Me and him both.
Groaning, Rook buried her face into her hands. “Ugh, not you, too! Why must you insist on using my pseudonym when I’m in trouble?”
“Because that’s what I’ll inscribe on your headstone if I ever get my hands on you! Here lies the runaway heiress Elara fucking Snowflake. Murdered by her long-suffering bodyguard.”
What?!
My hands balled as flames licked hotter, cutting through Rook’s power over me.
I might quickly be learning how dependent on her I was to stay sane, but right now, I wanted to become the apocalypse everyone feared because he’dthreatenedher. He had the audacity to talk about murdering the one person I needed, and if he was here,he’dbe the one needing a fucking tombstone.
Stepping toward the bed, I fully intended to destroy the phone, but Whisper chirped, wrenching me to a stop.
I glowered at the cat.
“You’re so dramatic,” Rook muttered.
“I’ll show you dramatic, you frustrating, annoying pain in my ass!” he shouted back, making my teeth grind to dust.
“Jeez. I’m still alive, okay? Calm down. No need to give yourself a heart attack—”
“Don’t you dare take that tone with me,Elara Snowflake,” he barked. “Not after what you just put me through. Are you hurt? Where are you? What happened?”
My eyes narrowed.
That was the third time he’d called her that.
So shehadlied to me.
Rook Snowdon wasn’t her real—
“My name really is Rook,” she rushed, her eyes widening on mine as little curls of heat evaporated from my shoulders. Once again, she read my thoughts—not that they would be hard to follow. “Elara Snowflake is just a company address.”
Snowflake...
I frowned, trying to recall why that sounded vaguely familiar.
She froze, her face going white.
“What?” I asked tersely. “Why are you looking at me as if waiting for me to recognise that name?”
“Do you?” She gulped. “Have you...have you heard of Snowflake Corp before?”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Her bodyguard cut in. “I haven’t been trying to call you for the past seven weeks just for you to have a conversation with someone else, you know!”
“Sorry, sorry.” Tearing her gaze from mine, leaving me slightly unsettled at how wary she’d become, she added, “And I didn’t mean to leave you hanging for so long. I was in a place with no reception and—”
“That’s no excuse!” he shouted. “How am I supposed to keep you safe when you don’t tell me where you’re damn well going?!”
“I’ve learned my lesson. Believe me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean...let’s start over. Shall we?” Straightening her spine, she forced a bright smile. “Hi, Dil.”
“Don’t you dare ‘Hi Dil’ me! Where are you? Your last ping location was by some massive estate that I couldn’t breach no matter how hard I tried. Are you still there? Were you ever there? What thefuckis going on?”
I ground my teeth together, my temper building, building.
