CHAPTER 58
FRANKIE
∞
Everything hurts. The dull ache throbbing through my body, a welcoming sensation from the excruciating pain I was feeling before.
Did I die?
Does death bring pain in its wake? Can I not even escape it once my soul leaves my body? Probably not. The hurt I felt ran deep. Not just in my body, but deep within my soul. I failed at life, and I was finally punished for it with death. Death…at least I no longer have to suffer. At least now I’m finally free from everything and everyone.
My heart aches. I’ll never see him again. Wren was the only thing tethering me to the physical world in the end, and even that wasn’t enough. I’ll never see him again, and that thought is soul crushing. The light to my darkness. The one who finally appreciated what I had to offer in this world.
I didn’t want to die…not yet. I wanted to see him one last time. I wanted him to be the one I saw in my final moments, but instead, all I saw was Adrian with his cruel gaze as he destroyed my body and finally snuffed out my life.
I feel warmth in my hand and confusion hits me. Why do I feel warmth? I try to move my fingers, but something is clamped down hard around them. My eyes flutter open and even more confusion rattles in my brain.
Wren?
He’s hunched forward in a chair and gripping my hand as he sleeps. I’m in his bed, and I glance around carefully as my eyes try to adjust to the darkness. My mind feels strange, and the dull ache I was feeling moments ago, ebbs into nothingness. Slowly my body feels lighter and lighter, and the darkness in the room recedes and brightens as my eyes adjust to the dimness in a strange way.
How am I alive?
It doesn’t make sense. I know how bad it was, and I know how shitty I felt. I shouldn’t be here right now in Wren’s bed. I shift slightly, waiting for the excruciating pain from my back where I was cut and slashed into oblivion…but it doesn’t come. I brush my other hand against my rib cage, but they no longer feel broken. I draw in a slow, long breath, and air fills my lungs easily and unrestricted.
I try to draw my hand back from Wren and pause when he stirs. His head lifts up and his eyes open slowly to meet mine. His eyes are puffy and red. His hair is disheveled, and his shirt is covered in blood.
“Chess?”
His voice is cautious…almost disbelieving as he shifts himself to sit up. “Chess,”
he sobs, lifting himself to his feet to lean over me and kissing my forehead. “I thought I lost you,”
he murmurs. His hand trembles as he brushes through my hair, kissing my forehead again.
“How am I alive, Wren.”
I need to know. I shouldn’t be here, and as he settles back into the chair, his face turns sad and regret flickers across his eyes. “No.”
He doesn’t even need to say it. I can see it in his eyes. His clear, bright green eyes, completely void of the darkness that was within them the last night I was with him. He looks and feels different, and I just know.
“Chess---”
“How could you!”
I hiss out, ripping my hand away from him. I drag myself out of bed and I notice that I’m wearing one of his shirts.
“I was trying to help you, Chess. It worked…you’re okay.”
I whirl on him, and anger glazes my senses. “How is this okay! You did the one thing I told you I never wanted. You turned me into one of you! How fucking could you?!”
The words tumble from my mouth and hurt flashes across his face. “I couldn’t let you die without trying, Chess.”
His voice is quiet and patient. Like he’s trying to calm a wild animal in front of him.
“You turned me against my will. I told you I rather die than ever becoming one of you and you fucking did it anyways.”
I can’t even look at him. I know, deep down in my chest, that he did it for the right reasons, but those were never my choice. He did this for himself, and as much as I care about him, I never wanted this. I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact it even worked to begin with. The virus was never compatible with my brothers, and I just figured that our blood in general didn’t accept it.
I turn away from him. Walking quickly out the door. I hear his feet scramble across the floor as he tries to catch up to me, and he grips at my wrist lightly. “Chess, I---”
“Don’t fucking touch me,”
I growl. My voice no longer sounding like my own.
“Chess, please.”
“You did to me what was done to you. You hate your sire for taking that choice away from you. You were dying and she turned you against your will.”
I glare at his hand and shift my gaze back at him over my shoulder. “I’ll never forgive you. I hate you, Wren Valkyrie.”
His face pales and his hand falls weakly back down to his side. His mouth moves, but no words come out. I threw everything back in his face. His own hatred for his sire and the pain he feels in this life for being turned without the choice. The difference is, I know he did it because he cares and not because he could. He didn’t want to lose me, and seeing his face fall and his body sway as my words shatter him, has my heart breaking.
My anger is at the forefront of my mind, and I can’t focus on anything except my rage. I need to get out of here. I need to get as far away from this situation as I can before I keep hurting him with my words and actions. I’m fucking pissed off, but I think if the rolls were reversed…I would have done the same.
I make my way towards the door as he continues to stand there frozen in shock. “I need some air. Don’t fucking follow me.”
I see him fall to his knees as I close the door behind me. I run to the elevator, trying to hold back the tears threatening to break through. I feel good. My body moves easily, and I feel absolutely no pain. My blood feels like it’s singing within the constraints of my veins, and as angry as I am, I feel elated. I feel fucking free.
I slide down the wall in the elevator after pushing the button to the lobby. My eyes narrow when I get a look at my bare thighs. I brush my fingers against my skin and my chest tightens. The scars are gone. Wren’s blood healed every single fucking wound. Every trace of my trauma is gone. I pull myself to my feet and tug the shirt up, brushing my hand against my ribs again. The brand is gone. I’m no longer claimed…no longer Adrian’s. Wren’s blood claimed me. I’m tethered to him in a completely different way and regret seeps into my mind.
I hurt him. I told him I hate him. I told him not to touch me. He never turns anyone, but he turned me to save my life. I was dead anyways.
The elevator opens, and I make my way through the lobby. It’s dark outside and I wonder how long I was actually out for. My steps slow when I see Alex’s pickup pull up and jump the curb before coming to a screeching halt a few feet from the door. He stumbles around the front of the truck and pushes through the door.
My eyes widen when his eyes meet mine, and I’m rushing towards him as his knees slam into the ground. His breathing is ragged and laboured, and his body is weak as I settle his head in my lap.
“Alex, what’s wrong?”
He’s choking and gasping on air, and I see a sliver of black radiating up from his neck to his jaw. He claws at his throat and his body convulses against me for a moment before his eyes lock on mine. He lifts his hand and pulls my ear down towards his lips.
“Frankie…”