“Luna Nox?”
My smile widens. “Hey, Corbin.”
Heavy boots crush the scatter of pebbles before his arm is around my waist, lifting me from the ground. “You got big!”
He places me on my feet, stepping back but keeping both hands on either side of my arms. Catching a loose strand of my hair, he tucks it behind my ear. “I’m gonna kiss you, baby girl…” His thumb grazes my bottom lip as he lowers his forehead against mine. “God. I thought you would never come back to us. Your parents, they stopped talking about you and wouldn’t answer me anytime I’d ask.”
I wanted to tell him that we were twelve years old and that he was my best friend. That the pact we made the night before I leftmeans nothing. We were two confused children who needed the comfort of one another.
His tongue slides between my lips, causing me to stiffen. I can do this for him. He doesn’t know what happened. He’s been worried. The least I can do is give him this.
The wind whisks between our lips when he releases, tracing circles against my cheek. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“Corbin Ducaelin.” The smile on my face doesn’t match the hole in my heart. “Did you miss me?”
His laughter is infectious as his hand slips into mine. “Come. So much has changed.”
Sweat and spilled champagne still lingers through the air from the previous show as he gestures to the three rings on the opposite side of the stage. “You always loved the bikes. Maybe now that you’ve been away, I can finally out-ride you.”
It’s been no secret that my existence within Midnight Mayhem has always been a mystery to those looking in. Most of them hated me. They saw me as a diva with the luxury of choosing whatever path she wanted, but Corbin didn’t. He was the only one who stuck by me, and since he was the ringleader and son of one of the Brothers of Kiznitch, no one voiced what they really thought about me. They hid their snarls behind his back, which meant he never saw it.
“Hey!” I don’t realize he is back in front of me until I feel his hand on my cheek. “What’s the matter? What did they do to you?”
A lump forms in my throat. “I have to leave.”
“What?” He steps back a little. “You just got back. Surely they’ll let you do whatever you want now?” Growing up, Corbin assumed that because I had no hand in Midnight Mayhem, it was because of the EKC. Since we were children, it was never an issue, but now that we’re older and I recognize the hate in his tone, I recoil away from his touch.
He sighs, burying his hand in his hair. I should feel guilty since he’d clearly missed me more than I did him, but his words left a bitter taste in my mouth. “Lune, this is your life. The other half of your life is equally as important.”
“It’s barely a quarter of my life.” I trace the tire marks on the stage.
“So why are you here? Why’d you come back?”
My eyes snap to his. “Did you forget that I was raised here? That my parents live here? I didn’t come back for you, Corbin.”
His scowl falls along with his shoulders. “Sorry. You’re right.” Leather boots meet the tip of my pointed heels when he draws back in. “I don’t want to fight. God, Luna. I haven’t seen you since they took you!”
“They didn’t take me.” Patience is a trait I’ve not quite mastered, and he’s doing a good job at training it. “My mother didn’t give me away any more than my father doesn’t love me. I may have been a child, Corbin, but it was a requirement and an honor to be able to explore that side of my life.”
“And how much of it is your life if Midnight Mayhem is barely a quarter?” The separation between us alleviates the tension in my muscles.
I blink. “All of it.”
He pauses as a range of emotions fly over his face. From anger to sadness, the corners of his eyes finally soften and defeat wins out. “You’ll always have a home here.”
“L’embruix is my home!” I grind my teeth to stop snapping at him, reaching into my pocket to answer my vibrating phone. We both know this isn’t entirely true. It is a place I lived in for the first twelve years of my life, nothing more.
Tell me, Madness, is he as good as me?
My skin prickles as fear rolls down my spine. He knows I’ll be at the ritual. He didn’t need to fly here to remind me to be back there tomorrow. He texts again.
Lie to me.
“What’s wrong?” Corbin’s face fills my vision.
My response is quick.
I can’t remember. I was too busy trying not to die.