Because he looked at you like you were his.
And you’re not.
Heat rushes to my face, red-hot anger and something heavier mixing until I can’t tell them apart.
I don’t reply. There is nothing to say back to his response.
I open the app instead.
The gradient heart pulses as it loads, the dark screen shifting like it’s turning its face toward me.
Eris:
Was he there before I saw him?
Jace, I mean…
Were you watching too?
Locke:
Yes.
The answer punches through our chat like a physical blow. My chest tightens with something dangerous, something I don’t want to name yet. But it’s there, coiling around my lungs.
Eris:
Have I met all of you?
In real life?
Locke:
You’ve met the parts of us we wanted you to see.
Eris:
Not people…
Parts.
Cool. Got it.
I sink onto the couch, tucking my legs beneath me, phone glowing in my hand.
I’m starting to feel as though I’ve been tricked. Like I’m stupid for getting this attached to something that shouldn’t be real. That isn’t real.
They aren’t real until they’re mine, and that can’t happen if they won’t be honest with me… if they won’t materialize in the flesh and stop hiding.
I feel like such a fucking idiot, and that pisses me off.
Locke:
But you still keep talking to me.
You’re not as offended as you want either of us to believe.
I stare at the words until they blur, then I type so fast the words lag across the screen.
