Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(61)
“Why? I mean I know they’re all petty as fuck, but why would they start in on Lucie?” I resumed my pacing, biting on one of my knuckles. My blood began to boil the more I thought about those bitches confronting Lucie, her feeling alone, like she couldn’t come to us because of Dante and Hudson’s relationships. “And why the fuck wouldn’t you tell us this was happening? How long have you known?”
“She did not tell us, either,” Nik’s voice surprised me. He’s almost always silent, usually only observing. If it weren’t for the power radiating from him, I might forget he was in the room.
“He’s right; she didn’t. We stumbled upon one of their conversations the other day when we went to check on her in the library. They had confronted her about regretting not staying away from you two. She asked us not to do anything about it. It had only been catty girl drama and empty threats. If they escalated and actually did something to cause problems, then we had her permission to intervene. And since Brittney was the one to tell Hudson about you three,” he trailed off, gesturing loosely in mine and Logan's direction.
“So prior to the party, they had been cornering her in the library?” Dante looked queasy, noting the pallor of his face. His normal caramel coloring had a sickly green tint. “Why didn’t she come to us?”
“Because they’re your girlfriends,” Logan spoke up for the first time since we’d entered the room. Sighing, he ran his hands down his face, placing his palms on his thighs. “She didn’t say anything, to any of us, because she didn’t feel it was her place. Can you blame her?”
“I can’t believe they would do this. I mean, I know they can be a bit territorial, but I didn’t think they would threaten a friend, and for what? Because she’s female?” Dante exclaimed in disbelief.
“I can. They’re fucking vindictive bitches. Honestly, I have no idea why either of you are with them to begin with,” anger laced my words. Everyone else seemed to have calmed down. The relief of knowing Lucie wasn’t upset with us evident, but this conversation had only managed to piss me off more. We promised to protect her, to keep her safe, and instead of keeping that promise, she’s felt isolated and alone.
“My best guess would be that they took Hudson’s inebriation at the party as the perfect opportunity to plant the seed of betrayal. After that, the alcohol in combination with his powers leaking only intensified his reaction.” Cam removed his glasses to clean the lenses; his hazel eyes were darker than usual against his pale complexion.
A muffled ding rang out into the pregnant silence of the room, pulling my attention to my phone. The sound of my jeans rustling as I dug it out of my pocket was the only noise to fill the space. My heart squeezed when I saw who it was from, Lucie. Wavering words filled the screen as I realized my eyes were filling quickly with tears. Everyone’s eyes were already on me when I glanced up from the screen. Excusing myself, I stepped into the dorm hallway, closing the door on the hushed conversation that had started up as soon as I started walking. Pushing away the intense emotions filling me, I shot down the stairs two at a time, slamming into the front door of the building. The chilly sting of a quickly approaching cold front dried the last of the unshed tears allowing me to make out Lucie’s text finally.
Lemon Drop: “Hey Landon, I’m sorry for not talking to you sooner. I just wanted to make sure that we’re ok and everything. I understand if we aren’t. I’ll ttyl.” My stomach dropped as my heart thudded painfully in my chest. Rereading the message a few times to cement the words into my mind, I brought myself to respond in the least sappy way I could manage.
Landon: “We’re all good lemon drop. I’m glad you reached out, I’ve missed you.” I held my breath and hit send. Realizing I was blocking the door to the building, I followed the concrete path around the side where student traffic was almost nonexistent.
Lemon Drop: “I’ve missed you too, how has everything been going?” I scoffed thinking back to how bleak and terrible things had been within our group.
Landon: “Not great, but better now, I was worried about you. Spent a lot of time in the gym with Logan when we weren’t in class.” Rough stone stabbed into my back through the thin material of my shirt as I leaned against the side of the building. The temperature of the stucco cooled my skin, which had grown hot with the urge to use hellfire in my anger.
Lemon Drop: “I’m really sorry, mine’s been pretty awful too. Skipped power testing and my meetings with Alex, but I’m going tomorrow.” I clenched my jaw knowing full well that she blamed herself for everything that had happened and that she was jeopardizing her studies to avoid any further confrontation.
Landon: “You don’t need to apologize. This isn’t your fault, alright? Everything will be alright. We’re actually all talking right now. Well, ‘all’ minus the pissy fae lol. But we’ll handle him lemon drop. I stepped outside to get some air, so I’m going to head back in. Text me later?”
An involuntary smile curled my lip as I slipped my phone back into my jeans. Goosebumps dotted my skin in the increasing bite of the air. A violent shiver wracked through me as I entered the building. Once again taking the stairs two at a time, I let myself back into Cam and Nik’s dorm. Everyone was still in their seats, but the atmosphere was relaxed, the apprehension from earlier had dissipated entirely after having that much needed discussion.