Page 116 of Broken Souls

I roll my lips in as the pain in my chest finally starts to ease. I might not have any magic still, but just being near my bestie is picking up my spirits. Laughing, I shake my head. “I reckon my shit can outdo your shit.”

Dayne snorts. “Nothing can beat the misery of being in Quinton’s company.”

“Hey!”

I grin. “So want something to eat or drink?” I ask. “How long was the drive? Where did you fly in?” I head for the kitchen, and I’m glad when Khalid’s girl isn’t in there. The urge to kill her, knowing my best friend would cover for me, would be way too tempting.

“Orlando,” Dayne says as he follows me. “And just an orange juice. We got lunch on the way.”

My eyebrows shooting up, I grab a knife from the block on the counter and spin around to face him. “Who are you, and what have you done to my friend?”

“Ha ha,” he says dryly.

I grin. “Seriously though. You feeling okay?”

He looks at me dryly. “You can’t drink while pregnant, so I’m giving it up in solidarity.

Awww.I love my bestie.

His eyes drop to my flat stomach. “Fuck. I thought you were further along,” he says warily.

A smile cracks through my anger and pain. I punch him in the shoulder. “I’m fourteen weeks. I just seem to be lucky enough to not have any symptoms.”

“You always were a lucky bitch.”

I shake my head and turn before he can see my smile fall. The last week hasn’t felt lucky at all.

After putting the knife back, I set the tub of ice cream down too, then reach up to get him a cup. I grabone of the custom photographic dick mugs, knowing he’d appreciate the humor. Quinton seems to have left us, no doubt to go check in with his Boss, so I only pour one drink.

I turn to find Dayne warily eying the counter splitting the room in two. “It’s a monster,” I say before I dig into my tub of ice cream and pickles.

“What?”

“Yeah, Sau trapped it in the wood when it was dying. So it’s like the bodyguard of the house.”

“That’s so fucking cool.”

Recalling she’s training monsters at the moment, I say, “If you’re really nice, she might let you help feed some.”

“What!?”

I laugh as I tell him about her preparations for the war.My stomach crawls as I remember why we need them in the first place. Antonio’s sneering face flashes in my mind, but I do my best to block him out. I want to enjoy my bestie’s company for a bit before I bring up all the shitty stuff.

Eventually, we move into the spare bedroom to talk more in private. He drops his bag on the bed. “So how are things between you and Varius?” Dayne asks coyly. The last time he and I talked, I told him I was in love with the Boss of the Shadow Domain.

Gods, that feels like forever ago.

“He is a fucking asshole,” I say as I cross my arms.

He raises a brow as he glances me over, but there are no injuries for him to see. All the damage is on the inside.

“How so?”

Shit.I can’t tell him Varius tortured me; if I do that, he will kill him while Khalid’s away, and that’s something he can absolutely pull off. Dayne might have been my spotter when we worked together, doing most of the admin rather than the killing, but that was only because I was shit at it, and one of us had to do the job.

“He fucked Khalid’s girl for a stupid blood bond ritual,” I grumble instead.

“The asshole,” he says immediately. “Want me to help hide their bodies?”