Page 26 of Scorned

“To save you the time. Yes. Everything I said last night is true. If you can remember it all.”

I let out a light laugh, wiping away tears. “I remember.”

“What do you want to know?”

There were a thousand questions pooling in my mind, but as I stared into the eyes of a person I used to call my friend, I could only ask one. “Do you hate me?”

Winnie tilted his head like he contemplated his answer before his eyes softened. “Even if you’re a pain in my ass, I don’t hate you. You’re my family now so I have to put up with you the same way I do Vivi. I’ll love and protect you when you need it, but I’ll also tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts.”

A snicker left me. “Obviously.”

“Tell me one thing. Why did you give up on Luka?”

I stayed quiet for a minute while I thought about my answer, and the one I came up with surprised even me.

“I guess because I didn’t think I deserved to be happy, so when I found happiness and Venom ripped it away, it devastated me. I would have given up anything to get it back. To get him back. But the hours turned into days and then weeks. Now it’s been over five months. I kind of just thought I got what I deserved. I also figured my dad would’ve killed him for being with me.”

Winnie’s thumb brushed across my cheek, wiping away another tear. “You deserve happiness just like anyone else.”

My anxiousness had me dropping my head down while I picked my cuticles. I still didn’t believe I deserved happiness, but I wasn’t going to open my mouth and mess up the slight progress we’d made mending our friendship.

He sighed as if he could read my mind—I still wasn’t convinced vampires couldn’t hear people’s thoughts. “Are you ready for the hard part?”

Of course, I wasn’t because I knew he was going to ask me to call Naomi. Despite the fact I didn’t want to, if it helped find Luka, which there was a small possibility it would, I didn’t have a choice. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Winnie stood and paced the room, prepared for a battle. “I know you don’t want to do it, but you have to take Naomi’s call.”

“Okay.”

“It could be our only . . .” He stopped pacing, his shocked eyes shooting toward me. “Wait, what?”

“I said okay. I’ll take her call.”

His shoulders dropped, a look of determination sagging off his face. “That was too easy. I was ready to fight you.” He gave me a fanged smile, making me let out a small laugh.

“I know, but you said Luka’s alive and I’m going to take your word for it.”

“You don’t need my word. Your body will tell you when he isn’t. I promise you’ll know.”

The wood floor creaked and I glanced over at Lyric entering the room.

“Morning, mama.”

She flicked her eyes at Winnie before nervously looking at me with a hopeful expression.

I stood, heading around the back of the couch, and she squeaked when I yanked her toward me.

“I’m sorry, Lyric. I shouldn’t have shut you out like I did.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered, hugging me back. “Blood of the coven.”

“Did you guys start a new cult? Because if so, I want in.”

Winnie’s joke made us both giggle and release the hug.

He headed toward us and put his arm around Lyric while still eyeballing me. “We have important things to do tonight.”

I took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. “We definitely do.”

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