While I wait for Miranda to reach her lunch break, I get up. Because there’s another phone call I’m avoiding, I go and have breakfast, then shower. I’ll change later, but for now, I throw on a pair of sweatpants I bought after I left Eric. I add a t-shirt, only realizing after I tug it on that it’s the same one I was wearing when I took that fateful trip to the Last Prayer.
If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
By the time I’m done drying my hair, my phone alarm’s going off, letting me know that I can call Miranda.
Sitting down on the edge of my bed, nibbling on my bottom lip, I wait for her to answer.
My sister picks up on the second ring, breathless and audibly excited. “Are you okay? Annie? Did something happen?”
I hadn’t expected her to sound so alert during the school day. “Hey, Randa. Yeah. I’m fine. Why?”
“Because you asked me about Sebastien Reynolds, and when I got the scoop, you didn’t answer.”
Because I was sleeping. Because I had erotic dreams about my maybe-husband, and nightmares about what Eric would do to him if he found out that the man I slept with in Sackerville is actually a member of the Order.
They must know each other. It’s something I tried not to think about last night. If Sebastien ranks as high as I suspect, my husband and my former lover will have some kind of connection—and Eric threatened to kill any man I fucked while he considers me his.
No wonder I could barely sleep. On the plus side, if Idomarry Sebastien, I won’t be Eric’s. Besides, I’m pretty sure he can handle himself, and what Miranda has to tell me only confirms it…
“Sorry. I was still in bed.”
“Alone?”
What? “Yes! Of course I was alone. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you were asking me about Sebastien Reynolds.”
She says it’s like the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay. This all comes from Deirdre.” Colt’s older sister. She’s twenty-two and was Claimed her first year. She’s promised to marry a mid-level Owed, but they’re putting it off until he’s closer to thirty for some reason… “But if you actually talked to him, odds are you’ll end up sleeping with him.”
Uh-oh. “Why’s that?”
“Maybe because nearly every woman in the Order has? Well, not me. Not you. Not Deirdre, but that’s because she’s an Offering, too, and if she banged anyone, Henry will break their engagement. But, like, the Used and some of the wives? Yeah. He’s had them all.”
I stay quiet.
Too quiet.
Miranda squeals. “Holy shit. Youdidfuck him!”
Heat shoots up my neck. “Miranda.”
“Oh my god, you so did.”
I’m going to crawl under my bed and die. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t deny it,” she sing-songs.
I press two fingers to my temple. “It doesn’t matter. I need information about him. Good information. Not… whatever this is.”
Hearing the aggravation—and the brewing headache—in my voice, she calms down. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
A soft humming sound comes through the phone. “Okay. So… Sebastien Reynolds. Bas. First of all? He’s the hot mess brother.”
“What does that mean?”
