Page 79 of Club Blood

43

CECELIA

Everything was so fuckingbright.

I groaned and closed my eyes, trying to sit up. From the feel of the sheets below me, I was in Mercy’s grand bed. I tried to search for the reason why and how I had gotten there, but my mind came up blank. All I could focus on was the buzzing of the lightbulbs, and the way my head throbbed in response.

“Easy,” a familiar voice said from beside me.

I winced, the sound too loud for my ears. “Jesus, don’t shout.”

Warren helped me to sit up, his hands light against my body like I was a delicate doll he didn’t want to break. Slowly, painfully slow, I opened my eyes before having to snap them shut again.

It took me three more tries before I could look at my friend again, and I gasped when I did.

“Warren, why do you look…”

“Ravishing? Handsome? Drop-dead gorgeous?” He joked, but stopped when I didn’t laugh. “Different?”

I nodded, the movement stiff and sore.

“You don’t remember anything?”

I shook my head, looking around the room. Everything seemed hyper-focused, like I had been seeing everything through blurry lenses before now. Warren, who had always been handsome, now looked so devastatingly beautiful that it was hard to look at him. I could see the threads of colors in his eyes, the different tones hiding beneath his skin, the way his body stayed still a second or two longer than a human’s before he breathed.

He sat down beside me on the bed, extending his long legs out across the duvet. A part of me felt weird about it, knowing what Mercy and I had done together on this bed, and I was tempted to ask him to help me move somewhere else. But my body felt like I had been put through a meat grinder and then pieced back together; the idea of moving anywhere wasn’t very pleasant.

“Narcissa came to the compound a few days ago and shit got out of hand really fucking fast.”

I furrowed my brows, trying to remember. “Why? Where’s Mercy? Is she okay?”

Warren waved me off and pushed me back against the pillows. “Mercy’s… she’s fine. Just a little stressed.”

“Warren, tell me what the fuck’s going on. Why can’t I remember anything and why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, reversed over, and drove over again?”

“I, uh, damn it. I wish I wasn’t the one telling you this. I fuckingtoldher you’d want her here…”

I smacked Warren’s arm as hard as I could to stop his rambling. He flinched and recoiled, rubbing his arm. Examining my hand like it was a foreign object, I tried to understand why I had just been able to hurt a vampire.

A twisted thought entered my mind and made my stomach twist, vomit threatening to rise up my throat. I shook my head and looked at Warren, imploring him to tell me I was wrong. The look in his eyes was enough to send me into a spiral, and I ran towards Mercy’s ensuite, barely making it to the toilet before I spewed.

There was nothing in my stomach, so I threw up bile until my throat ached. Warren flushed and scooped me into his arms, lifting me back to bed. I struggled to make eye contact with him, piecing together parts of the story he wasn’t telling me.

“Tell me the whole story right now, Warren. Otherwise, I will tear this entire place apart until I find her.”

* * *

Somehow,the truth still hurt worse than I thought it would.

I could feel the tears streaming down my cheeks but I wasn’t sad— I wasfurious.

Warren reached out to take my hand but I pulled away from him, climbing out the bed and speeding to the wall. I felt my stomach lurch at the quickness, my own body giving me whiplash.

“Cece, please…”

I shook my head, throwing whatever object was closest at hand—which turned out to be a vase that lookedreallyexpensive, especially when it smashed off his chest and pieces flew across the bedroom floor.

“Don’t come near me.”