“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to FangTech. Show you around. You’d like that, right?”
Another nod. The panic kept draining out of me the longer he held me. His voice reached into the worst parts of me and quieted them.
We stayed there for several long moments before he finally scooped me up into his arms.
I didn’t even protest.
My head dropped against his shoulder while he carried me upstairs, kissing the wet tracks on my cheeks every few steps and whispering the same thing over and over.
“It’s okay.”
“I’ve got you.”
“You’re okay.”
By the time my head touched the pillow, exhaustion swallowed me whole.
The last thing I felt before sleep dragged me under was Rack brushing my hair back from my face like I was something precious.
19
RACK
Steam swallowed the bathroom whole, turning the mirror into a blank wall of frosty white. Water slammed down over my shoulders hard enough to sting, but my muscles stayed locked tight anyway.
One palm pressed flat against the tile, I bowed my head and let the heat beat against the back of my neck.
None of this made sense.
I should’ve hated it.
That thought kept circling back no matter how many times I shoved it away.
Any other male would’ve lost his mind watching the woman fate gave him wrapped around someone else. Especially when that someone else was his best friend.
Calix.The man I’d bleed for without question.
There should’ve been rage. Possessiveness. Something instinctual clawing up my throat to demand retribution for touching what was mine.
Instead, when I replayed the image of them together in the kitchen, all I remembered was the look on Olivia’s face.
Blissed-out happiness that filled my heart with satisfaction.
The realization made my chest tighten harder than the jealousy ever had.
At first, when the noise started downstairs, I ignored it.
I’d already seen the security footage earlier. Saw Calix freeze when he spotted my car in the driveway. Saw the way his mouth tightened before he brought that fairy woman inside anyway.
I knew him too well not to understand what he was trying to do.
Calix had always thrown himself at problems headfirst to see what stuck. If something hurt, he worked harder. Drank harder. Fucked harder. And Olivia… hurt.
Because he wanted her, but he knew she was mine. My Flame.
Despite all of that, he was still tied to her forever through the maker bond. Something that I couldn't touch, no matter how hard I tried.
A rough laugh escaped me under the spray.
