A Slave to Love

Chapter 57: Memories

Kiana POV

I woke up in a cold sweat; nauseous, aching, and dizzy. Our separation had already made me sore all over, but evidently sleeping on the floor in a ball was only going to make that a million times worse. My room was surprisingly cool, which was a relief from the insane heat I'd been constantly feeling. 

Shivering, I forced myself to sit up despite how every muscle and bone in my body was screaming at the movement, holding back the vomit that threatened to rise in my throat. I had been waiting for an update from Lexi last night, too tired to get off the floor, and I must have passed out waiting. 

Before I could check my phone for messages, I felt Blade's presence in the house like a teasing breeze tickling my skin. 

He came back.

And if he was back, that had to mean that he was healed enough to have left his parents house, and hopefully it was a sign that things weren't as bad as I thought they were yesterday.

Regardless, today was the day I was going to end this.

I heaved myself to my feet, grunting with the effort as I went through my usual routine. Thankfully, it was Friday which meant no matter how today went down I had the weekend to recover from it without having to drag myself to school and pretend I was fine. 

I moved at snail speed to shower off yesterday's sweat and grime and go through my routine to get ready for school. I was antsy to talk to Blade, but for all I knew he was still asleep and starting something right before I had to leave for school wasn't the greatest idea. Fixing this all wouldn't be easy or quick, and we needed more than twenty minutes before I had to take off to do it properly.

I didn't have much time to eat and leave, but Blade was still there in his room when I left mine. Even if all signs pointed to him being alive and alright enough to have made it home, not being able to see him for myself and disprove all the horrible images I was imagining was stressing me out. Especially after seeing him so destroyed after he'd protected Lexi, that day when we had first kissed and he had shown up covered in blood and barely able to stand, I was terrified he was that hurt again.

"Blade?" I called, knocking on his door. No answer and no movement either. "Blade?"

Nothing.

I pressed my forehead against the wood, and breathed out, shakier than expected. As much as I wanted to see him, if he was sleeping I shouldn't bother him, especially if he was hurt and needed the rest to heal properly. Lexi's text message had assured me he was fine, so I'd check on him properly when I got back later and he had gotten a few more hours of sleep.

So I went to school, all the while turning things over in my head in a dizzying disjointed carousel of thought. I refused to give Dante's words even a shred of credibility, but what if he ended up being right? What if Blade did die because of me?

Pain ran through me, and my burning arm throbbed painfully, matching the beat of my unsettled heart. I was shakier than a leaf in an autumn wind and about twice as strong as one. My friends had to practically drag me by the arm from one class to another. I left my winter coat unzipped and open to feel the cold wind on my skin. My face was bruised and scarred and people wouldn't stop staring or whispering about me and my tattoo was getting worse by the hour.

The red around it had leeched deeper into my skin, thinning out and spreading like veins away from my tattoo and around my arm, starting to make its way up to my shoulder.

Whatever it was that was killing me was spreading faster and faster, I just hoped Blade's hadn't gotten any worse.

Blade POV

I woke up feeling worse than usual, which was a new low after these last few weeks. After Kiana woke up it was a struggle to close her balcony door and escape to my room without being seen, but I'd managed it. Mainly because she took forever to get up, so it helped cover my extreme lethargy. By the time she was fully upright, I was back in my room, half asleep before I'd even walked through the door.