“This.” Brooke yanks up her sleeve, showing me the jagged Seer marking around her bicep. “Just because we aren’t Scires, we don’t even get a chance?”

She’s talking about what’s happening to Liv, I know, but she’s thinking about Perry.

“We don’t choose the Sense we’re born with,” Brooke continues. “I didn’t decide to be a Seer any more than you decided to be an Aud.” She grabs my wrist, startling me. Her hissing continues in my mind.

Vale didn’t marry a Scire. It’s like he makes the rules only for the rest of us. And what’s the point of keeping the Scire line strong, anyway? Why is smelling everything all the time so damn wonderful?

I said these very words to Perry just yesterday, but I don’t want to talk about this now. I’m tired of problems. And I won’t give Vale the satisfaction of seeing me suffer.

I lean into Brooke’s shoulder and sniff. “You smell pretty good.”

Brooke yanks her hand away from mine and shrugs me off. “Tell that to your best friend.”

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll tell him.” I won’t. It wouldn’t make any difference, and he knows how she smells better than I do anyway.

Brooke looks at me, her blue eyes piercing and clear as glass. “It’s a shame you’re not a Seer, Roar. Everything would be so much easier if we liked each other.”

“I do like you.”

“Yeah.” She sighs and turns her attention back to Perry. “I meant more than like.”

I know what she meant, but Brooke and I are never, in this eternity, going to be more than friends. If that’s even what we are now. I tip my head to the side—it works for Perry—and take a slow look at her curves. “I could more than like you.”

The stress must be getting to me because I’m messing with Brooke. She has a dark streak that I’m not equipped to handle like Perry, who scents her moods a mile away. I continue despite myself.

“If you’re looking for something that’s purely physical, I’m definitely interested. We’d have to get Perry’s and Liv’s approv—hey!” I fold over my ribs, where she elbowed me.

“You were dropped on your head, Roar! A hundred times! It’s the only possible explanation.” She jabs me in the ribs again. “And try eating some food once in a while. You’re nothing but bones.”

Her last comment is begging for an off-color remark but I refrain. Clearly she’s miserable. I have no other choice. It’s time to do something that goes against my nature. “Listen, Brooke. I’m going to be honest with you—”

“Why start now?” she snaps.

“That stings. Do you feel better about yourself?”