Page 37 of Lies That Bleed
I stepped closer to Kohen. “And Onyx knows where she is?” I pressed.
He gave me a halfcocked grin. “Sounds like you need me. A favor maybe?”
I let the murderous gaze that I had previously reserved for Jace in the Lottery slide over my face.
“Kohen, you don’t want to know all the ways I have been taught to dismember a man.”
His grin grew wider. “Fine, you don’t have to beg, Aisling. But we need to lose the soldiers following you. Liana suspects the Imperial Fleet could have taken her.”
No.
Pure shock coated my skin in that moment. “Why would she suspect that?”
Kohen rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. But listen, can you meet me on the roof in a few minutes? We obviously can’t be seen leaving together.”
I snort-laughed. “Obviously.”
A flash of hurt crossed his face, but then it was gone, replaced by a mask of indifference. “You have three minutes or we’re leaving without you. I’m only helping because Onyx cares for your creature,” hesnapped and then slipped out of the closet, leaving me alone.
Jeez. Was he about to be on his period or something?
Stomping out of the broom closet, I turned the corner to look for the exit door and ran right into Jace.
His musky cologne hit me like a sack of bricks, and memories of us making out on his couch flashed through my mind. A deep ache formed in my chest and I had to push down the grief that tried to well up.
I thought Jace was my forever; his betrayal hurt me more than I would ever admit.
“Aisling.” Jace put his hands on my shoulders.
“Don’t. Touch. Me,” I growled, and he immediately released me.
He stared at the floor and I moved to sidestep him when he spoke: “My parents are getting divorced,” he said.
I froze, shock ripping through me for the second time in a few minutes. Aldric and Brianna were a perfect couple. He the leader of my father’s fleet, she the doting housewife who’d raised two rowdy boys to be Imperial Fleet soldiers. She would cook scones from scratch and he would rub her shoulders and ask her if he could pour her a glass of wine. I used to watch them in awe, dreaming I could one day have a marriage like that.
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
He swallowed hard, his eyes suddenly swimmingwith tears. “They told us two days before the Lottery and I… lost it. Went out and found the first girl I could and…”
Realizing where he was going with this, I reached up and grabbed his jaw firmly, forcing him to meet my gaze. “Jace Ledger, you willnotmake excuses for why you cheated on me. Nothing excuses that betrayal.”
A tidal wave of emotions threatened to pull me under in that moment. I still hadn’t processed the loss of him. These lips that I would kiss until bruised were no longer mine.
He blinked back the tears and nodded, but my heart broke at the sight of him vulnerable. Jace didn’t cry. Jace didn’t get emotional. Jace was made of steel like me.
“I’m sorry,” was all he said. “I know you will never forgive me but… I miss my best friend.” He whimpered the last part, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him in the throat or hug him.
“Dammit, Jace, we were so good together,” I breathed. My mind was suddenly flooded with memories of making pancakes with him and swimming at the cove and kissing for hours and naming our future children. I put all of my hopes and dreams in him and he crushed them without a second thought because he was having a bad day.
He nodded, picking at his nails and peered up at me with terror. “Tell me we can be friends. I don’tdeserve to ever have you as a girlfriend again but tell me we can still be friends?”
Dammit.
I had to get on the roof and go after my creature whom my bond would die out with if I didn’t find her within the next twelve hours. And I had a curfew! I didn’t have time for this soft, mushy stuff.
“I’ll think about it,” I told him honestly and he sighed, looking relieved. “And I’m sorry about your mom and dad,” I added. Maybe his dad cheated too. It was an evil thought that I felt badly for the second it popped into my head.
He nodded. “Thanks.”
