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Irested my head against the wall outside Severin’s office, my hands trembling. I didn’t know what to believe anymore, only that I couldn’t handle any of it. I needed time and space to figure it all out.

My phone vibrated in my purse, and I pulled it out to glance at the screen. Somehow, I’d expected Severin to have magically gotten my number. I expected him to beg me to come back.

And if he did ask, I might just drop everything and run to him.

But it wasn’t him.

Nope.

It was Damon again. Because fucking of course it was.

Damon:

Hello, Xeniya, my Little Rabbit. Are you having fun?

I sucked in a breath. The typing indicator flickered. He was still writing, so I waited.

Damon:

Miss me?

I rolled my eyes and took the bait.

Me:

Damon, how can I miss you when I don’t know who you are?

Damon:

I am hurt. It doesn’t matter what form you take. I will always know you and find you.

My heart stumbled, then raced. I will always know you and find you. The words repeated in my head, sending a prickle across my skin. Every cell in my body seemed poised to run.

Damon:

Oh, you know who I am. You know me very well.

Me:

Because you rented me?

Damon:

Ding, ding, ding. Give the girl a prize. I am saddened you didn’t solve my anagram yet.

The gilded wall molding dug into my back as I stared at the messages. Anagram? I needed to rearrange the letters in his name. Damon Bayswim Locke.

But I was terrible with words. I was a computer scientist, not a writer or an English teacher, and I’d only gotten as far as: My name is, when my phone buzzed again.

Damon:

You once told me you loved me. I am disappointed in you.

My phone slipped from my fingers and crashed onto the marble floor. My heart twisted, as though someone had hooked their fingers around it and squeezed until there was nothing left. Killing me slowly.

I stood trembling, frozen in place.

The letters spelled: My name is Blackwood. But I didn’t need to finish rearranging them to know that.