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“She gets that from our mom,” Luce laughed.
“I’m telling her you said that.”
“Then I guess I’m telling Dad what you and Z did in—”
“Ew, please don’t ruin our appetites,” Bella cut in.
“How do you feel about the Savages?” Zane asked me outright, and the first time that evening, conversation died down.
“I don’t feel any way about them,” I answered honestly.
“She didn’t even know who we were right away,” Cam pointed out.
There was a prolonged silence, the sound of spoons hitting bowls filling the emptiness. Maliki’s eye caught mine and he grinned, which I didn’t think anything of until he started to speak. “Whatever happened to Pepper?”
Nyx nudged him with her elbow and scowled.
“What?” he feigned innocently.
“She’s around,” Luce replied dismissively.
Addy wiped her mouth and raised her perfectly plucked brows at him. “By around, you mean?”
“She’s alive and well.”
“I almost forgot about her,” Cam mused.
“The two of them were the ‘it’ couple a few months ago,” Maliki continued.
This was interesting. I didn’t know Luce had been exclusive with anyone. I pictured the way he was with me, putting a faceless girl in my place, then promptly scrubbed that from my brain.
“We weren’t anything like what you’re doing a shitty job of implying.”
“Had we been, she would be sitting where my dove is.” His tone was casual, giving nothing away. “Now, if you’re done trying to get a reaction out of her, let’s get started on the reason you stopped by.” He stood from the table and carried his bowl to the sink.
Maliki and Zane followed his lead. Shortly after, Cam and Nyx vanished to talk privately, leaving me with Addy and Bella.
“Does he usually just leave you alone like this?” Addy asked.
“This is my first day not being locked away.” I didn’t realize how true this was until after I said it. In more ways than one.
“Are you really this sweet?”
I scoffed, unable to help myself. No one who had been around me long-term would use such an adjective when describing me.
Sweet was Bella and Dasia. It was poppies thriving in sunshine. I never got the chance to be. I’d been raised to be something else entirely. Without belonging to a faction, there was no other choice. I was a rose plucked free of all its petals, leaving nothing but thorns to grow in their place.
“Nothing about who I am aligns with that word.”
“Thank Satanas for that,” she breathed. “Lucifuge would have eaten you alive. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going to have your hands full, but at least you’re not as delicate as you look.”
I didn’t think I looked delicate at all, but I supposed no one saw themselves as other people did.
“When do you come back again?” Bella asked her.
“We have a few more leads to chase, and then we’ll swing through here.”
“Anything about where she might be?”
