Ashes of the Day by P.G. Forte

Author:P.G. Forte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-05-21T04:00:00+00:00

Armand was in the gym running through his usual workout and attempting to rid himself of the tension that had left all his muscles—and all of his nerves—feeling stretched too tight. He was making progress, until the door edged open. He didn’t even have to look to know who’d come to join him. He felt her essence, her presence, the weight of her stare, from clear across the room. And, just like that, all his good work came undone.

“If you’ve come to tell me you’ve changed your mind, you’re too late,” he said, continuing to stretch and doing his best to ignore her. “I’ve already talked to Conrad about making you give back the suitcase.” And while he hadn’t received an answer yet, he saw no reason to mention that fact.

“I don’t care about that right now,” Julie replied stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. “That’s not why I’m here.”

Armand cast a quick glance in her direction as she approached him. “Well, judging by what you’re wearing, you’re clearly not here to exercise. So why are you here?”

“Because I knew this was where I’d find you.”

Armand straightened. “And why should that matter all of a sudden?”

“It’s not sudden,” Julie protested. She gazed at him entreatingly. “Please don’t be like that. Just because we don’t agree all the time, that doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends, does it?”

He could have flinched at the word. He was somewhat proud that he didn’t. “So what’s happened that you need a friend so badly?”

Julie shrugged and looked away. “I broke things off with Brennan. I told him he had to leave, that he couldn’t stay here anymore.”

Armand rolled his eyes. “I bet that went over well.”

She shook her head. “It was awful. He wouldn’t even look at me.”

“That’s not so surprising,” he said gently. “Did you expect him to be happy about it?”

“No. Not happy, exactly. But why should he be so mad? He knows I’m only doing what’s best for both of us. And don’t you start telling me I should have handled things differently. You’re the one who told me he was addicted. You’ve been bitching at me to do this for weeks.”

“I do not bitch,” Armand insisted, reluctantly amused in spite of himself. “Besides, I didn’t say his addiction was altogether a bad thing. I merely pointed out that it made it unlikely that he would choose to break things off with you.”

“And that’s exactly why he has to go.” Julie scowled. “Because nobody here sees it as a problem. Everyone would just keep hitting on him and hitting on him and he wouldn’t be able to say no to any of us—just like before. He doesn’t want that, Armand. He hated being fed on all the time, feeling like a piece of meat. He said so. So…yeah, you know what? He should be happy that I took care of things for him.”

“Oui. I’m sure it must give him great pleasure to know you do not think him capable even of caring for himself.

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