Page 36 of Scorned

My brain was in hyper-drive as we headed for the edge of camp. “Can you tell me more about this pulling from the bond? What’s it like? And do you know why it’s called a lenxus? Is there a specific meaning behind it? Oh, and can you feel it all the time? Can the person you’re bonded to feel it? Does—”

“Let me answer the first hundred questions before you stack on a hundred more.”

We both laughed and it felt good, considering our situations. But feeling joy while knowing Luka suffered felt weird at the same time.

Vivi didn’t hesitate to start answering my questions.

“Like I told you before, the bond is a pulling. It’s like I’m one end of a magnet and Strike is the other. No matter how long it’s been or how hard I fight it, I can’t. My emotions aren’t mine anymore. My body isn’t mine anymore. It’s always looking for him. Begging to be touched, loved, held. He’s like some kind of life source now. And . . . and I miss him.”

I stopped walking and glanced up at her. “Somehow, I know exactly what you mean.”

She may have been smiling but her eyes screamed with the sadness she carried. We started walking again and the smell of the evergreen trees tickled my senses as we entered the forest. Making sure I didn’t fall on my face, I turned on the lantern.

“To answer another of your questions, as far as I know there isn’t a specific reason the bond is called a lenxus. But to me, it makes sense because it’s like we’re linked to our mates. I can’t feel what Strike’s feeling, but I know he’s alive. And yes, I can feel it all the time and so can he, unfortunately. I was already a vampire when I linked with him, so I don’t know how it feels for you. But Peach said she was human when she bonded to Alvin, and told me after she turned into a vampire it felt similar but much stronger. She finally felt the electricity that happens when we connect to our bond-mates and the vibrations of that connection to their soul.”

“She lost him, didn’t she? That’s why she knows how it feels when the bond’s gone. She lost the love of her life.”

Vivi stopped walking, and I held the lantern up so I could see her face.

“I can’t say much about the situation because I don’t know the whole story. But yes. Their bond lasted for over three hundred years and his death nearly destroyed her.”

I shook my head, my chest aching for Peach. “That’s a long time. I can’t even imagine.”

“I knew Strike for only a month before we bonded. He was basically a stranger to me, but the bond didn’t care. The magic that seals you to a mate has a mind of its own. Or at least, that’s how it feels.”

Vivi began walking, so I followed. “How long were you guys together before they took him?”

“I met Strike after Luka turned Winnie. Which was twenty-seven years ago.”

“How old are you now?”

“I’m fifty-eight.”

“So, you were thirty-one when you were turned? And how old was Winnie?”

“Twenty-five. He’s fifty-two now and still acts like a damn toddler. He’s smart, though. Like really smart. He always had issues in school because he usually knew more than the teachers.”

I thought about how Winnie would act in school and giggled. “I could see him telling a teacher he was smarter than them.”

“He for sure did. More than once his mouth has got him in trouble. That’s kind of how he died.”

My feet immediately came to a halt, my eyes going wide. “What happened?”

“I was at a bar one night and some dude kept hitting on me. I ignored it for a while, but the guys he was with joined in and it made me uncomfortable. It was the nineties and back then, people minded their own fucking business. Sometimes, too much. No one in that Podunk town would’ve batted an eye if those guys would’ve forced me to leave. So, I called Winnie from a payphone and asked if he could come get me. After a few mins, I went outside to wait, and the guy and his friends followed. They kept flirting and grabbing at me, trying to get me to leave with them. It scared the shit out of me.”

Vivi stopped walking for a second and even though I couldn’t see her face, I knew how she felt. When Mannie had me locked up, I feared being raped more than I feared dying.

No matter how scary a situation is, that feeling, that fear, is like no other.

I laid my hand on her shoulder, and she nodded before she continued walking. Neither of us had to say anything to understand we both knew what that feeling was like.

“A few people even passed by the front of the bar and said nothing. When Winnie pulled up and saw the situation I was in, he flipped his shit. He jumped out of the car, screaming at them. One of them shoved him and he shoved back. Next thing I knew, he was on the ground. Six guys against one man wasn’t fair odds, so of course I jumped in. I’m a scrapper and got some good hits on them, but I got my ass beat. Not as hard as Winnie did. He was beyond bloody and bruised, and I had a feeling he was going to die from the kicks and punches to his head and stomach. But just as I had that thought, three men walking on the opposite side of the street saw it. They didn’t hesitate to run over and jump into the brawl. I had never seen people get thrown around with such ease and the only thing I could think of was, I wish I was that strong.”

Knowing Luka turned Winnie, I assumed he was one of the men who had stopped to help. After thinking for a second, I quickly figured out who the other two were. “So, Luka and his brothers helped you and Winnie?”

“Yep. They beat the creepy guy and his friends with little effort, causing them to run off scared. Andrei and Luka helped Winnie off the ground, and Strike checked on me. They put Winnie in the passenger seat of his car, and I got in the driver’s side. I was about to pull off when the bar owner came out and said he called the police on us. On us! Not the assholes who started it. Can you believe that?”

Even though she walked in front and couldn’t see me, I shook my head in disgust.

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