“Maverick is going to be devastated if you don’t tell him, Bloom.”
“He’s going to be furious, regardless of how he finds out. This decision isn’t about my... fiancé.”
“He’s your soulmate. We both know he’s right about that. It’ll be worse for you if you don’t tell him.”
I looked her in the eyes, mine full of steel. “I am about to lose the person I’m closest to in this whole fucking world to the curse I’ve spent my whole life hating and hiding from, Harper. Thingscan’tget worse.”
“If we tell Maverick first, there’s a better chance he’ll be there for you.”
“I lied about a turned vampire. He’s not going to be there for me. He thinks they’re monsters too.” I wiped away a few more tears. It was like throwing a towel on a river. They were flowing now, and no amount of effort was going to stop them. “My family’s also going to be pissed. At least I have Phyllis.”
Harper laughed through her own tears. “Good ole’ Phyl. Can you imagine how it’ll go if she’s the other killer?”
A snort-laugh burst through me.
Harper basically cackled. “What the hell was that noise?”
“I don’t know. Multiple weeks of stress and sleep deprivation, paired with a near-death experience?”
“On the plus side, if Maverick hates you, the murderer might stop trying to take you out.”
“Good point. Maybe I should hope for that.”
Our humor faded slowly, over the next few seconds.
The sound of a bullhorn blasted from the nightstand. Harper and I both jumped.
“He must’ve put my phone in here at some point,” I said, wiping away more tears.
“He’s ridiculously helpful.”
“I know. I feel like it should be concerning, but it’s so nice.”
“No kidding.” Harper wiped her face too. “Alright, we’ll go to the Guild. To my mom. I know you want to put it off, but I don’t think it’s safe to wait more than a few more days.
“How’s your bloodlust right now?”
“Since I gorged myself, it’s okay. I don’t think it’s going to last, though.”
Neither did I.
“We could play it by ear,” I said. “If Maverick finishes fighting earlier than expected, maybe...”
“No. We’re picking a day.” Harper’s gaze went back to the wall.
Panic clenched my stomach, but she didn’t zone out again. She was just thinking.
“We’ll do it on Thursday night. At the gathering, after you feed, just in case someone puts you in prison or something. You can’t bite Maverick while he’s recovering from the fights. He’ll bepissed that you bit someone else, but that’s the safest call for you. It buys you three weeks to figure things out with Maverick, with the Guild, or with a new city if you have to leave. It gives us three and a half days to just hang out, too.” She managed another small smile.
My tears returned with a vengeance. “We can’t have a lifetime of experiences in three and a half days of being trapped in this apartment. We should’ve planned things to do earlier. I shouldn’t have wasted it all working and fucking around with Mav. We?—“
“We wouldn’t have had this long if we hadn’t spent it at the office, Bloom. You were right—it kept me sane. And I’m glad you’ll have him when I’m gone.”
“I’m not going to have him, Harper. He’s not going to want a mate who lied to and manipulated him.”
“I have to hope, okay? I can’t just accept leaving you behind with no one except your obnoxious family.”
I lifted my borrowed shirt to dry my eyes. “We’re such a mess.”
