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He hated that she knew he was nothing but a whore.

On one hand, Phury couldn’t believe that the words “I am a virgin” had come out of his mouth. On another, he was glad he’d said them.

He had no idea what Cormia thought, though. She was dead quiet.

He pulled back just enough so he could stuff his sex back in his pants and zip up, then he righted her robe, bringing the two halves together and covering her beautiful body up.

In the silence between them, he paced around the room, going from the door to the far wall and back.

Her eyes watched his every move. God, what the hell was she thinking?

“I suppose it shouldn’t matter,” he said. “I don’t know why I brought it up.”

“How is it possible . . . I’m sorry. That’s so inappropriate—”

“No, I don’t mind explaining.” He paused, unsure as to whether she’d read about Zsadist’s past. “I took a vow of celibacy when I was young. To make me stronger. And I stuck to it.”

Not quite, mate, the wizard chimed in. Tell her about the whore, why don’t you. Tell her about the prostitute that you bought at ZeroSum and took into a bathroom and couldn’t finish with.

How typical of you to be exceptional in that manner. The only soiled virgin on the planet.

Phury stopped in front of his drawing on the blackboard. He’d ruined everything.

Picking up a piece of chalk, he started at her feet, beginning to draw the ivy leaves.

“What are you doing?” she said. “You’re ruining it.”

Ah, lass, the wizard answered. However good he is at drawing, he’s better at ruination.

Before long, the stunning figure of her was covered with a blanket of ivy leaves. When he was finished, he stepped back from the board. “I tried sex once. And it didn’t work out.”

“Why not?” she asked in a tight voice.

“It wasn’t right. It wasn’t a good choice. I stopped.”

There was a pause and then a shuffling sound as she got off the table. “Just as it was now with me.”

He spun around. “No, that isn’t—”

“You stopped, didn’t you. You chose not to go on.”

“Cormia, it’s not that—”

“Who are you saving yourself for?” Her eyes were smart as hell as she looked at him. “Or is it more like what? Is it the fantasy you have of Bella? Is that what’s stopping you? If it is, I feel sorry for the Chosen. But if the celibacy is to keep yourself insulated and safe, I feel sorry for you. That strength is a lie.”

She was right. Fuck him, but she was so right.

Cormia coiled up her hair and regarded him with a queen’s dignity as she pinned it in place. “I’m going back to the Sanctuary. I wish you well.”

As she turned away, he jogged over to her. “Cormia, wait—”

She took her arm away when he tried to take it. “Why should I wait? What precisely is going to change? Nothing. Go be with the others. If you can. And if you can’t, you need to step down so someone else can be the strength the race needs.”

She clapped the door shut behind her.

Standing in the empty classroom, with the wizard’s laughter ringing in his ears, Phury closed his eyes and felt the world shrink down all around him until his past and his present and his future were choking him of breath . . . turning him into one of the statues in his family’s overgrown, dead garden.

That strength is a lie. . . .

In the silence that surrounded him, her words just kept replaying in his head, over and over again.

Chapter Thirty-three

"This is just a club,” the Omega’s son said, his voice at once defeated and annoyed.

Mr. D turned off the Focus’s wheezer of an engine and looked over. “Yup. And we’re going to get you what you need here.”

They’d been driving around aimlessly for quite a while, because the Omega’s son couldn’t stop throwing up. The last heaving session had been about forty minutes ago, though, so Mr. D was pretty sure things had done settled some. Hard to know whether the pukin’ were because of what the son had had to do or on account of his induction. Either way, Mr. D had taken care of him, even holding the son’s head up at one point, because the guy had been too weak to do it himself.

Screamer’s was the right place for them to be hauntin’. Even though