Scorned by Venom (Argentium Vampire Hunters Trilogy #2)

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sage

The fear and sadness I kept contained broke off the leash and was now on the loose. The pain hit me like a stab to the heart, making me fall to my knees. I threw my hands over my face and muffled cries bounced off my palms.

Someone kneeled by my side, and warm hands slid around me. “Come here.” Winnie turned me into him and even though I was mad at him, he had been right. I’d given up on Luka.

Needing comfort, I laid my cheek on his chest and gripped his shirt tightly as I panted through hard sobs. “He’s dead and I don’t want to live without him. I can’t.”

“Oh, Sage.” Lyric reached her hand out for me but Marcus grabbed it, stopping her.

“Don’t. She needs this.”

“But he’s not dead.” Winnie tried to keep a calm voice, but it cracked a little with emotions, causing me to realize I hadn’t been the only one hurting.

“You don’t know that.” I sniffed back snot so it didn’t run down my face, and had a half a thought of wiping my nose on his shirt. “Deep down, I know he’s dead.”

Winnie ran his hand down my back, soothing me. “Your body says otherwise.”

Either my emotions were too out of control to understand what the hell he was talking about or I’d had way too much alcohol because I was confused. “What do you mean?”

“Look at me, Princess.” Winnie’s use of the nickname Luka gave me had my gaze darting up to him with such quickness it made me slightly dizzy. He smiled, knowing he had finally gotten my attention. “Did Luka explain what a lenxus is?”

“No. There wasn’t much time. Everything happened so fast. I only know what I’ve heard you guys say.”

“Then you know it’s a bond between a vampire and their mate. You’ve also heard us talk about the blood bond part of it. How vampires don’t want to feed on others.”

I nodded, wiping away tears.

“Well, there’s more than that. The lenxus bond also comes with a feeling, a tugging. You feel as though you’re being pulled to them.”

“It’s like an invisible rope,” Peach added. My eyes drifted to her saddened ones, and the world moved quickly in the background. “You can feel the tug it has on you.”

More confusion filled me, trying to comprehend the conversation. “I don’t feel any rope.”

“Yes, you do,” Winnie said, bringing my attention back to him. “You’ve been standing in those woods waiting for Luka for months. It may not feel the way you think it should, but it’s there.”

Peach kneeled on the other side of me and brushed her hand softly down my hair. “And believe me, when it’s not, you’ll know. There’s this hollowness in you, like you love them, but don’t remember why. You know it’s something you used to have. Like a faint childhood memory, but a chunk of it has been taken away. A chunk of you was taken away. I think that’s what has to happen when a bond is broken. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to breathe . . . or live.”

Peach stood and wiped the tears from her cheeks, and Marcus stepped in close, wrapping his arms around her from behind. It was that moment I finally realized why she had been so kind to me during this whole thing, and why she tried hard to close herself off to Marcus. Peach had experienced this type of pain before and didn’t want to get hurt again.

She had loved and lost, like me.

“That’s how I know Strike is still alive,” Vivi chimed in, her voice low. “The pulling doesn’t stop. It’s like I’m anxious and need to go somewhere or do something. Not much helps. Except lots of this.” She held up a bottle of whiskey before taking a swig.

Doubt filled me when I thought about this mysterious invisible rope. “If this bond thing is real, I don’t think I have it.” I sniffed back more tears and lowered my voice. “I don’t think Luka bonded with me.”

Peach leaned down and removed the hair clinging to my wet cheeks before wiping my tears away with her thumbs. “I’m the oldest one here and I have seen things you could only dream of. Believe me when I say this bond is real and you have it.”

A bizarre, joyful sensation overwhelmed me and caused my stomach to turn upside down.

Was it the bond? Or was it hope finally returning?

“Does that mean Luka is . . . alive?”

“Of course,” Winnie whispered. “Why else would we be working so hard to find him?”

I wasn’t certain, but this new revelation had me wanting to scream with excitement . . . or throw up. Nausea rose from my stomach and danced its way up my gurgling throat. The atrocious sounds that came out of me were indescribable. Good thing Winnie was faster than lightning. He turned me away just as the putrid remnants of alcohol on an empty stomach flew out of my mouth.

After vomiting for who knows how long, it finally stopped. I took a couple of deep breaths, focusing on it not coming back.

Someone held a water bottle out in front of me, and when I glanced up, it was Lyric. I missed my friend, and judging by the tears in her eyes, she also missed me.

“Sip it slowly.”

I took the water from her with a nod.

“If I knew you couldn’t hold your liquor, I would have gotten a better drinking partner.”

“She’s human, Viviana,” Winnie shouted. “You can’t pump her full of alcohol.”

Nausea rose and I retched again. Winnie grabbed my hair and pulled it back. I was extremely grateful for him when I vomited.

Once my hurling ceased, Vivi suggested something I hadn’t even thought of. “Turn her. Maybe she wouldn’t be so moody.”

Winnie snickered. “Yeah, that’s all we need. Another you running around.”

Vivi sucked in a deep breath, veins of anger flooding her face. “Fuck you!” She stormed off into the darkness.

“I should check on her.” Lyric tried to follow, but Winnie stopped her.

“Don’t. This happens every few months. She’ll be fine when she wakes up tomorrow. It’s her way of coping.”

“Last time Winnie pissed her off she drained a cow dry,” Ravage said, widening my eyes. “Do you have cows out here, Drag?”

He shook his head. “Thank the forest, I don’t.”

Winnie moved a hand to my cheek. “You good to stand, Sage Stick? The ground is freezing.”

I nodded, and he pulled me to my feet. Humiliation filled me when I noticed the entire camp watching. My gaze met Winnie’s with a silent plea.

“The show’s over, folks! Go find something better to do.”

I was grateful for the “I-don’t-give-a-fuck” attitude he had when he shooed everyone off.

My embarrassment quickly faded as dizziness set in. My body swayed and large hands reached out and grabbed me.

Marcus slid one arm behind my back and the other under my legs, lifting me off the ground. “I got you.”

As he carried me to my cabin, my eyes unfocused on the night sky, each star a pulsating sparkle which seemed to breathe.

Lyric held the door so we could enter, and Marcus took me to my bedroom and laid me down. Lyric set a trash can next to me before taking off toward the bathroom.

“You’re the only real father I have ever had, Marcus.” The confession had more tears threatening to consume me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He kissed my head, then covered me with my blanket. “I’ll be in the chair if you need me.”

Lyric came back and crawled onto the bed next to me before pressing a wet washcloth against my head. “You can go. I got her.”

Marcus looked at me, waiting to see what I wanted. I knew my best friend needed this job as much as I needed her to have it.

“I’ll be good. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Marcus nodded before he left, shutting my bedroom door behind him. The silence of the room left my ears ringing.

“It’s too quiet in here.”

Lyric said nothing, instead pulling her phone out and putting on thunderstorm sounds, something she knew I loved when I couldn’t sleep. She turned the volume down low and set it on the nightstand before laying down next to me.

“I’m sorry for everything, Lyric.”

She shifted, her warm hand grabbing mine, her thumb grazing slightly over the back of it. “Blood of the coven, remember?”

I sniffed back tears. “Blood of the coven.”

One of the biggest things I regretted was not letting Lyric help me when I needed her most. I knew I fucked up, but I also knew she would forgive me.

Not much else needed to be said for us to bond back together because the blood of the covenant was thicker than the water of the womb.

The sun peeking through the window disturbed my sleep and I regretted not shutting the curtains. My head pounded in protest from last night’s activities, so I rolled over and covered it with a blanket. Apparently, alcohol was not the solution to hiding my feelings since it heightened them.

My hangover didn’t keep the embarrassing drunken flashbacks from racing through my mind, and one crucial memory stood out more than the others.

I flung the blankets off me and sat up.

Luka is alive!

Nausea and dizziness hit me like a ton of bricks, but it wouldn’t stop me from reveling in this new information. Vaguely remembering Lyric came to bed with me, I glanced over and saw her sleeping. Needing to find out more information, I let her be and quietly slid out of bed.

The wood floor was cold against my bare feet as I made my way into the hall, gently shutting the door behind me. Despite it being chilly outside, putting on shoes would be a waste of time. I needed to talk to Winnie immediately, so I figured I’d run to his cabin and hope my feet didn’t get frostbite.

The living room was darker than normal when I entered it. Stopping at the door, I unlocked it and put my hand on the knob.

“If you open that, I’ll be burnt toast.”

My head whipped toward the dark shadow on the couch who sounded like Winnie. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. Plus, I knew when you woke up you’d come looking for me, no matter what the time.”

He was right. I had a thousand questions running through my mind but it seemed none of them wanted to come out of my mouth.

Winnie flung his blanket off and sat up. “Come sit with me.”

“What did you put over the windows to keep the sun out?” I asked as I gingerly made my way to him and took a seat on the couch.

“Nothing. I closed the steel shutters and curtains.”

I shifted and pulled the edge of Winnie’s blanket over my freezing feet. “I didn’t even notice I had those.”

“There are lots of things you haven’t noticed lately, Sage.”

Before I had a chance to stop them, tears fell. “I know. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Like everyone else at this camp, life kind of smacked us in the face. We all have our own way of dealing, ya know?”

I nodded, but I honestly didn’t know how everyone else felt or handled anything. I had been so caught up in my own misery, I hadn’t once stopped to think about anyone around me.

“To save you the time. Yes. Everything I said last night is true. If you can remember it all.”

I let out a light laugh, wiping away tears. “I remember.”

“What do you want to know?”

There were a thousand questions pooling in my mind, but as I stared into the eyes of a person I used to call my friend, I could only ask one. “Do you hate me?”

Winnie tilted his head like he contemplated his answer before his eyes softened. “Even if you’re a pain in my ass, I don’t hate you. You’re my family now so I have to put up with you the same way I do Vivi. I’ll love and protect you when you need it, but I’ll also tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts.”

A snicker left me. “Obviously.”

“Tell me one thing. Why did you give up on Luka?”

I stayed quiet for a minute while I thought about my answer, and the one I came up with surprised even me.

“I guess because I didn’t think I deserved to be happy, so when I found happiness and Venom ripped it away, it devastated me. I would have given up anything to get it back. To get him back. But the hours turned into days and then weeks. Now it’s been over five months. I kind of just thought I got what I deserved. I also figured my dad would’ve killed him for being with me.”

Winnie’s thumb brushed across my cheek, wiping away another tear. “You deserve happiness just like anyone else.”

My anxiousness had me dropping my head down while I picked my cuticles. I still didn’t believe I deserved happiness, but I wasn’t going to open my mouth and mess up the slight progress we’d made mending our friendship.

He sighed as if he could read my mind—I still wasn’t convinced vampires couldn’t hear people’s thoughts. “Are you ready for the hard part?”

Of course, I wasn’t because I knew he was going to ask me to call Naomi. Despite the fact I didn’t want to, if it helped find Luka, which there was a small possibility it would, I didn’t have a choice. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Winnie stood and paced the room, prepared for a battle. “I know you don’t want to do it, but you have to take Naomi’s call.”

“Okay.”

“It could be our only . . .” He stopped pacing, his shocked eyes shooting toward me. “Wait, what?”

“I said okay. I’ll take her call.”

His shoulders dropped, a look of determination sagging off his face. “That was too easy. I was ready to fight you.” He gave me a fanged smile, making me let out a small laugh.

“I know, but you said Luka’s alive and I’m going to take your word for it.”

“You don’t need my word. Your body will tell you when he isn’t. I promise you’ll know.”

The wood floor creaked and I glanced over at Lyric entering the room.

“Morning, mama.”

She flicked her eyes at Winnie before nervously looking at me with a hopeful expression.

I stood, heading around the back of the couch, and she squeaked when I yanked her toward me.

“I’m sorry, Lyric. I shouldn’t have shut you out like I did.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered, hugging me back. “Blood of the coven.”

“Did you guys start a new cult? Because if so, I want in.”

Winnie’s joke made us both giggle and release the hug.

He headed toward us and put his arm around Lyric while still eyeballing me. “We have important things to do tonight.”

I took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. “We definitely do.”

Winnie looked me up and down, his nose scrunching, a look of disgust on his face. “You may want to shower first. You stink.”

Lyric laughed when I punched him in the arm before heading down the hall. “I’m going now, Asshole!”

“Atta Girl,” Winnie yelled from behind me, putting a genuine smile on my face for the first time in a while.

After showering and getting dressed, Winnie set up my new Alexa and gave me some meds he picked up for me. I researched what they used for and their side effects before I took one.

Since the sun hadn’t set, Winnie and Lyric hopped in my shower, and when I heard bangs coming from the bathroom, I rushed outside to give them privacy.

The cold air prickled my skin when I took a seat in the rocking chair on my porch. The sounds of chatter had my attention while a few of the other humans came out of their cabins. With curious eyes, I watched them while sipping on a cup of coffee. Some people glanced over at me before quickly averting their gaze, except for Jimmy who waved. I waved back before shamefully looking away.

Purposely, I had alienated everyone, and it was going to take work on my part to make people comfortable again. Even though I wasn’t ready to start socializing yet, one of the few people I would talk to was heading toward my porch.

Marcus beamed with pure radiance, taking the four stairs with one huge step. “This is new.”

“I figured I’d watch the sunset. There’s fresh coffee if you want some.”

“I already had two delicious cups. Peach makes the best pour over.”

He took the seat next to me, and I peered at him in surprise. I hesitated on the next question but his grin made me ask, anyway. “Did you sleep there?”

“Yeah, but on the couch.” Marcus sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring off into the distance with hopeful eyes. “That woman has the mind, body, and soul of a goddess. She’ll converse about the world, aliens, magic, recipes . . . anything you’d like except for her feelings. Getting into her heart is like exploring the Labyrinth. I’m uncertain if I’ll ever get to the center, but I know it’s worth trying.” His gaze met mine and he grinned. “But I got coffee.”

My whole life I’d waited for Marcus to find someone to love. His genuine care for Peach made happy tears form in my eyes. “Two cups of pour over? She must like you a lot.”

“She does. I’ll eventually break through her walls once she’s comfortable being loved again. I’m taking my time and letting her know her heart will always be safe in my hands.”

Peach’s past wasn’t any of my business unless she wanted it to be. But somehow Marcus’s words had a huge impact on me because I also needed to get comfortable being loved.

No matter how scary forming a bond with Luka was, I’d taken for granted the feelings he had for me—and the ones I had for him. If I could take it back, I would. If I could bring him back, I would.

A sigh left me when I thought about the bond. Even if I still couldn’t feel it, I had to believe it to be true.

“Why don’t you go out there and get a little sun before it disappears. You’re looking a little pasty, sweetie.” With a laugh, Marcus stood, kissed the top of my head, and left.

After I finished my coffee, I decided maybe I did need some vitamin D. When I stepped off the porch, my body wanted to pull me to my normal spot in the woods, but I wasn’t going to find sun there. Forcing myself to ignore the pull, I headed around to the side of my cabin. Rocks crunched beneath my low-top Converse as I stepped onto the gravel lot where everyone parked their vehicles.

I stopped and took a deep breath, attempting to quiet my mind. Like every day since the battle, my thoughts were stuck on Luka.

I’d give anything to hear the deep timbre of his voice again as my nickname rolled off his lips, or to have his fingers press against my chin and tip my face toward his so I could gaze into his beautiful blue eyes.

Anytime I thought of Luka, I would get more and more depressed, and that was how I lost hope. This time as I reflected on everything, a fire buried deep inside of me sparked back to life. It was the first time in a while I was ready to fight.

The vengeful fire intensified with thoughts of saving him.

This . . . this was who I used to be. Not some weak person sheltering herself from the world and praying for death to swiftly end her suffering. I was a hunter. A soldier. A trained assassin, ready to take on a mission to save the one I love, even if it killed me in the process.

I took a deep breath and released it in a slow stream as I stared into the horizon.

Beautiful orange and pink smears painted the evening sky as the sun fought to stay a few seconds longer. The winter clouds moved fast, attempting to cover up the beauty. Tipping my head toward the sunset as the last bit of its rays shone upon my face, I finally believed Luka was still out there.