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Aside from sleeping more, I felt the same as I always had. Blood samples were taken, she gave me pills that looked way too big to swallow, and then we left her to set up whatever she’d need to stay around until D-day.

“Sucks about your, um, person,” I said twenty minutes later as we entered the open living area.

Not responding right away, he walked to the fridge and retrieved two bottles of water, handing one over when he joined me on the couch.

“I’m not surprised she did it, but I wish I were.”

Shit. This was not my department of expertise. I awkwardly reached out and patted his back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He stopped staring at the Sigil on the wall and glanced at me.

“I was trying to be comforting, asshole.” I snatched my hand away, placing it on my lap.

“You comfort me with your pussy or your mouth, occasionally your wisdom.”

What a dick. I bit my cheek so I wouldn’t smile.

“Arlen confronted Dhal last night, and now she’s missing,” he tossed out lazily, as if he were telling me the sky was blue.

“Missing as in, you need to find her within forty-eight hours, or missing as in, she got super pissed and left?”

“She couldn’t leave if she wanted to; that’s not how this works. Missing as in, we have no trace of her to begin a search. The alarm went off, and I knew it was triggered on purpose. Dhal used the distraction to get Arlen out with an acolyte. This wasn’t random, Cali.”

“So she was just waiting for Arlen to kick her ass?” I assumed that’s what he meant.

“Dhal was set to leave tomorrow, and she knew beforehand about the gathering,” he explained in a slow tone, like I should’ve known that already.

“Are you telling me this was going to happen regardless? Why would she take Arlen…oh.” I trailed off. “Goddamn it. Why do you have to fuck with crazy bitches?” I stood up and started to pace.

“Don’t blame this shit on me. I don’t give a flying fuck about Arlen. She could be getting her ass and pussy wrecked right now, I still don’t give a fuck.”

“You’re such a pigheaded dick. And if this was going to happen regardless, how do you know Cobra wasn’t the one who confronted her?”

“Cobra’s not that fucking stupid. Don’t insult his or my intelligence. I watched the cameras—I saw it happen. He came to me, and we were going to get all we could get out of her with a plan. We don’t know who she’s working with. Arlen should never have confronted her on her own.”

Oh, this asshole. He was not blaming my friend for his ex’s suicidal choices.

“Well, you always have everything figured out, so I’m sure you’ll have no issue getting together a plan to get her back, you arrogant––”

“Cali.” He lunged like a viper and grabbed the back of my neck.

“This isn’t a game, Ro––”

I squeaked, finding my upper half bent over the couch.

“I wasn’t aware I was joking.” He reached beneath my shirt dress and roughly pulled my underwear left and right until they tore from the strain. “I’m burning every single pair of these motherfuckers.”

“We can’t do this––”

“Shut the fuck up.” He kicked my legs apart and easily pushed two fingers into me. “Clearly, your pussy wants to do this. You’re fucking soaked.”

He made me delirious. I was always ready to go for him. The world could be ending and I’d still be ready.

I growled and pushed back, jumping forward with a little hiss when his hand came down on my ass. The sound of his zipper going down seemed to echo in the open room.

“You know what?” he asked, pushing inside me with one swift motion. “Why do you always have to open your smart ass mouth?” His grip tightened on the back of my neck as he flexed his hips, making sure every thrust was hard, smashing me into the leather couch. I tried to answer him but my brain seemed to have erased its knowledge of the English language and left me with nothing but the ability to moan.

“You like the way I fuck you, Cali?”