Page 66 of The Devil's Trials

I cringe. “Probably.”

“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out.”

“This is a conversation I wish we could have in person, but I don’t think it can wait. I can’t keep it to myself, or it’s going to drive me crazy.”

“Uh-huh. Not making me feel any better over here. What’s going on?”

I take a deep breath, then blurt, “I saw Xander.”

Silence stretches between us.

“Harper?”

“I know,” she finally says. “He told me after he was there. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to him about you being sick. I really didn’t think he’d get on a plane and go there.” With a sigh, she adds, “I guess I should have realized he would.”

“Don’t apologize. It was hard to see him but also, um, enlightening?” My pitch increases as if I’m posing it as a question.

“Care to explain that?”

I hesitate, unsure how to dive into the whole soulmate thing. The longer the line is quiet, the more I overthink it.

“Cami, the silence really isn’t helping me stay chill.”

“Sorry. I’m still processing this so I’m not entirely sure how to talk about it.” I take a deep breath, then swallow past the emotion threatening to clog my throat. “Xander is…or, um,was…my soulmate.”

Now she’s the silent one. Finally, she says, “What did you just say?”

“Yeah. Soulmates. Wild, right? I had no idea they were even real until I lost mine.”

“I never believed they were real, but I guess it makes sense for you two. And for people like my parents or Phoebe and Grayson.”

My lungs constrict at the thought of them—of Harper’s parents and our friends, all lost in the war against demons. “I think so, too. It’s at least part of what drew me to Xander and made it so impossible to walk away, even when I knew I should.”

Harper exhales heavily. “But he—”

“Doesn’t have a soul anymore,” I finish for her. “I know. Our bond broke when he killed Lucia.”

“When he…” She trails off, cursing under her breath. “I can get on a plane today. Just say the word, and I’ll ditch class and throw some shit in a duffel bag.”

“It’s okay,” I insist. “As much as I miss you, I just need to throw myself back into training and keep trying to move on.” Even as I say the words, part of me knows how impossible they are. There’s no moving on. Especially not when there’s so much unresolved with Xander.

“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”

I sigh. “I’m still trying to get myself to believe it.”

“Are you going to tell Noah?”

My eyes widen. “I don’t know.” Why would I? None of it affects my training, so I’m not sure there’s any reason to tell him I had and lost my soulmate. I’m trying not to think about it—and failing miserably. “He hates Xander so deeply, and telling him about my celestial connection to him won’t help that.” Considering the mere thought of talking to Noah about anything involving Xander is kicking my pulse up, that’s something I’m definitely going to avoid.

“That makes sense.”

“And it took everything to keep him from killing Xander while I was sick,” I add, cringing at the memory.

“Wait a minute. Noah knew Xander was there with you?”

“Oh. Um, yeah. After they puffed their chests at each other, they took care of me together.”

“Holy shit,” she says. “Talk about ahotfever dream.”

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