It was a good thing the houses weren’t close together in Josh’s neighborhood because the music from inside his house could be heard all the way down the street. Maria dropped me at the curb and drove off without looking back. I hurried to the house and let myself inside into a chaotic swarm of bodies. The house was big enough that kids weren’t packed together, but they were everywhere—dancing, talking, making out. Near the entry, a table was set up for beer pong with a dozen or so people crowded around it. I cautiously walked past, searching the crowd for the only face I was interested in seeing.

A couple of girls I was casual friends with ran over to greet me, surprised I had come to the party. They confirmed they had seen Nico, so he was there somewhere. Continuing my search, I wound my way toward the back of the house. Unlike our parties at home, the doors to family rooms were not closed, and I was subjected to public displays I had no desire to see.

My stomach slowly rose into my throat. If Nico was at the party but not with the main partygoers out front, did that mean he was back here in a private room? It wasn’t possible. He would never do that to me. Yet that sixth sense pulsed louder and louder in my ears until it drowned out the music and the pounding of my heart was all I could hear. I should turn back and run. Nothing good could come from finishing my search, but I was compelled forward. I stepped mechanically into the doorway of the last door on the left and took in the scene before me, my heart splintering into shards at my feet.

Nico stood facing me, his head thrown back in pleasure as one hand steadied himself against the wall and the other held the head of a blonde on her knees, her head bobbing before him. My body betrayed me, freezing me to the spot, forcing me to witness his blatant infidelity to the bond between us.

As if sensing the destruction he was causing, Nico’s eyes slowly opened as his head came forward. None of the surprise or remorse I had expected were present, adding another blow to the gaping hole in my chest. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn’t care.

Confusion over encountering this alternate reality made my head swim with dizziness.

This couldn’t be real. There had to be some supernatural explanation.

But there wasn’t.

It was real—just like when Marco was killed.

Every second was real and seared into my brain.

“Why?” I gasped as I braced myself against the doorframe.

Nico tugged at the girl’s hair, pulling her lips off him, and tucked himself casually back in his pants. When the girl turned to see what was going on, I realized it was Brooke Britton, one of the cattiest, most heartless of the Xavier cheerleaders. She smiled snidely at me, winked at Nico, and left the room, bumping my shoulder on her way out.