Page 23 of Scorned

“No, but you giving up on Luka is my fucking problem!”

The pounding of her heart rang in my ears over the music and her angry expression melted away. The pain she had been holding back exploded out of her emotional floodgates.

“He’s dead, Winnie! That’s why I gave up! He’s fucking dead!” She fell to her knees, covered her face with her hands, and started crying.

Fuck.

We knew Sage had been going through some shit, but none of us knew she thought Luka was dead. Mainly because she refused to talk to us, but it still didn’t keep me from feeling like an asshole.

Not wanting to see her cry, I dropped my tough love act and kneeled next to her.

Chapter 7

Sage

The fear and sadness I kept contained broke off the leash and was now on the loose. The pain hit me like a stab to the heart, making me fall to my knees. I threw my hands over my face and muffled cries bounced off my palms.

Someone kneeled by my side, and warm hands slid around me. “Come here.” Winnie turned me into him and even though I was mad at him, he had been right. I’d given up on Luka.

Needing comfort, I laid my cheek on his chest and gripped his shirt tightly as I panted through hard sobs. “He’s dead and I don’t want to live without him. I can’t.”

“Oh, Sage.” Lyric reached her hand out for me but Marcus grabbed it, stopping her.

“Don’t. She needs this.”

“But he’s not dead.” Winnie tried to keep a calm voice, but it cracked a little with emotions, causing me to realize I hadn’t been the only one hurting.

“You don’t know that.” I sniffed back snot so it didn’t run down my face, and had a half a thought of wiping my nose on his shirt. “Deep down, I know he’s dead.”

Winnie ran his hand down my back, soothing me. “Your body says otherwise.”

Either my emotions were too out of control to understand what the hell he was talking about or I’d had way too much alcohol because I was confused. “What do you mean?”

“Look at me, Princess.” Winnie’s use of the nickname Luka gave me had my gaze darting up to him with such quickness it made me slightly dizzy. He smiled, knowing he had finally gotten my attention. “Did Luka explain what a lenxus is?”

“No. There wasn’t much time. Everything happened so fast. I only know what I’ve heard you guys say.”

“Then you know it’s a bond between a vampire and their mate. You’ve also heard us talk about the blood bond part of it. How vampires don’t want to feed on others.”

I nodded, wiping away tears.

“Well, there’s more than that. The lenxus bond also comes with a feeling, a tugging. You feel as though you’re being pulled to them.”

“It’s like an invisible rope,” Peach added. My eyes drifted to her saddened ones, and the world moved quickly in the background. “You can feel the tug it has on you.”

More confusion filled me, trying to comprehend the conversation. “I don’t feel any rope.”

“Yes, you do,” Winnie said, bringing my attention back to him. “You’ve been standing in those woods waiting for Luka for months. It may not feel the way you think it should, but it’s there.”

Peach kneeled on the other side of me and brushed her hand softly down my hair. “And believe me, when it’s not, you’ll know. There’s this hollowness in you, like you love them, but don’t remember why. You know it’s something you used to have. Like a faint childhood memory, but a chunk of it has been taken away. A chunk of you was taken away. I think that’s what has to happen when a bond is broken. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to breathe . . . or live.”

Peach stood and wiped the tears from her cheeks, and Marcus stepped in close, wrapping his arms around her from behind. It was that moment I finally realized why she had been so kind to me during this whole thing, and why she tried hard to close herself off to Marcus. Peach had experienced this type of pain before and didn’t want to get hurt again.

She had loved and lost, like me.

“That’s how I know Strike is still alive,” Vivi chimed in, her voice low. “The pulling doesn’t stop. It’s like I’m anxious and need to go somewhere or do something. Not much helps. Except lots of this.” She held up a bottle of whiskey before taking a swig.

Doubt filled me when I thought about this mysterious invisible rope. “If this bond thing is real, I don’t think I have it.” I sniffed back more tears and lowered my voice. “I don’t think Luka bonded with me.”

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