“It’s just dinner with a few friends.” Odette shrank under Igor’s frame. “I thought it’d be nice if you came.”
Igor rolled his eyes. “Always with thefriends.I asked you to move in weeks ago, and you haven’t brought over a single box!”
“I’ve been busy.” Odette’s eyes darted to the side.
“Yeah, right. Everyone else is more important to you thanme.” Igor crossed his arms. “Don’t you realize you’re better off without those losers you hang with? Ineedmore attention, and you aren’t giving it to me!”
What a jealous jerk. Could he fuck off already? Igor turned around when he heard me coming, while Odette sagged in relief.
“Odette, I need your help with some homework,” I lied. “It’s urgent.”
Igor shot dagger eyes at Odette, but she quickly said, “Sure, Emma! I’ll be right there!”
She tottered to my dorm as fast as her little legs could carry her. I flipped Igor off— his cheeks flushed as he left, mumbling under his breath about what a bitch I was. He was too big of a wimp to confront me to my face.
I closed my dorm room door and locked it, just in case the asshole came back. Odette was sitting on my bed, nervously brushing out her hair with her fingers.
“Odette, what is it going to take for you to dump this guy?” I asked her. “Because at this point, I’ll seriously pay you to break it off with him.”
Odette began working on a braid. “I don’t know.”
“I think he takes advantage of you, and it’s not because you have autism,” I said. “You’ve never had a boyfriend before, so it’s not like you know what to expect, and him being ten years older than you gives him a hell of a lot of leverage.”
“You never had a boyfriend before Ethan,” Odette said.
“Yeah, and look how that turned out.” I took a pause. “Why isn’t Igor mated, anyhow? He’s ancient to be without a mate.”
“Um… his mate broke their bond after they were together for a year,” Odette confessed. “She said she couldn’t deal with him, I think, and married someone else.”
“Imagine that.” If his own damn mate couldn’t tolerate Igor, I doubted any woman on this earth could.
She made a face. “Okay… if I’m honest, I’m really getting tired of him. He’s the neediest guy ever, and that’s saying a lot for an alicorn.”
“Do you want me to show him the door? I’d be more than thrilled to put a foot up his ass.”
She sighed and flopped backward. “No. I’ve gotta do it. I know I’m not happy.”
I sat beside her. “Sorry to hold you hostage in my room, but I couldn’t think of anything on the fly.”
“It’s okay.” Tygrys purred when he saw Odette, and flew over to nestle in her hair. “I wanted to talk to you in private anyway.”
“About what?”
Odette chewed her lip guiltily. “Well… I didn’t tell everyoneeverythingI learned at the Pool.”
“What? Why?” I asked in shock.
“Emma, mydrycaancestors want me to share certain things with only you,” Odette said. “It’s not that they don’t trust our friends, but there are some things only you can hear. They told me that specifically.”
“So what did they want me to know?” I crossed my arms, annoyed the druids didn’t just tell me outright when I’d been at the Pool.
Odette gave a nervous laugh, and slowly sat up. “You know the prophecy says you’re going to die, right?”
“Yes. The hag made that clear.”
“Well, there’s a way around that,” Odette said, and hope rose. “But… you can’t be with Ethan ever again.”
My gut took a heavy blow. I was winded as I asked, “What do you mean?”
