Book 1: Chapter 25

The first few days, I let myself wallow in my own misery, moping around the apartment. I don't even shower. I spend a lot of time on the balcony, letting cigarette butts pile up in the ashtray.

When I can't stand the silence anymore, I throw myself into work. I get to the office by seven in the morning and leave after eleven at night every day. After three days, I realize Carly is working the same hours to try to keep up and looks exhausted. I let her know she doesn't need to stay the long hours I do, she can work her regular hours. She seems relieved and grateful.

Milo and Lenora distract me over the weekend with movies and shopping. I don't need anything for myself, but I picked up some kitchen gadgets for Kas as winter solstice gifts. On day eleven, I woke up ready to train. Saint has the itch to spar, which is bad news for my sparring partners.

I get to the training grounds and let the trainers know to queue warriors up so I can burn some energy. They already know what to do whe