Page 249 of Vicious Saint
“I mean, you said it yourself…Levi was taking care of her.”
“It’s not his fucking job.”
The bite in his tone is harsh but directed at himself more than me.
Doesn’t help the guilt creeping up, though.
“Try calling him, maybe knowing she’s safe will make you feel better.”
Saint tsks. “No need. I know she is.”
Should I add to his remorse by asking how he could know this? Probably not. Will I? Yes. Because I need to know she’s safe too.
I twist my neck slightly to face him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Levi would die before letting anything happen to her.”
My mouth falls agape. “Wow…uhm…okay. That’s deep.”
And abundantly obvious why.
Except, Saint doesn’t seem to be implying his friend’s loyalty to his sister, more like Levi’s loyalty to him.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” He looks straight ahead.
“No, I do. The bond between you guys, albeit a bit morbid, is pretty admirable.”
Saint scrubs a hand down his face, chuckling with exhaustion. “Fuck, Jimi. I’m not talking about the Royal Heathens.”
“Then who—?”
“You!” he exclaims, shooting to his feet. “I’m talking about you.”
When I lift off the ground, the aches in my legs shoot throughout my whole body, making me hiss. I hide it, but not well, because Saint is helping me up the rest of the way, taking it upon himself to adjust the bottom of my dress when I’m steady.
Not in a possessive way, but a concerned way.
Then, he starts pacing back and forth.
“But you told Theory I was a nobody,” I repeat once again.
Saint treks over to me, and his palms squeeze my cheeks.
“Look. The fuck. Around us, Hendrix. Do you really believe you’re nobody to me?”
Saint’s touch. His words. They’re making me feel too much. More and less than I was prepared for walking into tonight.
I’m supposed to look into his eyes and see a traitor.
Not the fucking stars.
My ability to keep hiding behind walls of anger crumbles with every bit of pain etching across his face. My ability to breathe along with his silent pleas for me to believe him.
I do. God, I fucking do. In fact, a part of me never stopped.
