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“Sloane, I know you’re angry…”

“I’m devastated. I trusted you,” I say, forcing each word past the pressure in my throat. “All of you. I let you into parts of me I didn’t think anyone would ever touch again. I let you make me believe this was different.”

“It is different, Sugar.” Jace says, panic clear in his voice.

I look at him, and my voice loses its sharp edge despite everything. “Not enough.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t do this.”

“This was done before I walked into this office.” I turn toward the door, but Elias moves to stop me again.

“Sloane, please. Just give us a chance to—”

“Magnolia,” I whisper.

Elias freezes, his hand still outstretched. Behind him, Nate goes rigid, the color draining from his face. Even Jace looks shocked, his eyes moving between us as the meaning of that single word sinks in.

They promised me they'd honor it without question, no matter what was happening between us. And now I've used it to put an end to something none of us thought we'd lose.

I push past him without another word, and he makes no attempt to stop me. The tears I've been fighting finally spill over as I open the office door and head for the elevator.

I make it to the elevator and jab the call button, desperate to get out before I completely fall apart.

“Sloane!”

Jace's voice carries down the hallway. I press the button again, then a third time, silently begging the damn doors to open.

“Sloane, wait!”

He reaches me just as the elevator arrives, catching my hand before I can step inside. He doesn't pull me back, just holds on, his fingers trembling around mine.

“Please.” His voice cracks on the word. “Don’t leave like this.”

I turn toward him.

The hazel-green of his eyes is glassy, bright with tears he’s trying to hold back. Guilt twists inside me; Jace never questioned me. But he belongs with them. I can’t be the one who asks him to choose.

“I love you,” he says, raw and unguarded. “Please don’t let their fear erase that.”

My nose stings as tears blur my vision. I step closer and press a light kiss to his cheek. “I love you too. But I can’t stay somewhere I have to prove I’m not the enemy.”

I step into the elevator, reluctantly releasing Jace's hand. As I turn to face him, I see Nate and Elias standing in the office doorway behind him.

Neither makes a move toward me.

They just watch, and somehow, seeing the devastation on their faces hurts almost as much as knowing they doubted me.

“I hope you find your leak.” I say as the doors slide shut between us.

forty-three

Notice of Departure

Cypress has been screaming for twelve straight minutes.

He sits in the middle of Trey’s kitchen like a tiny, furious warlord, tail wrapped neatly around his paws while he performs the tragic opera of his relocation at the top of his lungs.

“I know,” I tell him, staring into the coffee Trey made me nearly an hour ago. “Your life is unbearable.”