The Vampire's Rival

Yearn

The words flipped a switch inside me and, like water breaking through a dam with a crack on it. All the memories of my mistakes and what I'd put her through poured into my mind, flooding every crevice of it, the thoughts devastating and destroying every good thing that had grown in its wake. I didn't deserve Hadley's love!

"I'm not like you, Ruq. I'm only human. I can break. And you've broken me. Keep breaking me. And every time you do, I don't just come back together flawlessly like you do."

What she'd said that night was right. This thing between us wasn't sustainable. I kept fumbling and hurting her every time I'd do something that I thought was supposed to help her.

And how long had I left her here in Fisher's maniacal hands? Kade said they'd kept her in a lab! Their perfect little lab rat! How much had she suffered in the last few months while I kept choosing my Enclave and my people over her?

She deserved so much more than me.

"Let's get out of here," I said, breaking the moment by standing up and holding my hand out to help her up.

She smiled and took my hand. Her right foot was okay to walk on and she used me as a crutch while holding up her other leg as it healed. It would take a while for all that crushed bone to fuse back together. Probably a day or two to fully heal. I knew it hurt like hell as the shards of broken bones shifted around, but she didn't show more than a few grimaces as an indication of the incredible agony she must have been enduring.

With my open torso wound and Hadley's leg, it took a while to twist and squeeze through the spaces in the rubble and finally get back to the elevator, where Kade, Jamila and the baby waited.

Hadley stopped, pulling me back before I took another step forward with her.

"Is that...?" she whispered. Her blue eyes were glued to the yellow blanket bundle in Kade's arms. Jamila was standing next to the two, axe in hand, ready to cut down anything that would dare threaten them.

"Yeah," I answered. "It's your baby, Hadley."

That she didn't know about her child was yet another sign of what she had gone through down here. What I'd let her go through in the hands of those deranged monsters. Another painful reason why I wasn't right for her.

I should have come sooner!

Hadley unwrapped herself from me and hopped to the others as fast as she could, despite the crunching of the mashed-up shin bone. Jamila was grinning like a Cheshire cat as Hadley bound to them.

"I thought you were dead," Jamila said, putting the axe down and accepting the hug that Hadley offered.

"I'm right here," Hadley said, laughing and crying.

Then she pulled away from Jamila and hopped around to face Kade.

"Hi," Hadley whispered.

"Hey back," he said. "I'm glad you're okay."

Hadley nodded to the bundle in his arms. At first, her voice cracked. She cleared her throat.

"May I?"

Kade handed her the baby and Jamila hugged her from the back, placing her hands on Hadley's waist to keep her steady as she held the child. They stood like that for a while. Tears streamed down Hadley's face, but she had a smile bright enough to light the hallway. She turned and looked at me, calling me over with a nod. I staggered over, the cut on my torso only just about to seal shut. Strands of skin stitching it together would pull and break with every step I took, which hurt like hell. I should have been resting and healing.