Page 58 of The Bones in the Yard

Fuck, not since… about a year or so after my Arcana transformation.

Jesus fucking Christ, that made me sound pathetic. Probably because I was fucking pathetic.

But it also made me ridiculously fucking happy.

I turned around and looked at my cat, who was busy licking her paw to wash her face. “You’d better fucking like him, fuzz-butt, you hear me?”

She paused in her face-washing to look at me, then resumed it with a haughty expression that suggested she didn’t give two shits about what I thought.

“Fine. Tolerate him. I will settle for tolerate.”

She continued to ignore me. Because she’s a fucking cat.

In my pocket, my phone buzzed.

Elliot.I didn’t get a text yesterday, it read.

Because Taavi was hit by a truck and I was being a good BOYFRIEND thank you, I sent back, feeling a little smug.

Okay, a lot smug.

My phone started buzzing continuously, then, the screen lit up around a picture of a badger in a cowboy hat.

Yes, it was Elliot. Both the picture and also the person calling.

“El—”

“The fuck do you meanhe was hit by a truck, Val?!”

I set my bag down and went over to sit on the couch, since this probably wasn’t going to be a short conversation. “That’s what he said, and, honestly, he’s in kinda rough shape. Broken arm, fractured wrist, scraped and bruised.”

“Were you with him?”

“Fuck, no!” I was a little offended. “You seriously think I’d have let him get hit by a fucking truck if I had been with him?”

“Not on purpose. Did he call you?”

I sighed, then gave him a shortened and somewhat abridged version of the past twenty-four hours. When I finished, Elliot was quiet for a minute, although I could hear him breathing, and in my mind’s eye I knew the thoughtful expression he would be wearing. So I waited.

“Fucking hell, Val,” he said, finally.

“I—should get back to him.”

“You’re completely head-over-heels for him, aren’t you?” He sounded a bit surprised.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I retorted.

“But really.”

“Yes, Elliot, really.” I knew I sounded exasperated, but I was a bit baffled at how Elliot had somehow missed the fact that I was stupidly in love with Taavi Camal.

“No offense, Val, but—I honestly didn’t expect this.”

“Fuck you, too, Elliot.”

“Not that I’m not happy for you,” he said quickly. “I’m just… surprised because I—”

“Thought I was going to end up miserable and alone?” I was a little annoyed by that, even if it was an argument I’d made myself more than once over the years, including a few weeks ago to Elliot.

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