“Yeah, and what if you weren’t with me, what then?” he said, his voice low and fierce. “Would you still just want to be friends with him?”

She started to answer; stopped abruptly. “That’s...not a fair question.”

Deep down he knew she was right, and that if the same question were posed to him about Kara, his reaction would have to be the same. It didn’t matter. “No, but you just answered it anyway,” he ground out. “Like I said: choose. I don’t want that guy in my life.”

Willow’s chin snapped up; he saw again how furious she was. “No, I won’t choose – you’re being completely unfair. Seb’s the only other half-angel I know in the world; I’m not going to cut him out of my life just because you’re acting like a jealous jerk.” As he stared at her, she let out a breath, pushing her hands through her hair. “God, look, I’m sorry – please can we forget all of this, and talk about it tomorrow? We’re both upset; we’re saying things we don’t mean.”

There was a pause, with the sounds of the city thrumming around them like a living heartbeat. “No, I’m not,” said Alex finally. “I’m saying exactly what I mean.” He opened the door to go back inside and glanced at her as she stood there, with the backdrop of the street behind her. She was so beautiful that it wrung his heart, even now.

“Enjoy your friendship with Seb, Willow,” he said quietly.

Chapter Twenty

I DON’T REALLY KNOW HOW you can come back from an argument like that one.

I didn’t eat any dinner that night; there was no way I could have choked food down. Instead I went into the girls’ dorm and stayed there, lying on my bed and thinking, Have Alex and I just broken up? The words brought back with a chill my premonition from the first time I’d ever seen this house; the unhappiness I knew I’d find here.

God, I hated being psychic sometimes. I lay curled on the faded blue bedspread, listening to the traffic; the distant sound of rock music playing somewhere. And I wished that I’d never even met Seb. Then I sighed. No, I didn’t. I couldn’t wish that; I could never wish that.

Had Alex and I really broken up?