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“Yes, he is”

A heavy rock materialized in my chest and made it hard to breathe

“Message?” the female shapeshifter prompted

“Just tell him I called, please As soon as possible”

“Is this urgent?”

Fuck it “Yes Yes, it is”

“Hold on”

Silence reigned Mo thinner and thinner

“He says he’s too busy to talk to you right now In the future, please go through proper channels and direct all your concerns to Jim, our security chief His number is—”

I heard my voice, oddly flat “I have the number Thanks”

“Anytime”

I lowered the phone into the cradle very carefully A tiny sound popped in my ears, and I had the absurd idea that it washairline cracks

He stood me up

He stood e meal I sat by the phone for the last four hours I put on ht a box of condoms Just in case

I love you, Kate I’ll always come for you, Kate

You sonovabitch Didn’t even have the balls to speak to me

I surged off the chair If he was going to dump me after all that shit, I’d force him to do it in person

It took uards with silver needles My saber, Slayer, had enough silver in it to hurt even Curran, and right now I veryfor my boots in a fury-steeped daze, found them in the bathroom of all places, and sat down on the floor to put them on I pulled the left boot on, tapped my heel into place, and stopped

Suppose I did get to the Keep And then what? If he decided he didn’t want to see et to him No matter how h to recognize that and use it againstin the lobby of the Keep for hours popped into my head Hell no

If the asshole did condescend to make an appearance, ould I say? How dare you dump me before the relationship even started? I’ve traveled six hours to tell you how h in my face, then I’d slice him to ribbons and then he’d break my neck