15 Absent

Bridget

While Lucien is absent from life, I’m digging through some of his drawers, trying to find anything on the guy.

He seems to have everything somewhere else though, because I can’t find a damn thing about him anywhere.

He’s a smart being.

I look over my shoulder at his unconscious body before sliding the drawer shut quietly.

I open the bedroom door, peek over my shoulder again before heading down the stairs.

I open the next door and look out, seeing if anyone is in the office. I know Lucien doesn’t keep cameras in his office or bedroom because he’s either in one place or the other, and he can hear if he’s in the bedroom and someone’s in the office, and he’d know if someone was in his bedroom if he was in his office.

I scour through bookshelves, more dressers, and his desk drawers before my eyes land on a safe that seems to be hidden in the shadows of the room in a closet. The door is opened slightly, letting me know that Lucien must have been in here before the whole training and almost dying thing. I look around once more before pulling the door open.

It squeaks and I immediately stop pulling on it, afraid that Carson is outside the door as usual.

I sigh when no movement is made, then slip inside the closet. I fumble around on the floor until I feel an object. I press a button and a light flickers on.

I peek out again, then carefully lift the lid on the safe.

And the first thing that I see makes me drop the flashlight and cover my mouth before I scream and alert the whole coven that I’m in the closet.

Lucien

My brain is conscious again. Whoopee damn do.

I can’t feel my limbs, nor can I move, so I guess I’m just going lay here like a useless sack, and maybe even listen out if I can to hear if anyone’s here.

Why did I take the limb and not let Bridget die?

I mean, I’ve only been trying to kill her for I don’t know how long, but I’m suddenly saving her life?

I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I let Bridget die. Besides, earlier that day, I had been going through my safe, and every picture I saw of Lucas let me know that there must have been some purpose for why he didn’t react.

Sebastian told me how it all went down when he interviewed Lyle, and I know very well that Lucas could have moved out of the way and let Bridget die.

But no.

And the other thing to note as well is that Lucas had an ability that most vampires do not, and that is being able to see into the future.

What I’m trying to say is that Lucas must have seen that Bridget was my mate, so he decided to spare me ultimate soul burning by stepping in front of Bridget to take that concrete spear.

But the thing I don’t understand is that he probably seen further than that and knew that I would be hurt, that I would blame Bridget for life, that I would be in pain from his loss.

But it’s like I just wanted to hear his voice telling me that it’s okay, he’s in a better place, he’s happy where he is and he’s okay. I want to know that desperately, and I never believed in all that visitation stuff until I got my own personal taste of it.

When I sank out of consciousness on top of Bridget, I saw him. He was standing there with that brown hair of his, the same silver eyes as me, that look in his eyes.

He was older than me by four years and I looked up to him as an older brother.

“Lucien,” when he spoke my name, I thought I was literally dead. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Lucas...”

“Don’t ‘Lucas’ me, Lucien,” he said, shaking his head. “You have a mate, for Fate’s sake. Why the hell are you messing it up?”

“She killed you...”

“No, she didn’t,” Lucas said. “I stepped in front of her to save her life and took the concrete to the chest. I must admit, Preston was a total idiot to not see the lithium laying in the sink. I saw it, but I knew what was going to happen, so I just let it be. You may not understand why things are the way they are now, or why Bridget is the way she is, but like everything else, there is a reason for why things are the way they are. You just need to accept that.”

And then he started fading away and I was not happy about that.

And now here I am, not able to move or even see.

I hear some scuffling downstairs and I wonder what’s going on. I take in a few deep breaths, smelling hints of Bridget’s scent. She’s in here? Where is she? Why isn’t she talking to me?

WHERE IS SHE?

I take in another sniff and suddenly her scent is very strong.

“Oh...Lucien...” I hear her voice.

“I don’t know what to think of you anymore.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?