I’ve caused all this turmoil just by existing, by being their match.
“It helps if this void-head realizes he’s got to start treating her right,” Salvatore mutters.
Cole’s eyes flash, and I know we’re not accomplishing anything productive tonight. The longer I keep them together like this, the worse it’s going to get.
All I can do is give them permission to stay apart.
I step away from Byron, into the middle of the cramped room next to Asher. “Everyone’s said what they need to. We’ll be extra careful at school to hide the connection between us, and the rumors should blow over. There’s no disaster. Let’s focus on figuring out who this group that’s after me is and how Professor Jovak is mixed up with them.”
The reminder of our larger enemy defuses some ofSalvatore’s ferocity toward present company. He cracks his knuckles. “Right. That fucker’s not getting near you again.”
“There’s another intensive seminar tomorrow, but it sounds like this one’s a pretty straightforward session in the gym. It’ll raise more questions if I suddenly drop out. But you’ll be right there if he tries anything.” I motion him and Byron toward the door. “Now let’s get going before anyone notices us here.”
I don’t look at Cole as I hustle past him, and he doesn’t call me back.
Fine. If he’s still annoyed about how the waking of his glim went down, so be it. I can’t turn back time to change my actions now.
Outside, the guys and I go our separate ways like before. I pull out my phone to summon a ride, but my thumb hesitates over the screen.
I told Dad I was going out to fix things. I feel like they’re only more broken.
“They’ll sort things out,”Imaginary Other Byron tries to reassure me from inside my head.“We did, didn’t we? And that was without Asher there to help keep the peace.”
That’s true, but it was also with a lot more room to breathe.
In my reality, Cole, Byron, and Salvatore had the space to get to know each other gradually, without the threat of a murderous conspiracy hanging over them. They never even knew I’d been in danger.
None of my imagined voices seems to have anything to say about that.
My jaw sets with a pang of resolve.
If we can just get the answers to end the threat hanging over me, these versions of my matches can back off from each other’s throats. We can ease into the union at the pacethey need.
I started this, so I need to end it. Maybe I never should have imagined it could go otherwise.
I suck a breath deep into my lungs and tap in the address for Groove Garden.
Thirty-Four
Elodie
When I arrive down the street from the dance club, the bass is thumping through the black outer walls with their smattering of neon graffiti. I set my phone to Do Not Disturb and glance down at my knee-length dress.
Yeah, it’ll do. It’s more casual than the short and sparkly outfits on most of the women heading in, but I doubt the bouncers will be picky as long as I’m young and female.
I can’t navigate through the press of bodies inside while totally concealed, but I gather a little ephemera to lighten my hair and adjust my features—a bit older, a bit longer in the jaw, nose a bit perter. My silk gloves I tuck in my purse, since they’ll definitely make me stand out among the drabs. I conjure the same small illusion I’ve been using at home over my bond mark.
Mystery Woman Gwyn talked as if she’s been keeping tabs on my—and Other Elodie’s—investigations. I’d rather she and the rest of her group never know I came here.
The bouncer waves me through the club door without comment, and I meld into the mass of rocking bodies.
It’s still relatively early in the night, the dance floor crowded but not absolutely packed. I bob and sway with the pulsing beat, pausing here and veering there.
The sweeping spotlights turn everyone’s faces into fractured shapes and shadows. Sweat breaks out over my skin with the wafts of body heat.
Surreptitiously, I weave my way toward the back of the main room. A dim hallway there leads to the restrooms and whatever else the building holds.
If something nefarious is going on at Groove Garden, the evidence won’t be here among the dancers.
