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And I can’t do that.
Can’t lose myself just because I want Blaise to give me another orgasm.
The door opens then, and I expect it to be the women returning to do our nails, but Ryder strides into the room.
“Great, I thought you said you’d give us some space,” Jessa gripes as he crosses the room toward us.
Ryder targets her with a glacial look that would scare basically anyone, but Jessa matches it with annoyance.
“What do you want?” I intervene before the two of them start arguing.
His attention fastens on me. “I wanted to tell you that the situation I told you about is under control.”
I sit up straighter. “You mean, you found them?”
He nods. “And I’m taking off. I have to take care of a few things, but one of us will be back here later to keep an eye on things.”
“Why? If everything is safe now?” I wonder.
“Just to be careful,” he replies vaguely while glancing at his phone. “Call me if you need anything. I have to go.” He strides toward the door, leaving me with a lot of questions, one of the biggest ones being: what the hell is he hiding from me? Because he clearly is. They all are. Blaise basically confirmed that.
“He’s so annoying,” Jessa mutters. “He thinks everyone is just supposed to obey him.”
“I know,” I agree. Because even pre-douchebag Ryder could be like that. He just wasn’t so cruel about it, at least toward me.
The ticking of an old grandfather clock fills up the silence between us.
“I can’t believe you’re getting married tomorrow,” Jessa finally says, and her words knock the wind out of me.
I can’t believe it, either.
How can this be real?
I can’t help thinking about the blood I saw in the snow the other day, the one left from the birds being dragged through the snow. It’s exactly how I feel right now. Bleeding out and being dragged to an eternal demise I’ll never come back from.
EIGHTEEN
ALLURA
I had this plan for the day of the fate ceremony. I plotted it the moment my parents told me my fate. I was going to sneak out of the house and run. Just fucking run until my legs gave out. Then I’d find a place to live, even if it was on the streets, because it had to be better than being prostituted off to three of my enemies.
Perhaps I’d have gone through with it, had Reece not shown up around midnight and camped out in a chair just outside of my door, something I discover when I wake up early and step out of my room to either grab something to eat or run—I wasn’t entirely sure.
“Good morning, bride-to-be,” he greets me the moment I step foot over the threshold.
I startle, my gaze snapping to my right. He’s sitting in a velvet chair with his legs stretched out in front of him, and his boots kicked off. He’s wearing a T-shirt, black jeans, and his blond hair is a mess.
“Don’t call me that,” I snap. “And why are you sitting outside of my room like a creep?”
“Because I was on Al duty, and you were asleep when I arrived, so I thought I’d be a gentleman and sit out here so I wouldn’t wake you up.” He flashes me a cheeky grin. “Plus, I didn’t want to hear you snore all night.”
“I don’t snore.”
“You totally do.”
“Fuck off. And since when are you a gentleman?”
“Since you’re about to become my wife.”
