Page 130 of Scorned

The gunshot went off next to my head, and my ears rang as thick wetness splattered, staining my face and neck. The smell of blood filled my nostrils as Sage’s body tumbled into mine, my arms wrapping around her.

“No!” Janene screamed louder than the gunshot as she scrambled off the ground. The terror of a mourning parent not only stopped most of the fighting, but it puckered my skin and raised the hairs on the back of my neck, sending panic through my body at lightning speed.

“No. No. Stay with me, Princess. Don’t you fucking stop breathing!”

I carefully placed her body on the rough parking lot, the rocks digging into me when I fell to my knees beside her.

My eyes were just as frantic as my mind, searching Sage’s chest and stomach, looking for an injury. The scent of her blood was still pungent in my nose but I couldn’t find a wound.

I lifted my arm, and just as I was about to sink my fangs into my wrist, I caught sight of her left cheek.

Black hair clung to her face. . . along with blood.

Quakes of panic shook my insides and I reached for the gaping hole in her skull before my body froze, locking my attempts.

Janene kneeled on the other side of Sage and fiercely grabbed my arms, shaking me back to reality. “Save her! Please!”

Despite knowing brain injuries were permanent, I was determined to do anything I could to keep Sage breathing.

Lifting my wrist to my mouth again, I sunk my teeth into it, ripping a chunk away. Blood gushed out, splashing onto Sage’s chest, and my heartbeat pulsed in my ears, screaming this wasn’t going to work as I pressed it against her mouth.

“Drink, Princess,” I begged, my voice quivering with raw vulnerability as my cheeks dampened. “You have to drink for me. Please, baby. You have to.”

Sage’s soul had bonded to mine, and I knew if she died, a part of me would die with her. It was impossible to live in a world where she didn’t exist.

“Don’t you fucking give up on me,” I whimpered, the air escaping my lungs, refusing to return. “You’re not allowed to give up!”

I sharpened my senses, straining to hear the faint sound of her swallowing, instead her heart thundered before it began to slow.

Thump . . . thump . . . . . thump . . . . . . .

As her final heartbeat echoed in my ears, a wave of grief washed over me, making my chest tighten. My own heart beat twice as hard as if it attempted to help keep her alive.

“Is it working, Luka?” Janene saying my name, made my eyes drift to her.

I opened my mouth, but my words dissolved into silence. The tightness in my throat felt like a thousand razor blades had moved in, slicing me to pieces.

Sage’s sweetness, her integrity, her fears . . . her entire existence fleeted away with every ounce of blood that oozed from her head.

“No,” I finally whispered, closing my eyes tight, attempting to block out my waking hell as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Pain ran through my veins like a forest fire, burning and eating at me. Any control I had over my body diminished when I balled my fists, letting out a tremendous scream, flooding the quiet night with my agony.

“Fucking no! She’s fucking dead. She’s fucking dead,” I screamed over and over.

Janene jumped up from the ground and hurled herself at the closest Venom member, violently swinging her fists at every part of his body. “You bastards!”

The rest of the soldiers pointed their guns at her and my friends pointed their guns at them. Screaming and fighting commenced and the world stopped, no longer moving forward as my life fell apart.

I tumbled onto Sage’s body, my hand lying across her stomach, my ear pressing against her chest and a hollow white noise radiated from within her.

A heart that didn’t beat.

Blood that didn’t rush.

A soul that didn’t survive.

My soulmate had departed from this world, leaving me empty, a mere physical manifestation of the person I once was.

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