Page 83 of Queen of Vengeance

“Not before we talk.” She sat on the chair opposite him, her hands folded delicately in her lap. She rifled through her mind, trying to find the best way to talk to him. “I know that your potions have been struggling, but is it really that bad? You seemed to get upset when they mentioned the first potion that you released. Was it because it was Lea’s?”

Her eyes snapped up as the sound of shattering glass hitting a wall frightened her. She looked around for the source and found the Brandy bottle that Jax had been holding now sitting on the floor in pieces on the other side of the room.

Her whole body tensed at the same time.

A lump developed in her throat, disallowing her from saying another word.

“It’s not Lea’s potion. My name is on it. That was my hard work. My skill! I don’t need that bitch’s help!” He jumped out from his chair and stood over Chika as he berated her.

“You’re right, it was our hard work. Lea served her purpose, and now she’s gone. So why does her presence still bother you? Look at the life we’ve created without her.” Chika tried to calm him down, but there was no easing his drunken rage.

“She’s not gone. She’s always there. In my head. Torturing me. She will never let me rest until the day I die.” He ran his fingers through his Raven hair. The touches of silver shined through as he moved his curls. “She’s like a ghost… Clinging to me. I wish I could just?—”

He raised his head suddenly. Then without warning, he bolted out of the room, and Chika followed close behind as he entered the bedroom. His fingers shifted into the claws of his werewolf as he shredded the floorboards near their bed.

“Jax!” Chika tried to stop him, but it was best to leave him to his own devices when he was on a tirade.

He reached in under the floorboards and pulled out Lea’s old potion book.

“You kept that all this time?” Chika questioned out of breath.

“Perhaps it’s this she clings to, and if I destroy it—” He ripped the book with his bare hands.

The book itself ripped so easily, but Jax seemed to struggle with it as if he didn’t want to let her go in some capacity.

Chika hated that small fraction of Jax’s soul that was still owned by Lea.

She occupied some part of him that Chika didn’t understand.

In truth, Chika wanted to burn Lea as well. She turned to the fireplace and threw a fire potion in setting it ablaze immediately. “Let’s get rid of her once and for all.”

Jax walked up to the fireplace and threw the two pieces of the potion book in. His shoulders dropped, and his claws became fingers once more. The notion relaxed him, but was Lea truly ever going to be gone?

30

ZANE

“You have to let me go,” Lea’s voice echoed in Zane’s dream.

That was one of the last things she told him.

That was her wish, but he couldn’t honor it.

How could he just throw her away like everyone else did?

He lifted his head from the pillow, quickly looking around in the hopes of finding Lea there.

Of course, she wasn’t.

He slowly laid his head back down.

“After all these years, I still can’t forget about you.” Zane pressed his forearm into his forehead as he turned to face the ceiling.

The soft breathing beside him reminded him that he wasn’t alone.

He lived over to see Mairy, who was sound asleep.

Her face and nude shoulder were the only things poking out from under the sheets.

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