was going to fuck some stranger, and then she was dragged back inside the Arcanaeum like a doll forced back inside her dollhouse. I’m not sure whether to be relieved or angry on her behalf.
If I’m honest, I’m still trying to get my head around the way she shattered in my arms three days ago. It was better when she was here, and I could see for myself that she was okay. Hugging her went a long way towards putting the broken pieces of me back together, but her absence brings all of my panic back to the surface.
In for five, hold for two, out for seven… She’s okay. She just needs space.
“She’s still tied to the building,” Leo murmurs unnecessarily. “Whatever the cracking was, it gave her a body, but she can’t leave. Interesting.”
Interesting? More like tragic. God, the look on her face…
Eddy’s eyes are shiny as she looks at the red door to Kyrith’s room. “She’s been trapped here for so long. She was so looking forward to?—”
“Her first one-night stand, we know.” North’s hand fists on the table.
“Don’t be an idiot.” His twin walks over and slaps him upside the head. “That’s not what it was about, and you know it. If any of you want to apply for the position of her boyfriend, then grow a pair and tell her that, instead of acting like a bunch of jealous knobheads.”
Without another word, she huffs and heads for the staircase, slamming the door behind her in a clear sign that the rest of us aren’t welcome.
“For the record,” I say, trying to lighten the mood even though my tone falls flat. “The boss isn’t taking applications from heirs.”
I’ve never hated the title quite so much. I mean, I always thought I was a pretty bad candidate for the parriarchy, but I never realised it would completely dismiss me from having any chance with our favourite ghost.
“For good reason,” Leo says dismissively. “If she dated any one of you, it would call the Arcanaeum’s impartiality into question. It would lead to accusations of favouritism, whether she wanted it to or not.”
His observation niggles at me. Eddy said we were acting jealous. Could she have meant…all of us?
Jasper loves her. That much has always been obvious. His face as he healed that wound in her chest just confirmed it. Even now, his eyes stray up to the ceiling every few seconds, like he can see all the way up to the top of her tower.
Dakari called her baby girl and held her like she was madeof glass. The dude has a reputation as a stoic, hard ass, so I can’t see him comforting just anyone.
“Show of hands,” I blurt. “Who here loves Kyrith?”
I stick my own hand in the air happily, because someone always has to go first, then look around to see if I’m right.
Jasper pauses midway through reaching for another slice of pizza, half raising his hand.
Okay, that’s one.
Dakari levels me with one of those dark, assessing looks before the corner of his mouth twists down. “I’m not going to fight over her. She makes her own decisions.”
“That’s not where I’m going with this. Are you in love with her? In fact, don’t bother answering. You are. Right, who’s next? North?”
The Ackland heir’s brows rise, and he leans back in his seat. “Love? I mean… No? She’s hot, but she also hates me, remember?”
