Page 67

“Like you could take me.” Lori sniffs. “Plus, you bloody love me.”

“I can’t love. I’m a sociopath.”

Lori ignores my words. “Robin Hood, since I don’t want you to ruin such a cute bromance, I’m going to warn you about Uri and the fact that he put Sari in a state of eternal dibs.”

“Since he was six,” Gabe adds.

They call it my obsession. But is it really an obsession when I feel like Sari is a part of me? Can I be obsessed with myself?

“Michael just texted me. You’re going to that club tonight. Sure you need it?”

I don’t answer Lori’s question. It’s none of his fucking business.

“Do you have a case of pathological denial? I don’t care if you’re the most proficient torturer who’s ever walked this earth, I’ll hit your hard head with my custom-made spiked bat until I feel the crack of sanity and see the red fountain of acceptance. Otherwise, let Sari move on and live his life.”

“Move on,” Ezra echoes, making my skin crawl.

“He can start dating again the cute professor,” Lori keeps going.

Trent fucking Dohner. He must be the colleague who contacted Sari the other day.

“He can’t date a corpse,” I snarl. I’m breathing hard. I didn’t realize I’d moved so close to the car screen. I’ll tear out his guts, crush his heart, and perforate his lungs. I’ll make him choke on his own blood before I split him in half and pulverize his bones; there won’t be anything left. Not even a tiny speck in the air.

“Then what do you want from him, Uri? You keep meddling in his life. He can’t remain celibate forever.”

“He won’t,” I say simply. Ezra is strangely silent next to me.

“You should do him then…just saying. We are at Rague’s. Think about it.” Lori hangs up.

Ezra is staring at me. There’s a strange sparkle in his eyes; I can’t quite grasp it. “You said he was yours.”

“He is!”

“Doesn’t look like it since he still can choose someone else.” Is he talking about himself?

I need to show him the depth of my ownership and clarify without any doubt why he has to stay away from Sari.

“I’ll carve my name on the delicate skin of his chest. I’ll hear him say my name, scream it at the top of his lungs as I painfully penetrate him so damn deep I will become part of him, as he’s already part of me. I’ll own not only his body but his whole being, feel it under my bruising fingers as I squeeze it until he pierces my skin and reaches the void where my heart should be. He will not be able to push me away ever again.”

“Take what’s yours then, Uriel, and do it quickly.” He gets out of the car and slams the door. And I don’t do anything to stop him, because I know he’ll be back to see me soon. Otherwise I’ll get to him. I know how he moves around the city now.

His words keep echoing in my head long after he disappears from my sight.

Take what’s yours.

Take what’s yours.

Quickly.

eight

SARIEL

How is it possible that I can smell Uri’s scent on my clothes? Is it because I live at his house? His rich smell permeating the air must have penetrated all my garments as I moved around.

And I’m thinking about him again.Even though I’m spending a nice time with Sully and Ren. They’re talking about university. Sully seems quite excited, asking Ren a bunch of questions. He’ll move to campus in a month. They won’t be sharing the same room, though. Ren has his own place, and Sully insisted on trying to live in the dormitory for at least six months.

He looks ready. A little nervous, but who wouldn’t be. I was terrified; going to college at fifteen was quite stressful. I didn’t enjoy the student life like others, too young and busy with my studies. But Sully is nineteen, brave and outgoing. He’ll integrate in no time.