I was absolutely giddy. “Ancestors, you’re totally into the thought of having a threesome with Marcus and his twin brother!” I put my hand over my mouth, thrilled with how juicy this was.
“Yeah, and I haven’t been able tostopthinking about it since. It’s hot!” Kallie insisted. “I’m sure you could imagine how fun two Charlies would be.”
“I think I would die of happiness,” I said, but left it at that. Kallie didn’t know about my struggles with our sex life, because honestly, I felt embarrassed to tell her. Sharing what little I had with Ivy had been painful, and besides, this conversation was about her. I didn’t need to go rambling about myself.
She sighed. “It’s never going to happen, though. Since Dean is dead.”
“But are you bonded to Rishi, too? Obviously in a non-sexy way,” I stated.
“I think so. I share a connection with both of them.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I guess daydreams are all I’m going to get, though. Marcus has zero interest in dating me. And the longer we ignore our bond, the weaker my magic gets. He either needs to reject me or admit what we have, because I can’t do this for much longer.”
“Aren’t there Arcanean ceremonies you can perform to break your bond with him?” I asked.
“I could… I’vetried… but I won’t. I don’t have the heart,” she said sadly. “He’s gotta be the one to do it. Otherwise, we’re just stuck in limbo.”
I thought about suggesting Charlie’s help. He could use his Elf powers to break their bond, and neither one of them would have to go through the pain of doing so, but my intuition flat out rejected that idea immediately.
I had an inward knowing these two were going to end up together. Just how long it was going to take, I didn’t know.
“I mean, it’d be easier to break it off sooner than later, since you guys haven’t done anything,” I pointed out.
Kallie gotsuperquiet, and I gave a loud, obnoxious gasp. “Wait.No.Oh, Kallie, you liar!”
She blushed deeply before she exclaimed, “I wanted to tell you, but I don’t even know what’s happening myself!”
“Do you? Because the last thing I knew, you and Marcus weren’t a thing. Now you’re sexing up the place!”
“We didn’t havesex, gods.” She rolled her eyes. “We just… did other things.”
“Icannotbelieve this. Kallie, when did this happen?” I asked.
"The first time… you were in the hospital.” She dropped her gaze away from mine. “We didn't know if you were going to make it."
"Of course, the good stuff happens when I'm not around to hear about it," I grumped.
"Nobody did! I'm just telling you about it now because I can't hold it in any longer!" Kallie shouted.
"Okay, so go on. What steamy encounters did two of my best friends have when poor, broken little me was fighting for her life in a hospital bed?"
Kallie's look turned sheepish as I reached for my coffee. "We... Marcus ate me out in a stairwell."
I spat out my drink. "What the hell?!"
"You're telling me!" She shook her head. "One minute, I'm sobbing my eyes out, and the next, my skirt's hiked halfway up my stomach and he's making me feel things with his mouth I never have before."
"Excuse me— back up." I held up my hands. "That's a hell of a transition. What's the whole story?"
"I told you… when we came back from the Underground, I didn't know if you were going to be okay... I was pretty sure you were going to die, actually. I'd run off to be alone," Kallie said. She reached out to grasp my hand and squeezed it tight. "I was just falling apart, and I didn't know what to do."
"Kallie, I'm so sorry." I clutched her fingers back. "You know I'd do anything to get back to my friends. I didn't just come back for Charlie. I fought to come back to you, too."
"I know that." Kallie wiped her misty eyes with the palm of her free hand. "But it was rough, Ava, and really scary. For the first time in a really long one, I was so scared, because I was terrified I was going to lose my best friend."
I immediately started crying. I leaned forward to hug her. “Oh, Kallie! I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”
“Of course I do! It’s rare for me to have a female friend.” Kallie squeezed me back, before she pulled away. “The girls in Malovia hated me. They were either jealous of me because I was the princess, or we didn’t get along because I’m just too… me.”
