Page 20 of Chaos Crown

“Did they tell you the Crows were arrested? They’re in hospital beds too. But unlike you, they’re cuffed to them.”

“I heard.” Dropping his head back, wavy reddish strands brushed his pale forehead. “Doesn’t mean much though. Why do you think they rolled into our town acting like they already owned it? The Crows have been doing whatever the fuck they want, and buying themselves out of trouble since Daddy stopped wiping their shitty bottoms. I wouldn’t expect any judge in Hunter’s Crest to do more than slap them on the wrist.”

“The Crows aren’t doing whatever they want now.” Slowly, I slipped my hand across the sheets, resting my fingers on his. Roan didn’t pull away. “You guys put a scare in them that has the Crows wishing their Daddy still wiped their shitty bottoms, because they’re shaking too hard to do it themselves.”

He chuckled softly. “You still sound like you.”

I dropped my gaze. “I was always me, Roan. You can copy someone else, but you can’t really become them. In the end, that’s all I w-was.” My throat constricted. “A cheap copy while the real Rainey needed me.”

“Hmm.”

I waited him out. “Roan, please, tell me what you’re thinking. Cairo dumped me yesterday. Legend pretty much dumped me ten minutes ago. Have your feelings changed about me too?”

He pulled a face, tugging on his cut brow, split lips, and swollen eye. “Is your pussy any less delicious than it was three days ago?”

“Roan, I’m being serious.”

“Do I not sound serious?”

“No, you don’t.” I moved up onto the bed, drawing us closer. “Say flat out and plainly that nothing changed between us. You still love and want to be with me.”

That pixie grin would never leave his lips. “Okay, I’ll say this flat out and plain: I am your sex toy for now until the end of everything. I wouldn’t give you up even if you were hiding a sixty-year-old man with a golden shower fetish in that split personality of yours.”

A sharp, barking laugh slipped through my teeth. I did ask him to give it to me straight, and this was straight Roan.

Leaning down, I carefully rested my head on his chest. His heart beat beneath my ear. Steady. Strong.

“How can you be so cool about this?”

“Because what’s really changed, Ivy?”

My name on his lips stunned me.

“You still lost your family. You’re still being targeted by these crazy, black-letter shitheads. You still know the truth about us and don’t care. And I assume you still know all of Rainey’s sex tricks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. I can’t believe the things we got up to. If things were different, I wouldn’t have looked twice at a bunch of guys who were younger than me and still in college, but then I would’ve missed out on the best sex of my life.”

“That’s right,” he hummed. “Technically, you are an older woman. Not my first, but I’m glad you’ll be my last. This opens up a whole new world of role-playing for us.”

I buried my smile in his chest, amazed it was there. How was he so good at making me do that?

Because he has me under his spell. Another guy who will not use his powers for good.

“The point is nothing’s changed for me. So if you rushed up here worried you were going three-for-three with the dumping, we’re good.”

I sighed. “I wish Cairo and Legend felt the same way. Plus, I haven’t really gotten to talk to Jacques or Arsenio. I know they’ll make it difficult for me, but if those fuckers think I’m giving up the hearts I fought so hard to win, they’re in for a surprise.”

“Mmm. Can’t decide if that’s crazy or sexy. Either way, we haven’t fucked in days. Climb in.”

I picked up my head, goggling at him. “Climb in? Roan, you just survived a severe beating. You were pretty much in a coma, and you can’t even shrug without pain. Not to mention we’re in a hospital,” I stressed. “We’re not having sex.”

He looked at me like he genuinely couldn’t see why anything I said was a problem. “What else are we supposed to do?”

“We could talk. A lot more happened on that bridge.”

Roan drew my head back on his chest. “Legend told me everything that happened on the bridge and what you talked about yesterday morning.” He scoffed. “We thought we knew everything that goes down in Bedlam. We didn’t have a fucking clue.”

“Cavendish was smart. He played me like a drum. It never even occurred to me to betray him until he overplayed his hand and pushed me too far. The charm he cast still has a strong hold over the others—dead or not. They’ll carry out whatever his purpose is, and they killed Zoey to make sure of it.”

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