Lizzy elbowed her.
“I was hoping you might like to grab a drink with me sometime,” Charlie continued.
Jane’s smile broadened. “I’d like that.”
“Really?” Charlie replied, as if genuinely surprised. “That’s great!”
“You should go now!” Mrs. Bennet smiled brightly, her hands clasped together like she was watching the end of her favorite romantic comedy.
Jane laughed and shook her head. “I don’t finish here until five.”
Charlie smiled. “Okay. I’ll be back to pick you up at five.” Their gaze remained locked on one another, then he turned to the rest of them. “Nice to see you all.”
They nodded, barely able to wave goodbye as he walked out the door and disappeared down the sidewalk.
A moment of pure stillness passed before the room erupted in chaos again. Laughter and screaming and smiles. Lizzy joined in, too, her heart practically bursting for her sister. But she couldn’t help how her eyes traveled back to the window, just to make sure Will didn’t suddenly appear.
He didn’t.
CHAPTER 35
He pulled her against his hard armor. The spell he cast over the room made time stop, suspending them in the dark shadows of the curse. Her dragonbone dagger crashed to the cold ground as she reached up to touch his face. His skin felt like fire and sin. His emerald eyes danced over her shimmering skin right before he—
Lizzy’s eyes blurred at the words in front of her. She couldn’t focus on a High Fae’s bastard heir right now. She couldn’t focus on anything. The euphoria from Charlie’s visit to the bakery earlier had worn off, and she felt restless.
She slammed the book closed and turned to stare out her bedroom window, the stolen Columbia sweatshirt warm and loose around her body. It had rained earlier, leaving her usual spot on the roof too wet to enjoy, so she just watched the trees from her bed, their leaves just beginning to turn red and yellow.
It was late, well past ten o’clock, and the Bennet household was beginning to settle. Down the hall, Lydia and Kitty were laughing as they got ready for bed. Mary was probably still at the kitchen table, finishing up her research on how to shut down offshore wind projects on the East Coast. And judging from the lack of noisein the dining room, Mrs. Bennet had finally powered down her industrial-sized bedazzler. Apparently, the Luxe Leggings winter collection was done.
And Jane was still out with Charlie. True to his word, he had waited until her shift ended, then they had disappeared with barely a glance back as they left the bakery. Lizzy doubted she would see them before tomorrow.
She was happy for her sister. She really was. But there was still an inkling of loss, too. Something final about the fact that Charlie came alone when all summer Will had been a permanent fixture at his side.
Enough, she thought. She could analyze it all day, but it wouldn’t change the fact that he wasn’t there. She had told him to let her go, and now she would have to be the one to admit she wanted him back. That would mean facing the pity she’d seen in his eyes before she left, though, and she didn’t think she had the strength for that. Not tonight. So instead, she picked up her phone and unlocked it, ready to scroll through her email and social media, anything to turn off her brain.
But then she saw a new message waiting in her inbox. And there, in the center of the subject line: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Lizzy’s pulse stuttered. “Oh my God.”
She stood, fumbling with the screen. Finally the message opened, and she was barely able to concentrate, as her eyes skimmed over the words:Welcome back…Spring semester…Partial scholarship.
There were documents attached, instructions for registration, but Lizzy couldn’t focus on that right now. All that mattered was that she was going back.
She was going to get her master’s.
And she had to tell her dad.
Her stomach fell. She should be smiling ear to ear. Instead it felt like she had set something irreversible into motion, and she wasn’t sure why that scared her so much.
Lizzy headed downstairs and out the front door to her father’s boat. It was late, but she knew he would still be there, probably finishing up for the night.
“Permission to board?” she yelled up, noticing the ladder was now painted with a shiny white finish.
“Granted,” her dad yelled back.
She made her way up the ladder and found him on the deck, sorting through his toolbox. She sat down across from him, but it was a minute before he looked up and noticed her expression.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
