“They turned me down, Devlin. With the same stupid form letter they sent to all the other rejects, mere hours after my presentation. Because Brandt and the other committee members know the one thing you can’t seem to get into your stubborn, impulsive, devil-horned head. The one thing I haven’t been able to admit to myself, either.” She shakes her head, tears welling. “Kettle and Cauldron is not a viable investment, and neither am I.”
The tears shimmering in her eyes finally spill, each one carving a tortured path through my heart. Never before have I wanted so badly to smash something, set it on fire, and piss on the ashes.
That something being Brandt Remington, third of his name, first on the reservations list for a demonic hot-stone torture session, use your imagination.
“They turned you down, Violet, because your ex is a lying, scheming, conniving—”
“You’re right. He’s all those things. Worse, even—I’m not surprised Olivy found all that dirt on him. But you know what?He’snot the one who resorted to fear tactics and blackmail when he thought the woman he claimed to love couldn’t hack it on her own. That was all you.”
“I was trying to right a wrong!”
“The committee made their decision, and I didn’t make the cut.”
“Precisely the wrong in question. Remington denied your application out of spite and because he’d already awarded the money to out-of-state businesses as part of a complex scheme to—”
“Really? What about the other committee members, then? The school librarian? The retired police commissioner? Are they all in on this conspiracy?”
“One corrupt man can beverypersuasive, and perhaps—”
“Perhaps nothing. It doesn’t matter. There’s no way I can take the money now.”
“Yes, you can. You got the confirmation. Fill out the tax papers, and the grant is yours.”
“You don’t get it. I thought you were different. I thought…” She rises from the bed, sheet wrapped around her trembling body.
“Violet?”
Nothing.
“Violet, please. Please look at me, love.”
When she finally meets my gaze again, all the fights drains out of her in an instant, shoulders slumping, glasses sliding down her nose, hard-won confidence evaporating.
“Can we just—”
She cuts me off with a shake of her dark head and points to the door. In a soft, broken voice that damn near breaksme, she says only, “Leave.”
“The bond—”
“Is broken, remember? We unlocked my heart’s desire. A pointless endeavor, as it turns out, but we fulfilled the conditions of the spell, so you’re free to go.”
I cross the room, hunting for the clothing I discarded on the way in. “I’ll give you space if that’s what you want. We’ll talk more later, after you’re—”
“No. No more talking.” She sighs and climbs back into her bed alone, turning away from me. “You got what you wanted, right? Corrupted your final soul, broke the binding spell, paved the way back to the throne.”
“It’s not like that, Violet. Please. Let me—”
“You’re not tied to me anymore, so that’s it. Go.”
“But… This isn’t… Where do you want me to go?”
She turns toward me with one last glare, cheeks flushed, eyes on fire, the very last look she ever intends to give me. “I want you to go toHell,Devlin Pierce. I never want to see you again.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
VIOLET
Wrapped in a fleece blanket on the purple velvet couch, my café closed for the night, no company but the two goofball cats whose love and loyaltyneverwavers, I finally let myself have a good cry.
