A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 61: The Bet

Blade POV

"Haven't seen you in a few days," Jordan said when I entered the kitchen, after having wandered the halls for ages like a ghost stuck in limbo that had no idea what its unfinished business was.

I shrugged, falling onto a kitchen bar stool. It was the first time in days I'd left my room to go somewhere other than out to see Kiana, the greenhouse, or to sneak down to the kitchen at night for a drink, too tired and not in the mood to hunt or socialize.

"What can I do for you?" Jordan asked, putting a tray in the oven.

"Nothing," I said, dropping my head onto my folded arms.

"Uh huh," he said, rocking back to lean against the opposite counter. "No plans today?"

"No."

"Is that why you have such a long face?"

"No..." I said, but it wasn't terribly convincing. It had become increasingly clear that I didn't have much of a life now that I was alone and didn't really have many friends to call on. Ace was usually my go-to, but even if we were on speaking terms right now, he still had a job that kept him busy most days. Before Kiana, I guess I had Mona, but even then she was gone a lot and I spent that time at bars or clubs or hooking up or hunting or looking after Lexi.

Nowadays, even Lexi had calmed down enough that she didn't need me to babysit or fix her messes, and I no longer had any interest in hooking up or going out, and even though Lexi came by regularly to make sure I was still alive and 'still an asshole', I wasn't the best company lately, so she didn't stick around long. Even having Mazey around had been an improvement, but she was back home now and that put me back at square one. 

Lounging around and doing whatever I wanted all the time had lost its shine after all these centuries, and especially now, when I had more free time than ever.

I'd read most of the books I owned and didn't feel like sitting down with another, the greenhouse was already all taken care of and required the bare minimum of general upkeep that didn't take up a lot of time or effort, I'd even fixed up my room so it didn't look like a tornado had gone through, even replacing the things I'd broken, and as much as I wanted to lie in bed all day, I couldn't anymore, had spent weeks--months?-- lying there most of the time and I was too restless, filled with an ache for something I couldn't figure out and with Ace and I on the outs, and Kiana...

Kiana had her friends, a job, school to look forward to, plenty of things to fill her time with and she was always able to find things to do, a future to work towards. She always knew what to do. Her life was full and it was colorful. She didn't need anyone, and definitely didn't need or even want me around, things were better but it would be strange for me to call her out of the blue to hang out now, even under the guise of helping our bond when I'd already seen her two days ago. 

Even Eliza was busy working and even if she wasn't, I didn't have it in me to try and pretend I was able to function and dodge more questions about how I was doing and make her feel bad.

"Maybe you should try something new," Jordan suggested. "Surely there's a degree you haven't earned yet that could be fun, or maybe a new language, or a sport? Maybe not a trip, since you don't need the added distance right now."

"Blade back in school? I pity the teachers he'd have," Leo said as he joined us in the kitchen, coming over to sit on the stool next to mine. "This one was always a troublemaker."

"Leo," I groaned. I wasn't that bad of a student; I enjoyed learning, just sitting through courses and pointless lectures and group projects were simply not for me. I liked to learn at my own pace, on my own time, and not deal with people if I had too. So I studied on my own, braving schools occasionally when I needed more stimulation. Or a new place to hunt and party.