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she didn't care. A sickening feeling crept from her stomach and up her throat - she told Cole to go on without her. After all this time, there would be no one left to protect her here. She was on her own from now on.

Part of Cassie didn't think Cole would leave without her, but the other part knew that he needed to. She would just slow him down, and while Cassie didn't want to be dead-weight, she knew she was. There was nothing she lent to aiding in his escape. There was no way to help Cole. She'd just get him caught.

Brianna gently tapped the top of her head with a comb, "Hello? I'm talking to you. Anyone home?"

Cassie blinked and came back to the present. "Oh, sorry, Brianna. I zoned out for a second." Cassie smiled at her in the mirror. "What were you saying?"

Brianna laughed, instantly assuming the wrong reason for Cassie's distraction, "You can't stop thinking about him, can you?" Cassie didn't reply. It was easier to let Brianna think what she wanted. "I was asking you if there was another guy that you'd rather be Paired with."

Cassie's big brown eyes looked up at Brianna's in the mirror, "No, not really. I've never really thought about it before." That wasn't totally true, but she barely spoke to this girl. In truth, Kahli was the only girl in palace that she'd felt like she could talk to. With everyone else, it was a matter of being friendly, but she didn't share her concerns or dreams, not that she had dreams anymore.

Cassie was at the end of her life, of that she was certain. If Kahli hadn't saved her from the Purging, something else would have ended her insignificant life - maybe a scrape or a bruise - or the birth of her child. It killed Cassie to think about bringing a baby into this world, especially because she wouldn't be there to protect and raise that child. It was like they were livestock and nothing more. That's what humanity aspired to, and they seemed content.

When Cassie was a child, before that bloody Deliverance Day that ended with her and Cole living in the palace, everyone hoped to live in the palace. It was the place where humans were the safest. There was no fear of the elements, no worries about clothing or food. There was always a soft bed and plenty of blankets. And they limited how often a person could be used for feeding. It sounded like utopia back then, but now it was different. Cassie felt no different living here than she did at the old farm. In the end, she was still just a body to be used how the vampires pleased. Cassie was born into slavery and she would die that way.

As she thought of these things, Brianna prattled on, "The guy with the brown hair and the dark eyes, what's his name?"

"They all have brown hair and dark eyes," Cassie replied, trying not to sound snide, but she really wanted to laugh. Kahli would have laughed. "You'll have to be more specific."

Brianna tapped the comb to her lip and had a far-away look in her eye. "He's named after a poet - Browning?"

"Chaucer," Cassie replied, knowing exactly who Brianna was talking about. They lived in the palace together for years, but the guys were kept at a distance. The only time they really spoke was at special events and the Purging. Chaucer had made an impression on Cassie. He'd been on her team once. The guy was a poet, if there were such occupations anymore. Cassie felt warmth spread through her heart as she thought about it. Chaucer was kind, but he wasn't a push-over, either. He was like Cole in some ways - he looked out for the weaker people in his group - but he wore his heart on his sleeve. Cole hid everything, letting his pain fester inside.

"Yeah! Him," Brianna gushed. "Oh my God. His lips are so smooth. And the way his hair curls slightly," Brianna kissed her fingers. It was something she got from old spaghetti ads. A curvy woman pressed her fingers to her lips and kissed them. Brianna thought it was cute and had been doing it for a while. "Al dente!"

"Do you even know what that means?" Cassie asked, grinning.

Brianna threw out a narrow hip and said, "Does it matter? I look awesome doing it. It makes all the guys drool, and al dente