“I’ll never be your boyfriend, alright?”
Hailey shook her head in surprised confusion.
“Why are you saying these things?”Cobon!Cobon wanted him to hurt her.This was so over the top and unbelievable, it had to be Envoy shenanigans—
—or maybe Hailey was in denial.
In any case, Fin certainly didn’t look hypnotized—in fact, he rolled his eyes at her.
“Look, I had to get close to you after Holly croaked.”
The air in the room was too heavy to breathe. Hailey blinked rapidly, trying to keep her angry veneer in place for just a few seconds longer.
“I got you here; I gained your trust; I seduced you, and you were eating out of my hand. But now the Envoys have a different plan for you. So, I don’t have to keep up this charade.”
“That’s not funny, Fin.” Hailey was holding it together, but just barely. She had to open her eyes wide to keep the tears in.
Hewas the one who said they’d figure things out together.Hehad told her he’d help her escape the ripping-out-of-the-soul, temporary death thing. And now he was abandoning her to Cobon’s plan.
“You’re really freaking me out,” she managed between shallow hitching breaths.
“Wait a minute,” he said with an arrogant laugh. “You didn’t honestly believe I wanted to marry you…”
She blanched.
He gasped. “You did!” He stepped back and clapped his hands together loudly as he laughed at her. Her eyes shot left and right as a gradual hush fell over thehall. “You rise to a whole new level of pathetic,” he said loud enough for everyone on the dance floor to hear. “I can’t believe you fell for that!” he yelled at her.
She flinched, letting two large drops fall from her eyes, and the whole hall turned to see what was happening. Then he poked her in the forehead.
“Get it through your head, little girl—I’m done with you. You’re a weeping cesspool,” he muttered. His voice was cold and certain, his eyes frigid, and now Adelaide was coming back. Fin offered his elbow to her.
“Hello my dear,” he said, his voice switched back to its smooth, sincere, heart-throb magic. He didn’t even glance back at Hailey as he swaggered away.
She stood gaping after them, shell-shocked, humiliated, and completely hollow.
“Don’t feel bad, Hailey,” said Sidney, who appeared at her side. “Pádraig does this to every girl he sleeps with.”
Hailey continued staring after Fin.
“And that’s a lot of girls,” Sidney continued. “You get lonely, you can always call me.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better, Sidney, I did not sleep with him.” Well, actually she did, but not how Sidney meant it. She tore her eyes away from the corner Fin had just rounded to stare daggers at Sidney. “And I willnotbe calling you.”
Giselle was still at her side.
“Told you,” she said softly, gloomily. “He’s an asshole.” She threw her arm around Hailey and hugged her stiffly. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
Hailey shook her head as her eyes welled again. Her whole body trembled.
“At least Asher didn’t stand you up.”
“Yeah.”
Giselle was trying to make her feel better, but she’d heard everything Fin said, and she had to know it cut to Hailey’s heart.
“Giselle, I’m going to walk home now,” she told her in a half whisper. Her feet carried her to the exit, but she couldn’t feel the floor under them.
