Page 98 of Castor

Castor broke the silence first. “Remember the first time we kissed? I said you made my head spin. I don’t think it ever stopped. Each moment with you is like fucking magic, Kyo.” A pause. “I’ll always remember that.”

I felt sick. There weren’t enough words in any of the languages on this earth to describe the depth of my sadness.

“Tell me something,” I said, holding the phone closer to my ear, desperate to hear his voice for as long as possible. “Anything.”

“Gray keeps asking when we’ll see you again. He said if you don’t come back soon, he’s going to steal your job.”

My laugh sounded off to my ears. “I hope I’ll eventually be able to come back to the shop.”

“When you…” Castor exhaled. “When you marry him, will you live in his kingdom?”

“For a while, I think. Once we’re married, we’ll need to do a lot of work to build trust between our clans. But it will be a good start.”

“I hate this.”

“I know. Me too.” I gripped the dragon pendant. “I still have your necklace.”

“Keep it.” Castor’s voice was rough, thick. “It’s a reminder that even when you’re married to him, you’ll still be my little dragon.”

The call disconnected.

I broke down like I never had before. I dropped to my knees and cried so damn hard my throat felt raw. I wasn’t sure how long passed, but when my tears finally dried, I continued sitting there.

I caught movement from the corner of my eye.

“Apologies,” Warrin said, standing beneath the archway of the balcony, an uncertain expression on his masculine face. “I came to see you and found your door open. Are you okay?”

Too drained to pretend otherwise, I shrugged. “Do I look okay?”

“No. I didn’t mean to intrude on your private moment.”

“Whatever. We’ll be married soon anyway. Privacy doesn’t exist between us anymore.”

“About that…” He moved closer. “I think we need to talk.”

Chapter Nineteen

Castor

Fast cars and hot guys didn’t do it for me these days. The adrenaline rush from racing held no appeal, and I had no desire to sink into a warm, welcoming body.

Instead, I drank. A lot.

“Another,” I told Michael, sliding my empty glass toward him.

He tossed me a look. “You know this shit won’t fix whatever’s goin’ on up here.” He tapped his temple. “It will just numb it for a while.”

“Being numb sounds good to me.”

Music boomed through the dimly lit club as I sat at the bar, downing a shot of ambrosia-laced rum before tapping the counter for another. Then another. Once the alcohol took effect, I switched to beer and added a vial of blood to give it a kick.

“Why are you sitting here all by yourself?” Jasper asked, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. His tail flicked against my leg as he stepped closer. He wore booty shorts, and his crop top showed his toned belly. “I can keep you company.”

The old me would’ve jumped at the opportunity to bang the hot cat shifter, but my gut knotted up at the thought of it.

A week had passed since the phone call with Kyo—since I’d said goodbye to him. I hadn’t said those words though. I couldn’t. Every day since then, I’d stared at his new number in my phone, forcing myself not to call him.

“I have all the company I need,” I said, holding up my beer.