Chapter 59

Ophelia

Ryker had left after our conversation, intent on finding Jude before he could take his aggression out on another Dark Matter dealer.

To be honest, I didn’t want to think about Jude.

I knew in my bones he felt something for me. Even if it was only the tug of the mate bond trying to draw us together, it was something. He could deny it, fight it—and part of me wanted him to—but it was there, nonetheless. Rather than think more on the topic, I turned my attention to my chores.

Neither my cousin nor Lucille had a thing to say about the seven piles of laundry I’d miraculously managed to clean in one day. Without Nova, I would’ve never gotten it all done. Now all that was left was to get her out of the house without Lucille noticing.

It had been Astrid of all people who had caught us red handed.

It was well past midnight. She must’ve crept downstairs in search of a snack, because she was at the counter making a miniature fruit platter when Nova and I slipped from the laundry room.

I