Page 99 of Tainted Hearts

I nod. “And then you came up here, and I thought I lost you for good. It hurt, but I just wanted what was best for you. The reason why I knew you were my mate before touching you was because vampires can smell it in their mate's blood. Not being with you would have hurt, but not as much as if I already had a taste of your blood, or if we sparked.”

“So, you want me?” she asks, so much hope shining in her eyes.

“More than anything in the world. I love you, Abby.”

“I love you too.” She throws herself at me, and I hold on to her tightly, everything in the world feeling right, until I open my big fat mouth and ruin everything.

“We wanted to tell you when I came to earth, but you were already dealing with Luke, Isaac, and Noah.”

She pulls back, looking up at me. “We?”Fuck. Shit. Fucking hell.“Who’swe?”

I bite my lower lip, her blood still on my tongue. “Zed. He could tell pretty much the moment we met.”

“Zed!” Her eyes widen, anger filling them, and I know I really fucked up.

“I asked him not to tell you. I asked him to give us time.” I try to reason with her, but... oh shit, her demon is showing. She’s pissed. Really pissed.

She pushes past me, her wings bursting from her back. One beautifully black and the other blindingly white. “Abby!” I shout as she takes off into the sky toward Zed’s work.

I take off running, dread filling my stomach.Way to go, Frankie.Things went from perfect to a shit show with just one word.

Thankfully, with my speed, I make it to the garage at the same time Abby does. Zed looks up from the car he’s working on. He smiles brightly; it’s filled with so much love it hurts to see as it falls the closer Abby gets. “Little Bird, what’s wrong?” His brows furrow as he looks between a frantic me and furious Abby.

“How could you!” Abby shouts. “You told me you weren’t going to keep anything else from me. I told you I can handle stuff, that you didn’t need to protect me. You lied!”

“No, baby. No, I didn’t.” He steps toward her, and she steps back, hurt flashing across his face.

“You knew Frankie was my mate. You knew since she came to earth.”

His face pales, eyes flicking up to mine then back to her. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you. You had so much going on. After everything the guys put you through, only to find out they were your mates. It was a lot. I hated seeing you in pain, it hurt me to see you hurt. Little Bird, I didn’t do it to be mean, I just wanted you to have time to breathe before finding out about another mate.”

“I get that, Zed. I do, but you can’t keep doing this. It’s my choice, my feelings, my decision. You can’t keep making them for me! I have the right to know these things.”

“I know, baby, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll stop, I promise. I’ll tell you everything from now on.” I’ve never seen my best friend look so distraught as he pleads with his mate. It’s hard to watch and fucking hurts.

“I need some space.” Abby shakes her head. “A few days to just process everything.”

“Little Bird...” The way his voice cracks around her name has my heart cracking right along with it. I never wanted this, I didn’t mean to cause any issues. I fucked up, I should have told her. She’s right, this is her life, her right to choose. Fuck!

“Just a few days.” Abby backs away. “I love you, Zed. I just wish you could see that I don’t always need to be protected.”

She turns around, launching herself into the air.

“Fuck, no!” Zed is about to take off after her, but I stop him.

“I’ll go,” I tell him, his watery eyes turning to me.

“I can’t lose her, Frankie. She’s my everything. I’d rather be dead than lose her.”

“You won’t. I got her. I promise. Everything will be okay. She just needs time.”

“Take care of her.”

“Always.”

We hug so hard that my bones would be crushed if I wasn’t a supernatural. He lets go, giving me one last hopeless look before I take off after our mate. Zed’s scream follows behind.

I won’t let this ruin us.

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