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“Sure, I—”
The phone went quiet. I stared at it for a moment, then put it away. Everyone seemed weird or was losing their minds over the show, and all I could think about was that I had four days left with Ambri. The entire city could burn to the ground, and I doubted I’d notice.
I went back to the flat to grab some cash I’d stashed so I could get Lucy some flowers and Cas a bottle of wine, though the jury was still out on him as far as I was concerned. He’d come out of nowhere and swept my best friend out of her lonely life. I needed to shake his hand and tell him thank you. Or kick his ass if he wasn’t good to her.
I found Ambri sitting by the fire, dangling a glass of cognac by the rim. Spring was coming, but the mornings were still mostly gray and cold. The flat felt warm and cozy. I’d begun to feel like it was home. Our home.
I’m so very, very fucked.
“Little early for cocktails, isn’t it?”
Ambri’s gaze slid to me. “If they had any effect on me, I’d be quite drunk by now.”
Understanding passed between us. He was hurting too, but he wouldn’t hear of any other option than to vanish the moment my show was over.
“How was coffee with your friend?”
“Weird,” I said, sitting on the armrest of the couch. “I think he has the Twins on him. He’s super successful and already worried that it’s all going to disappear.”
“Isn’t this the bloke who promised to help you and then haunted you?”
“Ghostedme,” I said with a smile. “And yes, but it was never up to him to make my career. I was just desperate.”
“How the tables have turned,” Ambri muttered. “Serves him right.”
“And Lucy is freaking out, and I have no idea why. I guess Jane sent her the press packet. Lucy saw the paintings and wants to meet with me immediately.”
“She must have averygood reason,” Ambri muttered into his drink.
I frowned. That was another sore subject. Ambri had been all over the place as Cas and Lucy’s visit drew closer. Sometimes he was angry, sometimes blasé, and sometimes he seemed almost nervous. He refused to meet them, refused to attend the gallery show with us, and he insisted I not mention his name. It’d been months, and he was still just “my patron.”
It wasn’t enough. I tried again.
“If everyone’s freaking out about the paintings, they’ll lose their minds to see you. My muse.” I mustered a smile. “You sure you won’t come? My stock would skyrocket with you as my arm candy.”
Ambri ignored the appeal to his vanity. A bad sign.
“For the millionth time,no,” he said. “There will be press from all over, and you’re sure to make a huge splash. It wouldn’t do for me to be so exposed.”
“Exposed to who?”
Ambri swirled the liquor in his glass. “I’ve overstayed my time on This Side. It would be unwise to remind my liege lord of that fact with fanfare and paparazzi.”
A cold hand of dread squeezed my heart. “You don’t talk about him much. I don’t even know what to ask.” I swallowed hard. “Will you be okay…wherever you’re going?”
“Oh, I’ll be bloodybrilliant,” Ambri said with sudden bitterness and sarcasm. “Not as well as others I could name, of course. Not as well as those who were granted their freedom and now nap on sofas, cuddling with their heart’s desire while the rest of us are forced to watch the weeks dwindle into days, until there are none left.”
My heart clenched. “Ambri, I don’t know what to say except don’t go. I’m a fucking broken record, I know but—”
“But it can’t be helped so let’s not be morose.” He fixed me with a tight smile, his eyes lit with anger. “You must be excited to see your friend and…what was his name again?”
“Cas.”
“Cas, of course. Silly me. And where is this private rendezvous?”
“I told them La Marais, right around the corner. Lucy wants to meet somewhere public. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with her.”
Ambri’s smile showed all his teeth. “I can’t imagine.”
