Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(19)

“How did it happen?” Cam glanced up at me from staring at my rib cage and the deep purple and green markings, his eyes turning cold at the sight. The warm sensuality they normally held was been replaced by a deep rage. When I hesitated, he continued his questioning. “Does the bruising have any correlation to these scars?”

Damn it, I had hoped the bruising would be attention-grabbing enough that they wouldn’t notice. The large scar cutting up across my right rib cage curved under my shirt and the sizeable still-healing cut poking out of the top of my jeans on my left hip itched under his assessment. While the angle of my jacket had kept those hidden from everyone else in the room, Cam was close enough to see them clear as day. My lips pressed together into a thin line, my vision started to darken around the edges, my breathing became erratic.



“Lucie baby, why don’t you bring that sexy ass over here?” I looked up from my position at the foot of the bed to see my reflection gazing back at me in the small mirror that was on top of the dresser. My blue eyes wide, face paling quickly causing the muted ugly yellow bruise on my jaw to stand out more than usual. I felt my legs lock up and my arms start to shake uncontrollably as I turned to look at him sprawled out on the bed…



“What’s going on?” a deep melodic voice cut through the flashback like a knife before I could relive that night. I jumped back when I saw six concerned gazes looking intently at me, my shirt dropping in the process.

“Lucie, are you okay?” Cam questioned, moving a bit closer to me. He must have stood up when I got sucked in, the warmth of his hands cut into the cold that still lingered from the flashback as he began rubbing small circles on my shoulders. Letting out a shaky breath, I nodded.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I rubbed my hand down my face to shake the last of the memory from my mind making sure to fix my shirt. I cover the scars before facing them. “I promise I’m not usually so out of it, I think the stress of starting the semester is getting to me.”

“I’m sure how you grew up isn’t much help either,” Hudson added, his voice was thick with an emotion I couldn’t identify. Expecting him to be teasing me like he had in our previous interactions, but all I saw in his usually flirtatious face was sincerity and empathy. The other guys were all staring at him with questioning gazes. I decided to fill them in on what he was referring to.

“Um, I was raised by a human,” all eyes landed on me as I spoke. Clearing my throat, I forged on. “Hudson knew because he was the student who helped at my power testing. What you probably don’t know though Hudson, is that I wasn’t just raised by a human, I was raised as a human. I had no idea I was part of this world until the day before I graduated from high school.” I saw everyone’s eyes widen, but no one wanted to interrupt me. Shrugging a little, I answered the question I know they were all burning to ask. “As for my ribs, I got into a fight.” Not technically a lie.

“What the hell did you two fight over? You look like you were stomped on by a fucking troll!” Logan sounded furious, “please tell me you beat the shit out of her.” Landon shot up off the couch and started pacing angrily behind it, his fists curling and uncurling.

“It was stupid. There really isn't any kind of story behind it. He won’t be a problem anymore.” Ugh, please let this conversation be over. Shit, my eyes widened as I realized my mistake.

“It was a guy?” Logan enunciated very slowly, Landon froze in his pacing to face me. The twins’ jaws clenched, jawlines pulsing under the rhythmic grinding. The black of Landon’s irises bled into the whites of his eyes until they formed two obsidian pools. His pupils dilated and morphed into a red haze. They reverted to normal as quickly as they’d changed, the black receded to his normal burned coals. The rest of the guys looked equally as pissed off with hard eyes, frowning faces, and tight fists.

“Damn it,” I whispered, more to myself than anything, and nodded my head, averting my eyes.

“Who was he?” Dante growled, actually growled, through clenched teeth. Caramel skin throbbed on his neck with the intensity of his pulse. The skin on his arms looked as though it was twitching as if he was fighting with his control.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s over now, and it won’t happen again,” I sighed, not wanting to talk about this anymore. Please let that be the truth, I mentally pleaded. I felt my breathing quicken, an anxiety attack gradually building. Sounds around me faded out as though my ears were stuffed with cotton. My eyes tunneled, focusing on a spot on the floor as my breaths came in short puffs. I heard the guys moving around, a ringing sounded in the background. Voices were frantic in the room before something rectangular was shoved into my hand. When I didn’t move, someone took the object, and I heard Charlie’s voice filtering through the panic induced haze.

“Lucie boo? Honey, can you hear me? I need you to listen to my voice. I need you to take deep breaths, in through your nose out through your mouth,” I forced myself to take a shuddering breath through my nose. The cotton buffer in my ears pulled back, the tunnel vision faded. “Tell me what your favorite color is.”

“Blue,” my voice cracked as if it hadn’t been used in years.

“Good. Now tell me when your birthday is, what did we do for your 18th birthday?” Her voice sounded stronger as I was able to hear more around me. My breathing started to even out, the crushing tightness around my chest easing with each question.