Page 164 of Unrivaled
My hand was?—
Against my neck.
The skin whole and warm.
Unharmed.
Untouched.
Luca’s voice.“Chay?—”
The word was a raw plea for mercy.I bit down hard on my cheek because it was that or unravel.I could taste blood.I sucked in air through my teeth.
He shouldn’t have been the one acting hurt.Why was he?
Why didn’t it make me angry?
“You didn’t hurt her last night,” Chay said, soothingly.“Youdidhurt her this morning, with all the shit you’ve said, but you can fix that.Keep your mouth shut until your head’s on straight, then come apologize.You’ve done that plenty, haven’t you?With Audrey?”
Somehow, I forced my legs to move toward a window.Pushing the shutters open, I breathed deeply from the fresh air.It was ripped back out of me in a sob I couldn’t swallow.It didn’t clear my head.It didn’t clear anything.
“But—her virginity—” The plea was confused.Scared.
“It’s all right, Luca.Truth is, no one else’s cock is any more magical than yours.No one’lleverknow, hey?Unless we tell them.And you and me, we’re oathbound.So unless you want to continue cooking from the inside out, you’d better say it after me: it’s her body.She can do what she wants with it.”
No one needs to know.
Everyone would know.My heart roared in my chest.The scream of women around me as they mourned fallen Sisters.My skirts tangling around my feet as I stepped back, running into a wall.My hair, already pulled out of its knots, had caught in the tiny fragments of the wood that had halted my flight.Everyone will know.
“Chay—”
“I’m not going to have you burst into flames and stink up her tower, friend.So say it with me.It’s her body.She can do what she wants with it.”
I sucked in air.It was ripped out of me again.
“It’s her body,” Luca repeated, shakily.“She can do what she wants.But…”
“No.No ‘but’ on the end, Luca.All hers.She shared it.You’re a lucky sonofabitch, aren’t you?”
Luca let out a sob.
I choked on mine.
“I’ll carry this, here.Come on.Let’s go.Keep repeating it, friend.Her body.She can do what she wants.”
“Her body,” he whispered.And the door shut behind him, leaving me locked in with the reek of betrayal and sex.
CHAPTERFIFTY-NINE
AUDREY
We are only conquered when we believe ourselves to be.
—Isolde
24thDay of Autumn’s Son Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 272
