Page 48 of Till Orc Do Us Part

I freeze. Centuries pass in the squeak of her shifting weight.

My hand grips the knob. "The Henderson Building’s asbestos report needs signing."

"That’s not?—"

"Goodnight, Ms. Moore."

Her sharp inhale follows me into the street. I don’t look back.

Wind snatches her final words as the door slams:

"Still hate you."

The lie hangs brighter than the bookstore’s shattered neon sign.

CHAPTER 15

ROWAN

The bed is cold.

Not just empty—cold.

Like whoever shared it with me vanished hours ago and took all the heat with them.

I stare at the ceiling for a long time, the quilt pulled up to my chin, limbs frozen in the exact tangle I fell asleep in. My mouth is dry. My thighs ache in a way I shouldn’t find poetic, but gods help me, I do.

And the worst part?

I don’t even regret the sex.

It’s theafterI hate.

The space where heshouldbe. The silence. The fact that he didn’t even leave a note this time.

I roll over, face buried in the pillow. It smells like him—earth and cedar and something warm I have no name for.

I groan. “Stupid.”

The knock at the front door feels like an insult.

I throw on leggings and a hoodie and shuffle down the stairs like a woman twice my age. My legs are furious with me. My brain is worse.

I unlock the door and swing it open without checking.

Liara breezes in like she owns the place, balancing a cardboard drink tray and a brown paper bag that smells aggressively of bacon.

“You’re welcome,” she chirps, sailing past me.

“What the hell?—”

“You missed our Thursday morning coven update,” she says, setting the tray down. “So I brought updates to you. Also, you look like hell. But like, a sexy, post-coital hell, which is worse.”

I blink at her. “I?—”

“Don’t even bother lying,” she says, handing me a sweating cup of iced coffee. “I know that face. That’s theI did something reckless and now I want to burn my own house downface.”

I sip, grateful and furious.