Chapter 43

Jared gasped, “That fucking bastard! I’m gonna kill him!”

I quickly grabbed his hand, trying to calm his anger. “No, J, it’s all sorted out.”

“What do you mean, ‘sorted out’? Did he fucking cheat on you?” he spat out the words.

“It’s-it’s not like that” I said, stepping closer to soothe him. “Let’s just leave for now, okay?”

“If you say so,” he muttered, nodding. I pulled him out by the hand, and just as we crossed the arcade entrance, Shraf appeared, blocking our path. Lily was left behind, staring at us with a strange expression I couldn’t decipher.

“Shraf,” I breathed, my grip on Jared’s arm tightening. My heart was pounding, and I knew they could hear it.

“Eva,” Shraf replied, his dark eyes locked onto my hands on Jared’s arm. If looks could kill, we’d be nothing but ashes. But he didn’t say anything else, and neither did we. Jared, not one to back down, squared his shoulders. The silence between us was thick, tension slicing through the air.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, trying