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Harrison’s expression darkens and he presses his lips together as he leans back against the chez lounge. “If you must know, there’s been another disappearance in the community.
“Oh my gods. I’m sorry.” I immediately regret my question. I’m not sorry for him—or for asking, but for the family and for whomever has gone missing. “Who was it?”
He ignores my question. Harrison nods sagely, as if I should be sorry. “Yes, well, it is a trying time for the community.”
My mother glares at me, as if there was any way I could have known what the answer would be when I asked about the headline. My eye twitches. I shouldn’t be annoyed when someone is missing and likely dead. There are clearly larger problems in the world. Butcome on! Thisis why I stay quiet.
Tyberius gets to his feet. He casts me a sympathetic glance, before placing his glass on a side table and turning toward the door. “If you’ll excuse me. I need to go check on something.”
I would bet money he’s going to call Adriana—his sometimes girlfriend. He might be a douchebag, but he’s not completely heartless.
My father waves Ty away, his gaze shifting between Harrison and I, an unspoken question in his eyes. He looks as though he’s struggling to understand the tension between us.Yes, dad, stop this.I silently beg.I hate this guy.
But before anyone else can speak, Harrison jumps in again. “Sorry to sour the mood,” he says, not sounding sorry at all.
“Not at all,” my mother rushes to say. “How many is that? Four this year?”
“Five, I think,” my father says. “Who was the most recent victim?”
“Another girl from the school. Her name hasn’t been released yet.”
The air around us thickens while my parents exchange wary glances—clearly unsettled.
“This is exactly why we need a shift on the council,” my mother says. “I like Emrys, but this cannot continue.”
“Quite right,” Harrison agrees.
My back straightens and I glance at Cat, meeting her eyes.See?I want to say.It’s political.
Maybe if I had the kind of relationship with my parents where I could simply ask them their plans and trust that they would be honest with me I would have known this days ago, rather than having to guess and plot, while they were no doubt doing the same behind my back.
If only they’d included me in the conversation. I would, of course, agree that not investigating the disappearance of multiple women from the Order could never continue. We could have come up with another solution to get more votes—a solution like the one I found with Roman.
Except, that’s the problem, isn’t it? My parents would never have accepted that option, even if it was the simplest and the most obvious. Because their hatred stems so deep it overshadows everything, even their love for me and their better judgment.
“Maybe we should consider moving up the wedding,” my father muses.
I choke on the drink I’d only just raised to my lips, and bang the glass painfully against my teeth. No one seems to notice. “What? Why?” I nearly choke on my own shock.
My mother looks over at me and frowns, practically daring me to argue. “You’ll pledge at the same time as your wedding ceremony, Juliette. Surely I don’t have to explain the advantages of that to you.”
I swallow. She doesn’t have to. It’s only that I refuse to marry Harrison. Even the thought of performing the bonding ritual with him makes me want to climb out of my own skin.
I swallow thickly, holding onto my sanity with every shred of my control. I take a deep breath. All I need is to make it through dinner and call Roman. I’ll talk to him, we’ll figure this out, and everything will be okay.
I don’t want to think about how easily Roman has worked his way into my life. How after only a few days, I’m thinking of him as the person I need to run to for help. I can’t think about that. Because if I do, I’ll have to confront every other way Roman Montague is invading every part of me.
And if I do that, I’m afraid I won’t be able to turn back.
Imanage to get through the rest of dinner without incident—without running screaming from the room, or stabbing Harrison with my dessert fork. Yet, as my mother goes over plans for moving up the wedding, my anxiety rises in my chest, my mood growing darker by the minute.
Cat meets my gaze across the table and we share a silent understanding. The moment Harrison says Goodnight and has closed the front door behind him, she and I dash upstairs to my room before my mother can call us back.
“What the hell am I going to do?” I hiss as I close my bedroom door behind me, turning the lock with a snap. “This is insane.”
Before Cat can reply, we both stiffen as my mother’s shrill voice sounds through the door. “Juliette!”
“Damn!” I whisper. “Tell her I’m in the shower.”
