“You know, he thinks you hate him.”
Owen’s navy-blue gaze searched mine. “When did you talk to Felix?”
“At the van Doren party. On the balcony. He thinks you hate him.”
“That’s absurd. I don’t hate him.”
“Well, maybe you tell him that. I don’t know.”
“Yeah, maybe one day. But anyway, I like to focus on my girlfriend, please.”
I laughed. “Have you had lunch yet?”
“Well, if by lunch you mean eating you out? I’m all for it.”
I laughed. “It’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Fine. I will also give you real food. I can have it brought to my room.”
“God, you Hellfire boys, all the special treatment.”
“Well, you’re my girlfriend now, so you get even more special treatment.”
I grabbed my backpack and Owen took it from me, slinging it over his shoulder before taking my hand. “Come on. I can’t let you carry that. Also, why are there so many books in here? Jesus.”
“I like to prepare for class.”
“Wow, okay. We got to get you these books on a tablet because, again, Jesus.”
He was so impossibly rich sometimes. “I can only get used textbooks in print form. I can’t afford the new digital editions.”
He frowned at that. “You shouldn’t have to worry about that.”
“Well, I do. And anyway, I love my textbooks, thank you very much.”
He nodded, and we took the stairs silently as some students were finally starting to mill downstairs toward the kitchen. The ones with dietary restrictions always went there to grab their food as opposed to eating upstairs in the dining hall. Sure, there were gluten-free options and vegetarian options and all that, but those that had real needs and dietary restrictions always came to the kitchen. They had to be sure about food contamination.
I went in as Owen held my hand and then saw Phineas coming down the stairs. Owen gave him a nod.
A muscle in Phineas’s handsome jaw pulsed.
“Mate, you talked to Aurora today? Saw her earlier in the study.”
Phineas shrugged. “If Aurora wants to talk to me, I’m here. Until then, she’s none of my fucking business.”
He shoved past us and through the doors, letting in a gust of icy air that swooshed my skirt. I groaned. “Wow, he really hates her.”
Owen shook his head. “No, the twat loves her, but he’s not owning it. Doesn’t even know what to do about it, so he’s acting like a prick.”
“Speaking of pricks, have you talked to Felix? It sounds like you need to clear the air.”
He frowned, and I thought he was going to fight me about it. But instead, he said, “Yeah, maybe it’s time Felix and I had a talk.”
Chapter 17
Owen
I barely noticed when the car door opened, letting in the noise of New York City. Mum had sent over a feature piece she was thinking of acquiring for Gotham, wanting my opinion on if it fit that issue’s theme or not, but half my mind was on Tanith, wondering how soon was too soon to pick her up from the Gotham Girl offices since my mother was leaving early today for a meeting. So when Felix opened the door and slid in, it took me a minute to tear my eyes away from my phone.
“You look like shit,” I observed as the car pulled away from the hospital curb.
Felix rubbed his hands over his face and then slumped back in his seat. “I feel like shit,” he mumbled. “Thanks for picking me up, by the way. I thought for sure you’d still be up in Vermont.”
“I should be,” I said easily. “But I pulled some Hellfire strings. Turns out all my Friday classes can be moved. Et voilà, I can be in the city during the weekends with Tanith.”
He closed his eyes. “You really like her, then.”
“Yes,” I replied simply. I liked her so much it terrified me. So much that I couldn’t keep my hands off her, so much that I’d snuck her into my dorm room all this week, and I was planning on sneaking her out of the van Dorens’ townhouse, where she was staying on her internship days, and into my room at our Manhattan residence.
But I wasn’t about to say all that to Felix.
“I was a twat to her at the van Doren party,” he said after a minute. “I’m sorry, mate.”
“It’s not me you should apologize to.”
“No, you’re—you’re right.” He heaved a giant breath, his eyes still closed.
I turned off my phone and gave him my full attention. “How’s Chad?”
“The same,” Felix said tiredly. “He’ll live, but it’s not pretty.”
Three days ago, Chad had been found behind a warehouse in Hunts Point so thoroughly worked over that the person who’d found him had thought he was dead. He’d been recovering in the hospital ever since, and Felix had been going to visit him since, apparently, Chad’s parents were in Bora Bora and couldn’t be bothered to come home. Since the hospital was on my way into town, I’d offered to drop him by the house before I went on to the Preston Media offices to get Tanith.
Felix’s eyes stayed closed as he asked, “You don’t know who did it, do you? Who hurt him?”
I could honestly tell him the truth here, because I only knew who called in the favor to have him hurt. “I don’t know who hurt him. But, Felix, Aurora is an actual princess. Is it so surprising that there were consequences to him attacking her outside a bar?”
“Owen,” Felix said, opening his eyes. “You must know I feel beastly about the whole thing, right? I never thought Chad would—”
I gave him a hard stare. “You never thought he would? Even after the lobster? The acid incident? The underage sex worker?”
He flinched.
“How could you not see that he was dangerous to the people around him?”
“I guess I thought those were mistakes. One-offs. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, hey?” he added with a weak smile.
I shook
