Page 49 of Savage Queen (Blood Empire 3)

But what does it matter when I couldn't care less about what happens to me if I’m not here with them?

“Hey,” Axel says, moving over to the bed, sitting where Evie was.

“Hi,” I whisper, my heart beating wildly out of control. I’m seconds away from a full on anxiety attack. Harlow crawls onto the bed and over to me. When she reaches me, she turns around and flops down on her back, her head landing in my lap while her legs drape over Axel’s. I look down at her, so damn confused right now.

“I need you to breathe for me.” She reaches up, her warm, soft hand cupping my cheek. “I need you to know that I’m not mad. And I need you to stop freaking out before we continue this conversation.”

She’s not mad.Did she just say she's not mad?I close my eyes and lean into her touch, craving it, needing it. Her thumb brushes my cheek, and the tenderness she’s handling me with has tears forming in my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I croak, looking down at her, “It just happened.”

“I’m not mad,” she says, smiling up at me. “I know you have feelings for Axel, and I’mnotmad.”

“How? You trusted me, and I betrayed you by making your boyfriend cheat on you.” My heart breaks as the reality of my words hit me. “You should hate me, tell me to leave.”

“Sam,” she says, her voice having a little more of a warning to it, but still soft. “I do not, and could not ever hate you. Ever. Same with Queenie. You’re kinda stuck with me now, babe.” She laughs lightly. “You could choose to leave and live a different life, but I love you too much to let you really go. Pretty much, I’d be stalking your ass.”

I stare down at this conundrum of a woman. So perfectly imperfect.

“What I did wasn’t okay.”

“Wanna know something? I’ll tell you the same thing I told Axel.”

“What?”

“I’ve known for a long time how you felt about each other, even before you did.” She grins. “I see all, I know all,” she says in a playful, mysterious voice, making me crack a grin. “I’m gonna be straight with you, babe. If you love Axel, if you want to try to see if there’s anything there, I won’t stand in your way, okay? I can see how happy he makes you, and I can see how much he cares for you. I’m a monster in some people's eyes, and I rarely show the sweet side of myself, but I’m not heartless, despite what people think. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I was the one to make you both unhappy.”

“But what about you?” I ask, reaching down to brush a strand of her raven hair out of her face.

“What about me?”

I look up at Axel, knowing he knows how I feel about her. He smiles, giving me a nod of encouragement.Has she said something about how she feels about me? Is there any hope?I know it’s a lot to ask for, seeing how she just blew my mind by saying she’s okay with me being with her boyfriend, but I still think I misheard that. That or I’m dreaming, and I’m about to wake up alone in my room.

“Are you okay if I love you too?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat. God, I really think I’m gonna be sick.

She stares up at me with shocked eyes. “As in like... friends?”

“Harlow here can’t seem to get her head around the fact that you’re in love with her and not just love her like a friend who’s done so much for you. She loves you like she loves us, but she’s too chicken shit to say anything in fear that she’ll overwhelm you.”

“Listen here, you overgrown gorilla,” Harlow growls, sitting up quickly and punching Axel in the arm. He just laughs at her. “I don’t need you talking to him for me like we’re in fucking elementary school. I’m a big girl, and I can tell someone I have feelings or that I like them on my own.”

“Really?” Axel asks her, raising a brow. “Because he just told you he loved you, and you asked as a friend.”

“Well, maybe it’s just as a friend!” Harlow says.

“It’s not,” I answer, interrupting their argument. Axel looks at me with a satisfied look on his face, and Harlow cocks her head to the side.

“You do? Are you sure?” She narrows her eyes, and I can’t help but smile. If this is a dream, I pray I never wake up.

“Well, with Queenie it’s more of a hero complex.” I blush. “I love her, but she’s kind of...”

“Intense, blood thirsty, and batshit crazy...” Axel starts listing off her best personality traits.

“Look here, asshole. I might be Harlow, but I can still be stabby,” she sneers.

He loves getting her going, it’s what makes their relationship different from everyone else’s. “Yes, dear.”

“Sleep with one eye open,” she warns him.

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