Page 40 of All's Fair in Lion and War
And the man who caused it all was still chasing her. Still trying to squeeze every single drop of life from her soul until she broke too.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s too much. I just can’t.” Her stomach clenched, choking off her words. She forced her legs to climb. She turned the wheel the rest of the way and pushed open the hatch.
The other women were calling after her. Ava, the bear female was crawling up right behind her.
Lorelei drew on her lion and roared in the she-bear’s face. Her fangs descended. Her vision changed and her claws pressed against the tips of her fingers.
Ava’s eyes glittered, but she didn’t back down. “Look here, I get it. We’ve all been through our own messes, not the same as yours, but plenty of us down there have been through hell and back. You’re not the only one with dibs on suffering. So don’t call it that. You don’t know anything about us yet, except that we are willing to call you family. Our mates are willing to fight to protect you and keep you safe.”
Lorelei climbed out of the hatch and backed from the opening. She wanted to scream and cry and tear things apart. She’d loved Tallix with her whole heart. Her whole soul and yet even now she worried for Saul, cared for Saul.
It was a betrayal.
“I’ll never be able to love him the way I loved Tallix.” She sank to her knees and the keening wail that came from her lips was unrecognizable. The cry was somewhere between beast and woman. Somewhere between broken and angry. Somewhere she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to escape or heal from completely.
A hand pressed down on Lorelei’s shoulder.
Ava was kneeling in front of her.
Then Ava was hugging her. “You don’t have to love him like you loved Tallix. You just have to love him. And I think you already do, a little, and that’s what’s so terrifying.” Ava’s whispered words tore through the barriers she’d been trying to keep around what was left of her heart.
Ava might have spoken truth, but Ava was wrong.
Lorelei didn’tgetto love Saul.
She didn’tgetto have another family.
Her destiny was to avenge her dead mate.
Lorelei stood, shaking, and sobbing, broken-hearted. Sorrow and regret filled her to the deepest part of her heart, but Rivian would die for what he had done to her. For what he had done to his brother…to her mate.
He would die by her hand.
She was a queen and even if it cost her every drop of her own, she would not be denied his blood.
14
Ava
“Well, fuck.” Ava leaned against the hatch to the bunker and watched Lorelei leave.
“What happened?” Knox crawled up the ladder and climbed out into the dimly lit empty office. Only one small desk lamp glowed in the corner of the room. “Where did she go?”
“I’m pretty sure she’s going to kill Rivian. Or at least that’s what she wants to do. More of her memories are coming back and she’s—” Ava didn’t know how to explain the emotional trauma Lorelei was experiencing.
“If she gets killed, Saul will be the one who really loses it. Did you see the way he was looking at her at the cabin?”
“Oh, I did. They both have broken hearts. They’ve both lost mates. The new connection is freaking them the fuck out. She’s going off on a suicide mission so that she doesn’t have to face the reality that’s crashing down all around her.”
“Their developing bond is healing her mind, isn’t it?”
“Has to be. There’s nothing else it could be.”
“Do we go after her?” Knox went to the office door and looked out into the mostly dark hallway. The main lobby and gym lights were off. The hallway was dark too and the office only had one lamp glowing from the desk against the wall.
But he could see. She knew he could see and hear Lorelei leaving—Reylean perk.
