Page 47 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

I stay silent, hoping he’ll just leave.As if he can hear my thoughts, he answers.

“Please, Kiarra…” A soft thump comes from the door, making me squeeze my eyes shut against the pang of guilt hitting me in the chest.

Gritting through the pain, I push myself up and limp over to the door. Taking a long, deep breath, I ignore the pain and unlock the door.

Luka’s smile drops once he sees me. “What the hell?”

“What?” I ask, too exhausted to decipher his baffled look.

“He was right,” he murmurs to himself with a frown as he makes his way inside.

“No, please come in,” I mumble, closing the door behind him.

Luka turns to me, blocking me from reaching the sofa. Exhaling a sigh, I glance at the floor, wondering if it’s as comfortable as it looks right now.

“What’s going on? Where have you been? And why do you look like you haven’t slept in days? Like you’re sick or something.” He moves closer.

Reaching out, he brushes a hand along the side of my face, tilting my head to him.

“Talk to me.”

I shake my head, swallowing hard at the worried look on his face.

“I’m fine.”

Luka gives me a look, one that reminds me how much he always sees more than he should.

As a child, I could never keep a secret from him. His quiet temperament, a cloak to his own hidden darkness, always pulled me in, making me want to spill all my secrets. With just the two of us, our hidden words disappeared into the dark just as his warmth embraced us like a blanket.

But we were no longer kids, the years spent apart had formed a distance between us.

“It’s…” I try to think of something and say the first thing that pops to mind.

“It was just a tough gym session. I think I overdid it.”

His eyes narrow on me like he knows I’m full of shit but says nothing. I continue on, avoiding his gaze, hoping he’ll let it go.

“Yeah, so I’m just going to head to bed. See yourself out.” I start to move around him and toward my bedroom when he stops me.

“Wait. Where are you sore?”

Everywhere, but why does it matter? I frown, wondering where he’s going with this.

“My lower back, mostly.” Not exactly a lie. King fucked it up pretty bad and his new blocker has made healing it a bitch.

“Here. Lie down.” He grabs a couple of cushions, placing them on the sofa.

“What are you—”

Coming over, he gently ushers me to his makeshift bed.

“Luka—”

“Trust me?” he asks, his soft eyes hopeful.

My tense shoulders drop, giving him a slight nod. My body is too depleted to put up a fight.

I ease myself onto the sofa. Lying down I turn to face the back of the chair and away from Luka’s intense gaze.

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