Rejection (The Mate Games 2)

“Kind of. Until I have more information.”

“I don’t approve.”

“I know. But this is a tell-as-few-people-as-necessary kind of thing.”

“How dare you!” she screeched, pulling back to stare at me. “I’m not people, you hooker.”

“Hooker? Wow. I see. Encourage me to build a harem, then slut shame me the minute you don’t get all the info.”

She scowled at me and waved her hand in the air. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Fuck whoever you want. I don’t care. It was the nicest thing I could say to you without actually causing harm, unlike whatyousaid. That really hurt. I’m notpeople. Random bitches are people. I’m your fucking person.”

Guilt hit me hard, taking me down at the knees. I sat on my bed, tension settling in my chest as I looked into her eyes. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you’re going to need to sit down.”

Over the next hour, I filled her in on everything that had happened since I’d gone toIniquity. Lilith’s desk. Caleb. Kingston. Noah’s revelation about my mother. All the dirty, ugly details.

It was a testament to our friendship that she was still sitting beside me, holding my hand by the time I finished.

“Okay, so you weren’t kidding. You’ve been a busy girl. I’m not even sure where to start with... all that.”

“You see why I was trying to spare you?”

“But on a scale from one to wrecked, how good was Daddy Caleb? Before he was an absolute asshole, I mean.”

“God, it was so fucking intense. We quite literally played ‘Just the Tip,’ and it was the sexiest fucking moment of my entire life.”

Her brows lifted. “That’s saying something considering your other sexcapades.”

“I know. It was just so... perfect. And then he took it all back. Like it was nothing. LikeIwas nothing.”

And that’s what hurt the most because that moment with him had beeneverything. The culmination of what I’d been searching for my whole life. The last puzzle piece finally sliding into place.

And then he ripped it away.

“Ugh, you two are the most forbidden pairever.”

“Are we, though? He’s not really a priest anymore. I mean, he’s my professor, I guess.”

“He will always be a priest, even if he and God are going through a rough patch. But I was talking about the fact that you’re the daughter of his sworn enemy. How’s that for some conflict? Shakespeare, who?”

I blew out a heavy breath. “Crap, I didn’t even think of that. Man, he’s really going to lose his shit when he finds out. If he hates me now, he’ll despise me after that.”

“What if he knows? Oh, shit. What if that’s why he left? He figured it out. Or did he know all this time?” Her eyes sparkled with the possibilities.

“If he knew and didn’t say anything...” I’d... I had no idea what I’d do. Murder him in his sleep? Nail him to a cross? Fury built in my chest as the prospect of him betraying me so completely sank in.

The last time I’d felt this bloodthirsty, I’d tried to single-handedly take down a demon in a library. Caleb was lucky he’d tucked tail and run, because if he came anywhere near me right now, he might not be shown as much mercy as the demon had been. Alek ended that beast quickly. I would have made him suffer.

“Um, Sunday... are you okay?” Moira’s voice shook as she asked the question.

“Yes. Just working through some rage.”

“Your eyes...”

“What about them?”

“They’re pitch-black. Everywhere.”

Dread curled in my gut. That’s how the demon’s eyes looked when we’d fought it. Dead, soulless, black holes of nothing.