Kallie’s eyes got misty again. “It was wonderful. It was everything I ever wanted, and everything he would never give me. It was just perfect, for both of us.”
“If it was perfect you wouldn’t be crying like this, Kallie.”
“I’m crying because of what happenedthis morning,” Kallie said. “After we had sex, we went to bed, and it was still great, because he held me in his arms all night. This morning he got up before me, and when I woke up, I heard him taking a shower. So… I got up and joined him.”
“And you did it again,” I guessed. They’d certainly had a wild time.
“Yeah!” Kallie threw up her free hand. “Andthatwas awesome, too!”
“Did either of you guys try totalkabout this?” I asked. I tried to keep the judgment out of my voice, but hell, I was frustrated with both of them at this point.
“That’s where it all went wrong. After we’d gotten done fucking in the shower, I held him and asked him what all this meant.”
Kallie’s expression completely crumbled. She burst into tears again, and her voice raised a pitch as she cried, “His face just… got all red, and he just looked absolutely mortified. Like he wasembarrassedor something about being with me. He just… got out of the shower and left. Before he walked out, he said;Sorry, this isn’t right.I know what that means. He’s running away again… running away from us.”
Kallie’s tears increased in intensity until she was crying harder than I’d ever seen her before. I squeezed her hand, not sure of what to do or how I could help, because nothing I could do would fix her broken heart.
“This must’ve meant something to him. It was his first time,” I encouraged. “He’s never done it with anyone else, but hewantedyou, Kallie. If he didn’t, he would’ve held back. It’s so obvious.”
“If it meant something, he’d tell me, but he didn’t,” she replied hopelessly. “I might be the only person he’s ever slept with, but so what? Maybe he was just tired of being a virgin and knew I’d put out.”
“Youknowthat’s not true,” I said. “Sweetie, Marcus loves you, even if he can’t say it.”
“I can’t do this again. I can’t,” Kallie said, her tone tighter than before. “I can’t keep crawling into bed with someone who won’t make me his, begging for scraps of love that he won’t give me. I thought we were doing so well lately. We were getting along great, being such good friends… I reallydidfigure it was over between us. In reality, I was just falling for him harder than I had before, and I kept denying to myself that’s what it was.”
“Kallie.” I rubbed her back, knowing there wasn’t much I could say.
“It doesn’t matter that Charlie broke our bond. It doesn’t matter that he’s no longer my mate and that we don’t share a magical connection anymore. Istill love him.” Her entire body shuddered, grieving the loss of someone she deeply desired and couldn’t have. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to make these feelings go away, because they never will! I’m always going to want him, and he’s never going to choose me. He’ll just use me and cast me aside, so he doesn’t have to commit. I’m at the end of my rope, Ava. I don’t know how I’m going to survive if he keeps doing this to me… and I keep letting him. I don’t want to live like this anymore. Not if it hurts this bad.”
Fuck. Marcus.Overwhelminganger welled in my chest and crashed over me, nearly making my body ache. As much as I cared about Marcus, I hated him for doing this to Kallie. I’d be happy to burn him alive right now.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked softly, though my real thoughts were,Don’t worry, girl, I’ll find a big enough hole to put him in.
“I just need to be alone, and try to process this,” she choked out. “Thanks for listening, but what you and I do isn’t going to make a difference, because he’s never going to change.”
She stared at her coffee again, and I took it at a clear sign that she was done talking. I left the café, to give her some space. She was absolutely devastated by Marcus’ latest rejection.
Which I was going to make him deeply regret. Right the fuck now.
I forgot about the coffee and started searching the hotel’s main floor, looking for Marcus. The Scarlet Grand was a massive hotel, so I had a lot of ground to cover. Charlie was making his way toward me. He appeared to be a criminal mastermind, dressed in all black with his magical pistol holstered to his side. I went rolling by him at a higher speed than usual, which caught his attention. Oberi was on his shoulder as a phoenix, and she peeped as I sped by.
“Pidge, I’ve been looking for you. Where are you going?” he asked warily.
“I’m off to kill Marcus,” I said simply. “You can join if you want.”
“What’d he do this time?” Charlie groaned, following me.
“Marcus and Kallie slept together.”
Oberi squawked in alarm, beating her wings. Charlie sucked in a breath, held it, then let it out in a long sigh. “Great.”
“Yeah, twice. And he ran off this morning after it happened a second time without giving her any explanation. She’s completely devastated.”
“That’s uncalled for.” Charlie scowled. “We need to do something about this. It’s gone on for far too long.”
“I’ll say. And if it has to be permanent, so be it,” I said casually.
Are you sure you two should get involved?Oberi asked, but neither of us answered.
