Page 93 of Sky’s Edge

It did not.

He’d been threatening me with it for ages.

“And yes, Dad, it’s been oh so fun living under that weight too,” I snapped.

And to say I was done was laughable.

I was absolutely and completely done.

So much so, like Tanyn, quite rudely, I marched right out of the room without a word to anybody.

I heard Laura calling me in the hall, but I didn’t even hesitate.

No, in fact, I started moving faster.

I had to, because I was going to lose it. I could feel it. And I didn’t know, when that happened, if the demon would rise up and I’d tear something apart, or the human would come out and I’d sob for hours.

This decision was made for me when I hit the queen’s chambers, which, not incidentally, were attached to the king’s chambers by a narrow sitting room.

This space was decorated in lilac and gray, it was very feminine (whereas the king’s chamber, even decorated in glimmer and light blue, somehow managed to be quite masculine), but I didn’t even look at it.

I strode right through it to the closet.

“Lights, one hundred percent,” I ordered.

The lights came on and I stood in that cavernous area which had not been divided into two, and my things were there, taking up a paltry amount of space, looking forlorn and lost.

Or maybe it was me who was forlorn and lost.

“Cat,” Laura said from behind me.

I turned, took in her beautiful, beloved, worried face, and that was when the decision hit me.

I moved to her, collapsed in her arms and started weeping.

“Oh, honey,” she whispered, holding me close. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know you’ve been going through so much.”

“He-he moved me out of his room be-because I’m a moron,” I sobbed into her neck.

She held on tighter. “It’s going to be okay.”

Maybe it was.

Maybe it wasn’t.

But at that moment, all I could think about was everything.

My gallery. My flat. The coffee spot on the corner that had the fabulous chocolate pistachio croissants I loved to eat with a latte and a book, my Sunday morning ritual that was just for me.

Laura. Gayle. Mon. Mom and Dad.

Chelta’s Boutique, where I always found something perfect to buy.

Bash being a dick. Me probably sabotaging every relationship I’d ever had.

Sigil. Zyra. Mangold. Hurley (where was Hurley, anyway?). Avie. The lynx kits. Darynda. The cove. The window seat in Tanyn’s room there. The view. The tester bed I wanted to buy for Tanyn.

This castle. His perfect bedchamber. Not to mention closet. Hells, this perfect bedchamber.