Page 8 of Lies Like Love

Fel

Thefrontdoorswingsopen and I jump off the bottom step, running across the foyer so fast my bare feet almost slip on the tile.

“Jude!” I scream as our eyes connect.

His gaze slides downward and I feel it trail every inch of me.

“What the fuck happened?” He catches me when I reach him, holding me away so he can take me in.

When I try to wiggle free, all he does is grip tighter. So I pound my bloodied fists against his chest, leaving splatters with every hit on his white T-shirt.

“Like you don’t already know?” A sob rips from my throat. “How could you?”

“Fel.” My name is a threat.

“She…” But I choke on the words and can’t get them out.

She’s gone, and it’s all his fault.

Jude’s green eyes darken before they widen with realization. He hauls me against his chest, ignoring that I’m thrashing around. Ignoring the blood-stained water that covers my hands and arms. It coats my feet, so they slip against the cool surface of the tile.

He holds me so tight it feels like he’s also somehow letting go. And I fight him as much as I crave him. Because I’m shattering and it’s all his fault.

“I’m sorry.” Jude buries his nose in my hair and shakes his head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

But he doesn’t release me, and I feel my heart clawing with every beat in an attempt to escape my chest. If only it was that easy.

Finally, I find the strength to shove him off me.

Or he lets me go.

It’s all the same in this broken, bloody mess. He knew the moment he tipped the first domino this is where we’d end up, and he did it anyway.

Stumbling back, I have to steady myself as bloody water drips from my clothes and slicks the tile. My fingers wet with the mess Jude has made.

He’s just like them—using me as a pawn in whatever game they’ve all been playing. And I was dumb enough to let him.

“I hate you.” I take another step backward. Tears wet my cheeks, but I’m numb to anything other than the seam splitting my heart in two. “I hate you, Jude. And I’ll never forgive you for this.”

“Fel, stop.” Jude grabs for my wrist, but this time, he can’t catch me.

I’ll never let him catch me again.

“She’s dead,” I choke out, tears making rivers on my face. I clench my hands and try to ignore the bloody water starting to dry. “Are you happy now? You knew they were about to snap, and you made sure it happened.”

“I did this for you, Fel. Can’t you see that?” Jude takes a step closer, and I seal my eyes shut like it can save me from him. Like if I’m not looking, I’ll be able to escape.

There’s no escaping Jude Carlisle.

“I had to.” He’s pleading now. And I want to believe his words as I used to, but he’s turned them around too many times. “I told you.”

“No.” I shake my head so violently my hair sticks to my tear-stained cheeks. “You never tell me anything. Not really.”

“I tell you everything you need to know.”

“And what about the rest?”

“It’s not important,” he grits out.

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