Page 26 of Inheritance
"Luci?" I murmured out loud, finding it hilarious that he had such a feminine nickname from a child.
When he released her from the hug, she reached for his hand and preened up at him, "Ama and I are friends now. She's so pretty and nice."
Even being in Luce's presence couldn't dull the warmth this child had infused me with. Maybe I could be a mother one day. No...I would probably be a terrible mom. I had no example of how to be a proper one—instead, I had mommy issues galore. I'd be cool with being an aunt and soaking up all of their love before giving them back to their parents when they screamed their heads off, though.
Yes, that sounded like the perfect option.
"She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," Luce answered, his focus still on Mel. "I'm not worthy of her."Damn straight you aren’t.
I couldn't help the huff that came from my lips, and I shook my head, refusing to give in to his pretty words spoken to an adorable child. If he thought that was all it would take to get me to soften towards him, he was even more dense than I'd thought.
Suddenly, blinding agony tore through me, and a scream ripped from my throat. I dropped to the ground, clutching my chest. Black dots littered my vision as Luce's face came into view, swirling around until I closed my eyes and tears slipped from them. I heard Luce send Mel from the room to get help.
It was as if my soul was being ripped to shreds while trying to speak to me through these damned walls he had in place around my powers, preventing me from connecting fully.One of my mates was injured.I just knew it. My heart cried out in debilitating fear for my men.
Sobs quickly wracked my body from the pain I felt and the anger I had at the realization that there was nothing I could do. I was useless in this moment. My men needed me, and I could do nothing. I was a fucking prisoner to a monster who thought I was a toy to play with and bend to his will.
"I hate you!" I screamed, batting his hands away from me as he gripped my forearms.
"Ama!" he yelled over my scream, authentic panic saturating his words, "What is going on? Why are you in pain? I need to fix you."
His questions tumbled from his mouth quickly, but the last statement was what stood out to me.
My lip quivered as I tried to quell my grief and seethed, "Youbrokeme, Luce! You can't fix me. I am never going to be whole again without my other mates. Never!"
His jaw ticked and his eyes flashed red, changing from their golden hue in his anger as his grip on my arms tightened. "You're hurting me," I snapped and flicked my eyes to his hands on my arms to emphasize what I meant.
My steel backbone with him was beginning to crumble as a dull pain echoed through my chest, threatening to drown me below the waters of my misery.
"I'm sorry," he muttered as he retracted his hands and reached to cup my face, but I quickly smacked his hand away.
"No. You do not get to touch me. You might be able to control where I am and whether I have control over my powers, but there are two things you will never be able to control: my heart and my body."
He straightened to his full height as he reached to loosen the black tie he wore, pulling at his collar a bit as he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm trying to help you right now. Why are you being so difficult?"
A dark laugh clawed its way from the depths of my broken fucking heart as I heaved myself to my feet and narrowed my eyes on him. "I'm about to get a hell of a lot more difficult if you don't let me leave here. One of my mates is fucking injured. I felt it as if it was me, Luce. Like a piece of me was dying."
I think my words caused something to snap within him. Something primal.
Luce roared, "What about me, Amare? I'm a fucking piece of your soul, too!"
"You are nothing to me!" I raged as my breaths became shallow and frequent, my blood roaring in my ears. Glancing to my right, I grabbed the lamp off of the nightstand and threw it at the fucker who was keeping me from being with my mates. With the real pieces of my heart and soul, I screamed "I hate you!"
Somehow, he stood completely still as the lamp shattered against him and fell to the floor. It was as if nothing else could hurt him or phase him like those three little words had.
I gulped down air as I began to feel myself spiraling in helplessness and fear.
His eyes portrayed just how deeply my words had hurt him, and for a fleeting moment, I realized that maybe I had crossed the line. Because the truth was, he wasn't nothing to me...I just hadn't figured out how exactly he was supposed to fit into my life.
And I didn't hate him...I just despised this version of him that he felt he had to carry around.
"There is a good man, deep down inside you," I stated, my breathing uneven and easily revealing how worked up I was. "It's not too late to let the fucking facade fall and redeem yourself."
He inhaled deeply, and for a brief second, hope pooled in my stomach that this could be our turning point. That he could make things right between us.
Instead, he turned on his heel and walked out, the slamming of the door followed by the telling sound of the lock clicking into place from the outside once more.
My heart shattered into jagged pieces, and I fell to my knees, tears streaming freely down my face.
