Chapter 3

Who was this party really for? It didn't need saying.

Then Damon told the housekeeper to look after me. Said something had come up. He had to leave for a bit.

"Aria, wait here. Be good."

He kissed my forehead and walked off with Celeste, in too much of a hurry to hide it.

I watched them walk away, then followed.

My eyes stopped at the inner doorway. Inside, Celeste was straddling Damon, kissing him hard.

Damon flipped her and pinned her under him.

"Lucky for you Aria can't see. You had the fireworks spell your name. Don't pull stunts like that again."

"What are you scared of? She can't see."

Celeste tore at his clothes while she talked. Their breathing got heavier, past the point of stopping.

My hands shook as I pulled out my phone, pointed it at them, and hit record.

However long they tangled, I stood there and listened.

Finally Celeste wore out and slumped on his chest, asleep.

Damon wasn't done. He gripped her and started again.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned and ran.

All the way home. I didn't stop. By the time I got through the door, I'd finally let Damon die inside me.

I slid off my Mate pendant and dropped it in the trash.

I went to the bedroom and gathered everything that had anything to do with Damon. I dragged it all to the garden, dug a pit, threw it in, and set it on fire.

I watched the flames eat our memories without blinking. Damon. There's no after for us.

I'd just gotten back to my room when Damon burst in, sweating, frantic.

The second he saw me, he let his breath out.

"Aria, why did you come home alone? That's dangerous. You scared me to death."

His voice was full of that fake fear.

I smiled a little. "You were gone so long. I got scared. I had the housekeeper bring me home."

Damon hugged me tight, guilty now. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

After that, I stopped talking. Damon wouldn't leave my side. A few quiet days passed.

On the seventh day, Damon took me out for a walk. Halfway through, his phone rang. He said something came up at the Pack. He tried to slip away.

I stopped him and pulled out a folder already flipped open to the signature page.

"I need you to sign something. I can't see it."

Damon, in a hurry to get to Celeste, signed without even looking.

"What is it? Are you buying a car? A house?"

While he asked, he pressed a card into my hand and told me to go buy whatever I wanted. Then he was gone.

I wanted to say a proper goodbye. There wasn't time. He didn't even know he'd just signed the Severing Bond agreement.

It didn't matter. He didn't need one anyway. I pulled off my dark glasses and watched his back. "Damon. Goodbye."

I went home. Put the signed agreement on the coffee table. Put the video from my phone on top of it.

One last look at the house. Then I picked up my suitcase and walked out without turning back.

Damon went straight to the Pack Infirmary. Celeste had called saying she was hurt. When Damon arrived, it turned out to be another trick — a cold, that was all.

Damon glared at her, furious. "Stop acting like a pup."

Then, turning to leave, he ran into Healer Ellsworth, the one who'd treated my eyes. Ellsworth looked worried.

"Alpha. Is Aria's sight giving her trouble again?"

Damon stared. He didn't understand.

"What do you mean, again?"

"Aria's eyes. We finished the healing seven days ago. She could see again. She was so happy. She took off running. Said she wanted to go home and tell you the news herself."

Damon almost went down. He stumbled and slammed into the wall. His eyes filled with a fear that had no bottom.

He shoved past Celeste and ran out, half-falling the whole way back to the Manor.

I'd just reached the airport when Damon called.

"Aria. You could see the whole time, couldn't you?"

His voice shook. His hands were probably shaking too.

"Are you at home right now? If you are, turn on the TV. The answer's on it."

I pulled up the house security feed on my phone. Damon was there. He'd made it back.

Half an hour earlier, Healer Ellsworth had called me and asked why I hadn't told Damon I could see. I just laughed, small and bitter, and said nothing.

On the feed, Damon was on his knees in front of the coffee table, eyes full of tears.

He'd started the TV. What played was every private photo of him with Celeste — things so explicit they'd make anyone recoil.

Damon lifted the phone, voice breaking. "Aria. Aria. You — you could see all along?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I laughed under my breath. My eyes went cold.

"Did you ever give me a chance to speak? The moment I came home I saw you with her. You broke your vows. You got her pregnant. I know all of it."

"You signed the Severing Bond. We're done. Don't come looking for me again."

Damon gripped the phone, screaming like he'd lost his mind. "I won't sever. I won't. I'd rather die."