Page 119 of Under the Waves
Lachlan jumped in, wrapping his arms around Hanna as she screamed, raw and guttural. It was the most horrifying noise I’d ever heard. The world silenced itself, everything and everyone frozen in place as her screams echoed in the dry air, ricocheting off the walls.
“You don’t get to evenmentionher fucking name, do you hear me? You fuckingbitch, I’m going to kill you for what you did to her!”
Hanna clawed and screamed and tried to pry herself out of Lachlan’s grip, but he held onto that girl like he was afraid that if he didn’t, she’d drown under the weight of her own darkness. Her entire body was shivering.
“You’re okay, Han,” he whispered to her, over and over and over again. “You’re not back there. You’re not with him.”
The fight inside the girl with darkness bleeding from the corners of her eyes slowly died out like a flickering light. Lachlan managed to calm her down into a stable enough state that she could walk away on her own two feet without losing control. But in a second, she was in his arms, and he was holding her close to his chest as she shivered and panicked. Lachlan walked away without another word.
The way Hanna had reacted made me wonder if she had known the little red head who’d disappeared years ago without atrace.
I’m going to kill you for what you did to her.
Those had been Hanna’s exact words to Miya…so what had Miya done that Hanna wanted to kill her for? And what did this all have to do with sweet little Milla Brzezinski?
“How could you just stand there and watch her fight me like an animal?” Miya gasped, eyes wide and reddened. Gashes and cuts of all sizes marred her face as disheveled strands of hair stuck to little rivers of blood that trickled down her cheeks.
“I will never defend you,” Jakson said coldly. I almost flinched at the quiet yet deathly tone of his voice. “I will never forget.”
“But we had so muchfuntogether, didn’t we, Jak?” She purred, turning away from me and advancing on him. “No matter how hard you try, you won’t ever be able to forget that night.”
Jakson paled at her words, going as still as death. Lia appeared then, as if she had somehow sensed that Jakson needed her.
“Oh, good, little Bambi Lia is here too.” Miya sighed sarcastically. “This shit just keeps getting better and better.”
“Leave. Her. Out. Of. It,” Jakson growled, voice lethally quiet. In all the years I had known him, Jakson had detested violence. He was the biggest believer that talking was much more effective than fighting…except when it came toLia.
She was worth sacrificing his beliefs for.
He’d protect her,always.
“Whatever,” she purred. “I don’t have time for this.”
None of us said anything as she strutted away, stumbling in her heels. Xander and I glanced at each other, but when we turned around, Jakson and Lia were gone.
That was the thing about those two–people like Jakson and Lia buried their wounds so deep down inside of them that the people who loved them most had no idea what was truly going on inside their heads.Hell, the only people who knew just how deep Lia and Jakson’s scars ranwereLia and Jakson.
After all, he was her Jedi and she was his Blue, what more was there to it but that?
“Gentlemen,” Kai cleared his throat as he neared us, smoothing down the beige linen shirt he was wearing. Seriously,who wore a linen shirt to a party?A blond-haired girl hung onto his arm with the biggest of smiles on her lips. The scent of vanilla cupcakes and tulips hit me. “Let me introduce you to—wait, why do you both look like someone just died?”
I glared at Kai. Neither of us wanted to answer that question, that was for sure. Except, when my eyes slid over to Xander, he was intently watching Kai’s friend. Those whiskey eyes locked onto her, mentally padlocking her soul to him. His face remained blank of any expression so I couldn’t get a read on exactly what he was planning, but from experience, I knew it was nothing good.
Xander wasn’t a knight in shining armor by any means. He was silent, brooding, and had a dark as fuck aura about him, and no matter how many girls threw themselves at him, whining to their daddies about how they could fix him, they never could. He’d never be their silver prince. Not when he’d been damned to Hell his entire life.
“Anyways, let me introduce you to my girlfriend,” he smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose as he glanced at the girl. There was hope gleaming in his gaze as he looked at her. Soft and delicate. Something that looked a lot like love.
“Hi!” she beamed, “I’m Emmeline Villeneuve, but you can just call me Emme—everyone does. It’s nice to finally meet you both.”
The blond girl—Emme—had a really thick French-Canadian accent as she smiled at the both of us, waving her small hand. She must be the blond-haired figure skater who ran Bookmarked. Hundreds of tiny freckles covered her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. I mentally noted the small pink bow tied in her hair, and I instantly thought of Lia. She loved those things.
Xander said nothing. He looked up and down at Emmeline, only once, before turning to Kai, not giving her even a hint of recognition. Her self-confidence seemed to dissipate at his gesture. A pair of big, hopeful eyes met mine.
“Hey,” I smiled, nodding towards her. “I’m Jasper.”
She smiled back. “Hi.”
Kai and Xander remained staring at each other like life was just one big chess game to them both. Like Emmeline had unknowingly become Kai’s queen. His move.