Page 74 of Unhinged Magic
I finally swallowed a large gulp of air, his words like a bullet to my chest.
Maybe I should have gone to him. Told himeverything. But maybe and should haves were not thoughts I could comprehend right now.
“And how would you have acted? Like this? Would you have accepted us, Ty?” I got up in his face this time. I’d had enough. Skye was mine, and I would not stand here and take this. “You would have never let me near her. You don’t know half of what is going on here,” I accused.
“He knows everything.”
I turned to Skye’s voice, barely a whisper. Her beautiful brown hair curled over her shoulders. I wanted to run my hands through it, tuck it behind her ears.
How could he know everything? Had she told him?
Ty’s voice graveled out. “You need to leave.”
“I love her,” I announced to the group. Fuck it. If I was going down, they needed to know it all. “I love everything there is about your sister, Ty. I can’t stop this. Both you and I know it. You, of all people, know what the mate bond is like. Fight it as you will, but I can’t fight chemistry. And I most certainly can’t fight fate.”
As the last word left me, Skye’s eyes shimmered, her element pushing to the surface. The sadness that had claimed them melted, and in its place grew an unfamiliar warmth.
Love.
She loved me. Even when I’d done the unthinkable, she still loved me. She didn’t say it back, and I didn’t hold it against her.
“Leave. Now.”
Tyler’s words battled against my every will. I wanted to go to Skye, wanted to speak with her, have her lips on mine. But right now, the group needed space. That much was apparent.
Colt cleared his throat, a hand landing on Ty’s shoulder. “Give us time.”
I understood his unspoken words. Colt knew this would mend. He had an uncanny sense of knowing emotions.
I stole a glance at Reid. Arms folded to his front, he looked away. Scar and Jade stood back from the group, both looking bemused. Skye made no effort to approach me, and I felt my heart wrench.
I dragged my eyes from hers.
A single nod.
Then I turned away.
Skye
AsIwatchedhimleave, my heart left with him. Knots twisted my stomach, my vision blurring. My heart exploded into a catastrophic thing I no longer had control over. It caved as he turned his back on us, walking away. But Colton was right. Everyone needed space, and time to gather their thoughts.
Somewhere deep inside me, I knew one day he would return, but as he sank further into the evening’s depths, his every step away from me plunged my heart into a place I wasn’t ready for. A state of shock. It was so raw; I didn’t trust myself not to run after him.
Instinctively, I gripped Morgan’s hand as if it would anchor me in place, the squeeze of her own the silent reassurance I desperately needed.
An awkward silence smothered the group. No one wanting to speak for fear of saying the wrong thing, I imagined.
Reid’s signature low whistle sounded. “Well, I thinkthatcalls for a Twilight Martini.”
I didn’t know what I needed. If I went home right now, the walls would suffocate me, my tears drown me. I felt the group’sattention linger on my skin, waiting for my reaction. I had none. My mind was numb, my heart a tomb.
Another squeeze of my hand, and Morgan’s voice ripped me from the open grave threatening to dredge up buried feelings. “Martinis or home?”
A shiver tore through me, making the decision easier. “Hot chocolate?” I had been moments away from placing my order beforethat. The word being the only thing that seemed to describe what had just happened.
The group ventured back to the table we had hastily vacated, and I sat back down, bunching the rug around my shoulders this time.
“Holy shit,” I sighed, blowing out a whoosh of air.
