Bo’s heart had stopped in her chest at Lauren’s mention of the Queen of the Dark, and it flushed hot now like it was on fire, and she wished Lauren hadn’t brought her up, knew she’d been alone in her bedroom with Lauren for too long, because her hurt and anger had seared her skin, and though her fingers hadn’t burned through the Wanderer’s tarot card downstairs, she thought they might smolder through the cool wood of her bedpost now.

Lauren turned smoothly to face her, her lips parted in abstract shock and her brow crumpled into an incredulous expression. Her shoulders dipped, her hand rose to grip the rising, twisting bedpost, and Bo knew she’d said the wrong thing. But her hurt and anger were a force of their own, had been a force of their own for so long that Bo had begun to recognize it as a separate entity, to blame it for everything that had gone wrong between her and Lauren, for all the pain she’d dealt her, for the love that had betrayed both of them.

“I stayed with the Dark for you,” Lauren stepped back, her words hurt now and softening with outraged disbelief.

“What?” Bo managed to breathe out, her face falling into a befuddlement that was part guilty relief, part incomprehension and just a little bit angry and perturbed all at once.

“I isolated myself,” Lauren drew in a short breath, as if trying to hold on to her composure, “for you.” She was angry now, Bo could see it in the aggressive movement of her hands, in the nod of her head and the subtle shake of her hair. “This was all for you, everything that I do is for you!” Lauren’s voice had begun to shake with intensity, her wide-eyed expression was tight with offended hurt.

Bo’s heart had begun a heavy, angry beat that exploded through her veins and struggled against her skin. She jumped from the bed, every muscle in her body screaming to release the tension that had surrounded her like a cloud and clung and wouldn’t let go. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing – she didn’t want to believe it, was scared to believe it. Because Rainer, who had been honest and straightforward with her from the beginning, needed her right now and Bo couldn’t trust herself to keep her priorities straight if Lauren truly loved her. Rainer was supposed to be her destiny, but Lauren… Lauren was something else. Something more.