“The only thing you should be concerned about right now isyour future. Since, as we both know, it may not bequite as long as you originally anticipated. I mean, surely you no longer believe I’ll let you hang around forinfinity . Heck, you’ll be lucky if I let you make it to the end of the semester.” She stops just shy of me, her gaze taunting, gleaming, dangling the words before me like an apple before Eve—practically begging me to taste.

But I just swallow hard, making sure to keep my voice firm and steady when I say, “Damen and I have no secrets. And I know full well what Damen’s heart is like—and it’s good. So unless you have something more to say, I’m outta here—”

I make for the door, having every intention of leaving, of ending it before it can go any further, but before I can even reach it, she’s there.

Arms crossed, face grim, eyes like slits when she says, “You’re not going anywhere, Ever. I’m not even close to being done with you yet.”

Chapter 7

I stare into her eyes, her face, knowing I have only a handful of seconds to make the choice between pushing right past her, getting myself outside, and allowing us both some much needed time to cool off—or staying right here and trying to reason with her, or at the very least, allow her to think that she “won” this one.

My silence providing all the encouragement she needs to pick up right where she left off. “You honestly mean to tell me that you and Damen have no secrets?” Her tone a perfect match for the sneer on her face. “Seriously?None at all? ” She throws her head back and laughs, exposing a milky white neck littered with jewels, and the faint and flashing trace of a colorful Ouroboros tattoo. Reminding me of the one Roman had, and Drina before him, only Haven’s is far smaller than theirs and easily hidden by her long mane of hair. Her confidence blown completely out of proportion, mistaking my stillness for apprehension and fear, when she says, “Please.” She flutters her lashes. “Don’t kid yourself, and don’t even try to kidme . Six hundred years is an awfully long time, Ever. So long it’s impossible for either of us to imagine. Though it is more than enough time to rack up a few dirty skeletons for the old metaphorical closet,right ?”

She smiles, her eyes crazy, her energy so frenetic, so intense, so tightly wound, my only goal is to keep her in check. Keep her from starting something she’ll surely regret.

“None of that concerns me,” I say, careful to keep my voice low and steady. “Our past may shape us, but it doesn’t define us. So there’s really no point in lingering there any longer than necessary.”

Trying not to wince when she scrunches her brow and veers toward me, her face so close to mine I can feel the blast of her chilled breath on my cheek, can hear the chime of her swaying jeweled earrings, the long strands of stones chafing against each other.

“True.” Her eyes move over me. “But then again, some thingsnever change. Some—appetites—just get bigger and bigger, if you know what I mean.”

I move back toward the sinks, leaning my hip against one as I glance at her and sigh. Wanting her to know just how boring I find this, but she’s not the least bit affected. She couldn’t care less. This is her stage, I am her audience, and this particular show is far from over yet.

“I mean, doesn’t it ever worry you?” She moves toward me, closing the distance between us in a handful of steps. “That you’ll never be able totruly satisfy him in the way thathe, well, that any guy for that matter, really and trulyneeds ?”

I start to look away—wantto look away—but something won’t let me.She won’t let me. Somehow she’s locking my gaze.

“Doesn’t it ever worry you that he’ll get bored with all the abstinence and angst until he has no choice but to sneak off somewhere for a little…er,relief, shall we say?”

I breathe, just look at her and breathe. Concentrating on the light residing within me, and doing my best not to panic at this sudden loss of control.

“Because if I were you, I’d be worried.Very worried. What you’re asking of him, well, it’s just…

unnatural,now isn’t it?” She rubs her hands up and down her arms, shuddering as though it’s too awful, too unimaginable, as though it somehow affectsher more than me. “Still, I wish you all the best on that, for as long as it lasts anyway.”

She releases me from her grip but continues to study me. Amused by the way I just involuntarily shook, the way I try not to let on just how much she’s disturbed me.

Her lip pulling up at the side as she looks me over and says, “What’s the matter, Ever? You look a little…upset.”

I concentrate on taking slow, deep breaths, once again weighing the choice between bolting and allowing her to carry this even further. Choosing to stay and hoping to put some sense back into her when I think:

Seriously, this is it? You summoned me into the bathroom so you can express your concerns about Damen and my sex life? I sigh and shake my head as though I’m far too lazy to even summon the strength to say it out loud.

More like, lack-of-sex life.She laughs, meeting my gaze and rolling her eyes. “Trust me, Ever, as you well know, I’ve got much bigger things planned. And thanks to you, I have both the time and the power to see them through!” She cocks her head to the side and looks me over. “Remember what I said last time I saw you—the night you killed Roman?”

I start to refuse it but just as quickly force myself to stop. There’s no point in repeating it yet again.