Page 99 of Vega

I looked directly at her. “Not usually.”

Her breath caught.

“But a few things recently have.”

I didn’t say losing her. I didn’t have to. The way her expression softened told me she heard it anyway.

She looked toward her room, then back at me. “Can I sleep with you tonight? I’m terrified.”

“Come here.”

As she walked toward me, I made my way to my bedroom and she followed. I went to the bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed in. She climbed in, and I stretched out beside her, leaving enough space for her to decide whether she wanted to close it.

Her shoulder brushed mine as I grabbed the remote.

She lay on her side without touching me. Her eyes widened as I turned on the TV. “Oh my God, I get to watch TV,” she gushed. “Not having a TV has been the worst. Not giving me one was so fucking cruel.”

“Your smart ass would’ve figured out how to contact somebody through the TV.”

She gasped. “That is … and probably accurate.”

“Exactly.”

Her amusement faded after a second. “I miss Dior.”

“I’m sorry I’ve made you stay away from him.”

I reached for my phone, unlocked it, opened my text thread with Dior, and handed it to her. He had been texting me nonstop, checking on Sonnet:

UNKNOWN MASKED MAN, YOU BETTER NOT BE LYING TO ME.

Tell my booki butt I said I’m streeeeeessed without her.

If she dies, I’m haunting you DOWN, Mr. Poo Shiesty.

Also, if she needs her bonnet, I know which one she likes. Don’t play with her edges.

Sonnet giggled with love in her eyes as she stared at the screen. “He is so dramatic.”

“He threatened to get me jumped.”

“He would.”

“He asked if I was ugly under the mask because my energy was giving villain with unresolved childhood trauma.”

She laughed harder, wiping beneath one eye. “That sounds like Dior.”

I took the phone back and set it on the nightstand. “He loves you.”

“I love him too.”

I turned on the TV, and went to the last show I’d watched, House of the Dragon.

Sonnet sat up slightly. “Wait. You watch this?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. You didn’t strike me as a Targaryen civil war kind of man.”