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“Oh? Did you hear about Dale Carnegie from someone?” I tried to keep my voice casual, but it cracked in the middle of my question.
Ker—a werewolf friend of Noctus’s who had been around longer than America was a country—lovedthat book, and its author, Dale Carnegie.
Even thinking about her made a lump form in my throat. I’d vastly underestimated how much I’d miss her, Aristide, and Charon when I left Calor Villa.
“Yeah, one of my professors recommended it,” Shiloh said. “Do you have it in stock?”
“We do.” I stepped out from behind my desk. “It’s over here.”
“Wow, you don’t even have to check the computer? You’re a book magician,” Shiloh joked as she followed me into the “drawing room,” which contained all of Book Nookery’s biographies, self-help books, books on languages, and any nonfiction books about supernaturals.
“I’m not that good.” I ducked under a hanging glass lantern that glowed a forest green color and hung from a hook fashioned in a vine shape. “I just know where it is because I recommended to Ms. Booker—the owner—that we stock it.”
And I had been inspired by thoughts of Ker, but Shiloh doesn’t need to know that.
“Thanks—talk about convenient.” Shiloh almost rammed into me when I stopped at the long row that marked all our self-help bookshelves.
“Is this your last semester at community college?” I scanned the shelves as I looked for the right book. “Last time I saw you, you said you were almost done with all the classes you could take.”
“Yeah,” Shiloh sighed. “I’m still trying to figure out what to do next.”
“Don’t rush it,” I advised. “It’s a big decision. And here we go.” I plucked the thin volume from the shelf and held it out to Shiloh.
Shiloh took it, then danced nervously from foot to foot. “Hey, um. I might be over stepping my boundaries, so you don’t have to answer, but…are you okay?”
Ahh, yes. May the butt biting commence.
I made myself blink, as if I was confused. “Yes?”
“I mean…Noctus told me you two broke up,” Shiloh said.
Good. He invented that stupid cover story, I’m glad he at least broke the news of our fake break up to her.
“We did,” I confirmed. “In early summer.”
“I know, but—are you really okay with that? You seemed great together.”
“Great? You never even saw us together when we were…dating,” I said.
“Yeah, okay, but Noctus seemed so…happy,” Shiloh said. “And you’re an amazing person, so I can’t fathom what happened. You two just seemed to have such a magical connection. Noctus is a great guy—I know he’d treat you like a queen.”
I felt all the blood drain from my face at her casual choice of words.
She has no idea how close she is with that statement.
Noctus was a king, after all. If he ever had a romantic dalliance, she’d be his queen.
But even at my most delusional I had never pondered that. Noctus and I hadn’t even been athing. I’d been caught up in the feeling of belonging and—even more dangerous—the warm feelings the magic bond between us inspired, but before we even got to the point of becoming…anything, I’d been forced to realize that the things we both held most precious—him with his kingdom and me with my human family—were opposing forces. It would never work—as I swiftly learned when Pat and Joy were kidnapped and Noctus couldn’t risk moving to help and possibly reveal his people in the process.
And while I loved my family, being human meant they were inherently delicate—and easily manipulated with magic. All it would take was a fae spell or some vampire pheromones, and they’d spill every detail they knew about Noctus if they were asked—even if they didn’t want to.
Since neither Noctus nor I could budge on what was most important to us, we didn’t work—or rather, wecouldn’twork.
“It wasn’t a bad break up,” I said, truthfully. “It was just that we realized we want different things, and those wants weren’t going to mesh.”
“And you couldn’t compromise?” Shiloh asked.
I smiled sadly. “Romantic love is important, Shiloh, but there’s so much in my life that is equally as important, like family. I wouldn’t compromise in loving someone—whether it’s my boyfriend or my brother and sister.”
