Chapter Thirteen

Zoe kept smiling like she was a kid with a secret. It had to look weird because she’d received more than one strange look. She couldn’t bring herself to care. Her body was still buzzing from the two nights with Asher, even if one had not exactly been the pleasurable fantasy she might have wished for.

She wanted time with him. And she was going to get it.

She’d fallen completely and she just had to live with it. Yes, she was barreling straight towards heartbreak, but that was a couple of weeks away. She was going to soak up every feeling, every memory she could, so when she was forlornly staring at her equations back home with nothing but cold stars and math to keep her company, at least she would know that she’d once loved a dragon.

What would Asher say if she told him she didn’t want to leave? Well, at least, she didn’t want to leave him. VMC12 was kind of boring and she’d need to find something to do, but that didn’t mean she had to leave him behind.

Was it too soon? Was she sex drunk? Or was this the real thing?

She needed to walk to clear her head, that was the answer. The Verdant Sector had to be open around now and the flowers could keep her company.

That was the plan, at least, until there was a knock at her door and it slid open to reveal Remy holding a small suitcase. The woman had a serious look on her face as she held out the bag for Zoe to take.

“Your transport is being prepared,” Remy informed her. “Pack your bag and you’ll be on your way back to Earth within the hour.”

“What?” The bag slipped out of her fingers and she had to stoop to pick it up. “What are you talking about? Where’s Asher?” They were supposed to spend the night together. Things had changed between them. This thing was real, even if it was supposed to be temporary. “I’m not supposed to go home for another two weeks.”

“Things have changed,” Remy informed her cooly. “Pack. I’ll escort you to the transport.”

“There’s been some kind of misunderstanding.” Was Remy playing the protective family member? Did she think Zoe wasn’t good enough for Asher? Maybe rich people were all the same, no matter what part of the universe you were sitting in. “I’m talking to Asher.” She rushed out of the room faster than Remy could stop her.

Asher would make this right. He didn’t want her to go.

His office door was unlocked when she got there, panting a bit from the speed walk. Remy was hot on her heels.

Asher sat behind his desk, a folder with a strange seal in his hands. He looked pale. And angry.

And that seal was familiar.

Zoe took a step closer and gasped when she recognized it. The seal from the game! She’d seen it in the offices when she’d signed the release forms. Did Asher have something to do with the game? Was he playing some part in this?

“I can see by your expression that you know,” he said, flipping the folder shut and setting it down on the desk. Any of the light, the humor, the… love… was gone from his expression and he stared at her like he didn’t know her.

Worse. He stared at her like he hated her.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he spoke over her.

“I don’t know what you were planning, but you’ve been found out. Go home, Miss Gershwin. Whatever you’re looking for, you won’t find it here.” He looked past Zoe and nodded at Remy.

Remy placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, don’t make me call in security.”

“Asher—” Zoe had to say something.

But her dragon wouldn’t look at her.

To hell with that. If he wasn’t even going to let her explain herself or whatever this misunderstanding was, she wasn’t going to beg. She turned around and marched out.

Back in her room, she stuffed the few items of clothing she’d collected into her bag. It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t hers, but Remy wasn’t stopping her from taking it.

There was a small pad of paper and a pen on the bedside table.

He didn’t deserve an explanation. She didn’t need to make excuses.

But her hand was reaching for the pen of it’s own volition, scribbling out the words she hadn’t been able to say. After a moment, she slammed the pen down and glared at the paper.

She wasn’t going to hand the note to Remy. She wouldn’t ask her to give it to Asher.

Zoe left it there. If Asher saw it, he saw it.

But she wasn’t going to stay where she wasn’t wanted.

She grabbed her bag and followed Remy to the waiting transport. Her fairytale romance was over.