Page 155 of Saint Céline
I looked at Vincent again. He did not smile. Good. If he had, I might have changed my mind out of spite.
“With Vincent,” I said.
The silence that followed hurt.
Then Sophia said, very carefully, “Céline.”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“I do.” My voice shook then, but only once. “And I need you to know where I am. I need you to know I’m choosing it because right now every other option is worse.”
Behind Sophia, Anya said something I could not make out. Probably a curse. Probably a threat. Probably both.
Sophia’s voice returned softer.
“We’re coming with you to get your things.”
I almost said no. Then I thought of Miss Astoria. My room. The medication in my bag. Daniel’s face in the courtyard. Vincent’s yes to my demands. Katherine’s hand slipping from mine. It was all too much.
“All right,” I said.
When I hung up, Vincent was beside me.
“You understand,” I said without looking at him, “that if you lie to me again, I will destroy you.”
“Yes, I know you’re capable of it, my love.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“No,” I said, finally turning to him. “You don’t. You have seen me survive. You have seen me steal. You have seen me lie. But you have not seen what I become when someone takes the last safe thing from me.”
His gaze moved over my face slowly. The regret was still there, quieter now, but real.
“I would like to see you safe instead.”
I looked away first.
“This is exactly why I should never trust you.”
“No,” Vincent said. “It is why you should never bore me. Next time, listen to me when I ask nicely, and things won’t get to this point.”
I laughed once, sharp and unwilling, at the ridiculousness of my situation.
Then I walked toward the dorm to pack my life into bags, while the man who had ruined all my safety nets followed me home to offer his own.
30
Céline
Sophia opened the door right as I lifted my hand to knock. She stood there in her soft baby blue sweater, her face already pulled tight with worry. Behind her, Anya paced the living room floor with her phone gripped in one hand and Miss Astoria tucked under her other arm. The cat looked perfectly content to be carried like that.
The second Miss Astoria spotted me, she let out a scream.
Anya glanced down at her.
