She grabbed my wrist as I lowered the glass. “Come on, Dark Prince. You’re not getting out of this one.”
Thalia looped her arm through mine on the other side, practically vibrating with energy. “Back into the pit we go.”
And just like that, they dragged me back onto the dance floor, into the fray of bodies and light and sound. The beat dropped hard, the bass a relentless, living thing that thudded in time with my heartbeat.
Claire twirled in front of me, her grin wicked and daring, while Thalia threw her hands in the air, her hips already rolling with the rhythm, hair sticking to her skin with sweat and glitter.
For a second, I forgot everything. Here, in this moment, under these lights, surrounded by fire and chaos and beautiful madness—I let go. And let them drag me under.
CHAPTER 21
THEO
Itold myself I wasn’t going to follow him. But I knew I was lying. There was no version of reality, no timeline, where this—us–was over. Sin walked away like he meant it. Every single word. Like we never meant anything. Like I hadn’t carved every inch of him into my soul.
And I let him. I stood there like a fucking statue while he shattered the only thing in this world that ever felt real. But the second he disappeared around the corner, my body betrayed me. My feet moved on their own, tracking him like instinct. Like need.
Sinclair always walked fast when he was angry—head down, jaw tight, fists clenched like he was seconds away from throwing them. I knew every tick, every micro-expression, the entire goddamn emotional spectrum of that man—and still, I almost lost him in the crowd.
I watched him slip into his building. The glass doors closed behind him. And I just… stood there. Like some creep. Like the coward I was. I should’ve gone home. Should’ve respected the boundary he threw down like a gauntlet.
But love doesn’t care about boundaries. Obsession doesn’t either. So I waited. And when he came out again, laughterpouring from his lips like it cost him nothing, like we didn’t just tear each other apart with our teeth, I followed.
He didn’t know I was there when he climbed into Claire’s SUV. Didn’t see me as I slipped into mine, and tailed them through the city like a shadow.
He wanted to forget me? Fine. Let him try. But I wouldn’t be erased. I wouldn’t let him pretend I never happened.
The drive to Marlow Heights gave me time to think about what I was doing. I wouldn’t make myself known, I just wanted to make sure he was okay. At least that’s what I told myself. Nocturne was packed, pulsing with heat, neon-stained smoke and bodies grinding to bass that felt like a second heartbeat.
In a club full of hundreds, I only saw him. Sin—center of the storm. Neck arched back, mouth open, liquor dripping off his lips like sin incarnate. He laughed like his chest wasn’t still bruised by me. Danced like we hadn’t just left each other bleeding in the wreckage of what we used to be.
But I saw it. The cracks. The way his smile faltered just a second too long. The frantic way his eyes scanned the room, as if he could feel me watching him.The way he checked his phone continuously. Waiting for something. For me?
The whiskey burned slowly in my veins, a soft fire I could almost survive—until he turned and kissed her. Just like that, my blood froze mid-flame. My heart forgot how to beat. And then he took her by the wrist, led her into the dark like he didn’t still have my name on his lips, like I hadn’t carved myself into the marrow of his mouth.
I stumbled. Actually fucking stumbled like the ground dropped out beneath me. How many times could I be stabbed by the same goddamn person before I stopped bleeding?
I searched everywhere for them. Each minute without him was a year carved into my ribs. When I finally found him, hiseyes were glassy, ringed in red, hollowed out like something had been scraped clean from his chest.
He was dancing with Claire and Thalia like the pieces of him hadn’t been mine first. I was across the room before I even realized I’d moved. I grabbed his wrist and yanked him away from the girls, ignoring their screech of protest.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped.
Sin yanked his arm back like my touch burned him. “What the fuck does it look like, Theo? Living.”
“By fucking some stranger in a club?”
“Better than fucking someone who’s ashamed of me,” he snapped.
That hit like a fist to the throat. “That’s not what this is.”
“No?” he laughed. But it wasn’t a laugh. It was a scream buried in glass.
“Then what is it? Because I’ve spent months waiting for you to choose me. And all I ever got were crumbs. Stolen nights. Locked doors. My name buried behind your goddamn teeth.”
“I was trying to protect you?—”
“No. You were trying to protectyourself.” His voice cracked, jagged and raw, tears in the edges of his eyes even as his glare turned to fire. “And I get it, Theo. I do. But I’m done bleeding for someone who can’t even admit they want me.”
