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

Chapter 26: Early Morning Fairies

Lexi sat across from me and for once I didn't squirm under her intense gaze. I was exhausted, so sore and tired from the late night and all the dancing. My skin was sticky and gross as I hadn't showered when I got back and all I wanted to do was clean up and wash the memory of last night down the drain. Instead, Lexi had shown up rather early, and with no warning, and woke me up by insistently ringing the buzzer till I heaved myself out off the couch to let her in. The reason as to why she had shown up had yet to present itself, but it was as inevitable as death.

"So?"

"So what?" I snapped impatiently, chugging half of my tea in one go. She just kept sitting there, staring at me like she was expecting me to do something. Which, considering she was the one who showed up and woke me up with no warning, only irritated me more.

"So what are you going to do?" She said, matching my tone. 

"Nothing."

"Oh come on, seriously? Since when are you the do nothing girl? After everything you did you're going to sit here and let this girl waltz back into Blades life and take him?" She sat back, exasperation oozing from every inch of her.

"You know what? I'm getting tired of hearing how I'm the one who should be doing something. If Blade wants her, he can have her. If he doesn't, he can tell her where she can go. He's a grown ass man who can make his own decisions and clearly he doesn't want me or my input. So knock it off."

"But--"

"No. No more 'but's'." I finally looked at her, sitting forward and meeting her eyes, trying to convey just how serious I was, which was difficult as I'm sure my makeup was smeared all across my face and my hair was an absolute disaster. "Lexi, I'm tired, okay? Blade has made it perfectly clear how he feels, alright? He doesn't want me. I'm his conduit and nothing more. Fine. Most conduits don't date their masters so it was just a matter of time before I followed suit. It hurts but what else can I do? I can't force him to love me." I felt that need to cry begin again, my throat constricting, my dry eyes feeling wet and burning again. My eyes were still swollen and aching from last night and my throat felt dry and sore from all the crying I had done and I was so sick of it all. Seeing them together like that, again, had been a massive blow to my universe. My whole body felt sore and my tattoo hurt more than ever. 

"Kiana-"

"Drop it. I can't keep having this conversation. It's over." My voice wobbled and my vision blurred with tears that I furiously tried to blink away. One managed to escape, rolling down my cheek like a traitor. I swiped at my cheek. "It hurts, Lexi. I don't think you understand how much it hurts to keep talking about this and thinking about this and I just...please, Lexi. Just be my friend and support me. Let it go." 

There was silence. It stretched on and on and I steeled myself for her reply, sure she was going to ignore me, but instead her hand reached out and touched mine.

My head shot up, surprised at such a gentle gesture. She peeled one hand from my mug and took it in hers, squeezing it tight, her dark eyes warmer than I'd ever seen them.

"I'm sorry. It's just hard for me to wrap my head around all this. You guys were so happy and I just...wanted you guys to be happy again," she said softly, sincerely.

"I know," I said, letting out a breath. "We will be happy. Just...not with each other." It pained me to say, my tattoo stinging at the words.

She opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head, letting out a sigh. I was shocked she was respecting my wishes.

"So what are you going to do now? Go to work and school like normal?" She said instead.

"Yup," I said with a weak smile. "Normal is just what the doctor ordered."