Zade is careful with his words and is deliberately refusing to pry and dig out extra information. I’m not sure if whatever Mark is saying is sufficient, or if Zade is in for the long haul. “Yeah, sure,’ Mark mutters. “Guessh the bright shide is that nothing can happen to us. I-If one of us goes misshing and the Society ss-suspects foul play, guess what? They will up and relocate within hourss.” Under his breath he mutters, “we all will know who to blame anyway.” I can’t hear the rest of what he says, but for a second, it sounds like he says Z. A pregnant pause passes, and it seems like Zade has to collect himself. Mark is too wasted to be mindful of the word vomit spewing from his mouth. I don’t know what the fuck this Society is, but they obviously can’t trust an inebriated Mark and his big mouth. He’s spilling all kinds of shit, and though I can’t make sense of most of it—Zade clearly can. “Good thing, wouldn’t want anything to happen to my new friend,” Zade teases smoothly, his face morphing into a relaxed state as he lies to Mark’s face. Mark believes it, laughing alongside Zade and spending the next ten minutes telling my shadow how grateful he is that they met. I nearly snort from the irony. Zade is both Mark’s judge and executioner, and he’s too stupid to see it. Zade sips at the amber liquid in his cup throughout the whole mushy tirade, but by the time we’re rising to leave, it looks like he barely consumed an ounce of it. “Thank you so much for having me,” I say graciously. Mark cups my hand in both of his, and a cold feeling embeds beneath my flesh, digging deep like a parasite. His hands are sweaty, but all I can feel is ice. This man... he’s evil. It feels like touching a corpse. I slide my hand from his, resisting the urge to wipe it against my dress. I wouldn’t want to ruin such a pretty dress anyway. Just as I’m walking out, Mark calls out, “Ill be seeing you, Adeline.” The second the door closes, Zade growls beneath his breath, “You’ll be dead before that will ever happen.” I never thought I’d condone murder, but with Mark... maybe I can overlook it just this once.