Page 18 of Blood that Burns
I turn away, not wanting to deal with those hurtful truths.
“I’ll be careful. I promise you.”
He offers a tight smile. “You’re up. Make it good.”
I huff a laugh before taking a deep breath.
“I’m scared.”
His smile falls. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The conviction in his voice has my chest swelling.
“I’m not scared for me, Law. I’m scared for you.”
His face pinches. “What the hell for?”
Because you push everyone away.
“The vampires hunting me... if they discover you’re aiding me, you’ll be considered a traitor to your kind. They’ll kill you. I can’t lose you.” I stress that last part and a stray tear slips down my cheek. I didn’t even realize how true those words were.
Law wipes the tear away. My hand lifts, holding his to my cheek, and I nestle into his touch. Our eyes meet and hold. There are so many unspoken words between us, but neither of us say them. I keep quiet because I know my declarations of love will only result in his withdrawal.
I pull away, ending the moment before I say something that will lead to my own heartbreak.
“Maggie?” Law pulls me out of my internal wanderings.
“Hmm?”
“Everything okay?”
I take a deep breath, turn to him, and plaster on a smile, deciding to steer us to safer waters.
“This is the first time I’ll be with Marina and won’t have to keep secrets.”
Not a total lie.
He nods. “She knows about our... past.”
I cock an eyebrow in question. Just how much of our past has Law shared with her?
“What did you tell her?”
“She knows about the plans to escape and that we’ve known each other for a long time.”
I groan, mentally preparing for the wrath of Marina. All this time, she’s been convinced she was in the driver’s seat, keeping me safe while I spiraled. She was for a while, but once Law came into my life, that all changed. Knowing that I hid the truth from her couldn’t have gone over well.
I clench my teeth and squint my eyes in worry. “Just how pissed is she?”
“On a scale from one to ten?”
I open my eyes a bit wider and nod.
“Off the charts, sunshine. After she gets past the wholemy sister’s alivething, you might want to bolt. She’s likely to strangle you.”
“Fabulous,” I whine.
“All I’m saying is good luck.”
I slap his shoulder, and he barks a laugh. “Careful, Mags. You’ll get us in a wreck. I’ll walk away fine, but you... you’ll feel every single injury. Not a fate you want to tempt.”