Page 42 of Violet

“She wouldn’t. Addie’s powerful enough to pull it off, but she’s probably off at a fancy academy somewhere... or working at the agency with my mother.”

“You don’t keep in touch?”

Amber shakes her head. “She didn’t want me around. Not until I fixed my wonky powers. But no matter how I tried...” She shrugs.

“Your powers aren’t wonky,” I tell her.

She shifts into a troll.

“Well, not that wonky,” I amend.

Amber snorts, and I smile.

“So... do you know why Violet’s been posing as an old lady?”

“Probably so she could keep her stupid job.” I start to scowl. “Do you know how much librarians get paid? A whole lot more than library assistants, that’s for sure. I bet she doesn’t even have her degree.”

“You need a degree to be a librarian? I thought you just needed to read a lot of books.”

I snort. “You need a master’s degree. Violet kept saying I should apply to college and get mine, and I was going to do it. For her. When she died... in her memory.”

“That’s really sweet...”

“It was stupid!” It was all a fucking lie.

Violet never cared about me, my education, or my future. And now she’s back at her apartment, fucking that stupid blood mage, not sparing me another thought.

Picturing them together—picturing my Violet shifting into that hot, young woman just for him—fills me with rage. I need to get out of here. Before I go on a rampage, destroy everything in sight, and end up in Silver Springs Penitentiary. Or worse, piss off my brother and his mate by damaging their cafe.

How does Wes survive here? How does he not miss home?

There’s a reason bears live out in the forest. If I destroy a few trees, my brothers will tease me over it—but if I’m lucky, they look like hairy motherfuckers and I’ll be the one laughing.

Laughing. I don’t know if I’ll ever laugh again. How could she do this to me? How could she spend a whole year around me and not care that I was her mate? How could she reject me when she’d accepted him?

One fucking day. She’s known him for one day and she brought him back to her place. She’s known me for a year—used me for a year... I helped her get groceries. I walked her home. I worried about her, day and night. And it was all a fucking lie.

“I have to go,” I tell Amber, jumping to my feet.

“I’ll tell your brother you were here,” Amber shouts after me, but I’m no longer listening.

Chapter 18

Violet

The next morning, I wake up with one strong arm wrapped around my waist and a hard, male chest pressed up against my back. Which would be a great way to greet the day if my face wasn’t stained with tears and the blood mage and I weren’t fully clothed.

Snuggling into his warmth is comforting, but it doesn’t make my heart hurt any less. Nothing has—not the cookies Violet baked me last night to cheer me up. Not even pizza. All I could think about through it all was the anger in Nole’s voice, the hatred in his eyes, and how he claimed I was his mate.

Deep down, I know it’s true. I’ve always had feelings for him, ever since the day we first met. Should I have trusted him more? Should I have told him the truth? Should I go find Liam and tell him before it’s too late? Before he hates me the way Nole does? Not that it matters, since I’ll have to leave town once Violet’s gone. Better to not get attached—to anyone—including Cash.

I swallow hard and slip out of bed, careful not to wake Cash. I take a quick shower and change into baggy, black dress pants and a shapeless black and white cardigan that reminds me of a skunk. Granny Wear at its finest. I don’t bother with makeup—I left it all behind when I went on the run—but I spend a few minutes on my hair, which I haven’t done in months.

“Morning, little furry,” Cash greets me from the couch when I enter the living room.

“Morning, wampitch,” I tease, earning a mock glare that does nothing to alleviate the heavy feeling in my heart.

“You look gorgeous with your hair down,” Cash adds, getting to his feet, and my insides turn to jelly.