Fated Hearts (Echoes of Darkness Prequel)

29

Ava

T wo days later, hunched over the bathroom counter and looking into the mirror, which I’m sure cost more than the entire sum of furniture in my small apartment, I line my waterline with a waterproof black kohl and then do the sharpest wing I can manage with my puffy eyes. Even with the thick layer of makeup, I still look like I’ve been crying for two days straight. Well, at least I tried.

Chloe convinced me to go to the band’s show tonight, and we were supposed to get ready together, but Knox came into the room asking if he could speak to her privately an hour ago, and judging by the loud moans and grunts that I’m currently trying to drown with the blasting music in my earbuds, their talk escalated to fucking. I can’t blame them, though. Chloe spent every second since we left my apartment holed up with me in one of the many bedrooms of the royal penthouse suite.

“Harder, Knox. Please!” Chloe’s desperate whimper travels through the thin wall.

“So greedy today, kitten,” Knox rasps.

After a few minutes, Chloe’s voice booms again, “Yes. Yes! Oh, aaah, I-I’m gonna come.”

Aaand I’m going to throw myself off the balcony if I have to hear them fucking one more time. But sure enough, after a few minutes, they start again. You would think Knox wouldn’t spend so much energy before a show since he usually plays the drums like he’s possessed. This is, for sure, one of those moments I wish my hearing wasn’t supernatural. I really didn’t want to find out how my best friend sounds during an orgasm. I can’t unhear it now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy she’s getting some. I just don’t want to witness it on such a personal level.

With a light dusting of powder on my nose, I finish my makeup, take off my robe, and get out into the bedroom to look through the clothes Chloe packed for me and see if I can find something decent to wear. Knowing her, she probably packed a few outfits in the eventuality that I would decide to go to the concert after all.

When I step over the threshold, I slam into a wall of cinnamon and something spicy. I whip my head toward the luxurious teal armchair in the corner near the door to lock, involuntarily, with hazel eyes.

Mierda.

I was so distracted by trying to drown my best friend’s sex noises with music that I didn’t notice Jude coming into my room. I take out my earbuds. “What are you doing here?” I hiss, heat crawling up my neck and blazing in my cheeks with the realization that I’m only wearing a lacy thong and a push-up bra. At least I don’t have on my period panties like that night Logan undressed me and put me to bed. It seems like all that happened a lifetime ago.

Jude gives me a lopsided grin, a mischievous glint shining in his eyes. “I wanted to see you, Ava.” He’s as breathtaking as ever, decked in all black, the tattoos on his corded forearms catching my eye as he leans forward in the armchair, resting his elbows on his knees. “And what a sight.” Licking at his lower lip, his eyes travel over my body in a slow perusal from my toes all the way to my breasts and stay there.

I arch an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you remembered my name. I thought for a second there you were going to call me gorgeous,” I say dryly, duck into the bathroom, and hastily put the bathrobe back on.

His footsteps reach my ears before he appears at the bathroom door. “Hardy har har.” He leans on the door frame with a grin that’s all teeth. “You do look gorgeous,” he purrs, his voice as smooth as I remember, though this time, my body doesn’t react in any way to it. There’s no spark… nada .

I roll my eyes and push past him into the bedroom, plopping down on the pristine white bed with the silky eight-hundred-thread sheets. “What are you doing here, Jude?” I ask him again, my tone calmer now that the shock of him being in the same room with me has worn off. I knew I would have to face him eventually, it’s his band’s penthouse and concert after all. I just hoped I would manage to keep avoiding him.

He sits next to me and tilts his head. “I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am for that night on the bus,” Jude says, lifting a shoulder, his kaleidoscope gaze turning serious.

“I got the flowers and the card you sent, so I got the message.”

He sighs and looks down for a moment. “I should have never pushed you. You almost died because of me—”

I cut him off. “It’s not your fault, Jude. You don’t need to apologize for that. I was dying anyway. Plus, I’m an adult, and I made my own decisions. I knew it would be a bad idea to do drugs with my heart condition, but I did it anyway, and on top of drinking a lot of alcohol.” I shrug. “I was reckless…so desperate to cram all these life experiences in the short time I had left, and I let that cloud my judgment. But in the end, I don’t regret any of it.”

His eyebrows furrow in confusion. “So you don’t blame me?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why did you block me on everything when I tried to contact you?”

“It just felt weird talking to you, you know? I guess I didn’t want a reminder of that night. Plus, I didn’t think you would care all that much anyway.”

“Okay, I totally understand that, but I wanted to see you again…talk to you.”

I snort laugh. “Why? C’mon, Jude…be real, I was nothing more than a groupie to you. You couldn’t even remember my name. I was just a mindless fuck to add to your list, and that was fine by me because we were only going to use each other.”

His cheeks turn red at my words, so contradictory to his bad-boy looks. “True. But then I couldn’t forget your name or face after that night. You know, you’re the reason I got clean.” He swallows. “When I saw you collapse, I saw an image of me a few years from then in your exact position. I was going down a slippery slope…”

“I’m happy you got clean,” I say, a small smile curving my lips.

A tense silence stretches between us before Jude speaks again. “I’m sorry about your friend. Chloe told me you lost someone.”

“Yeah…thanks,” I mumble.

His eyebrows furrow. “So, I heard you’re with a guy. Is it serious?”

Shaking my head, I huff in fake annoyance. “Oh God, I need to have a talk with my best friend if she’s sharing every detail of my personal life with everyone.” Then, shrugging, I say, “It’s pretty new, but yeah…I think it is.”

“Knox told me about it. I think he’s tired of my obsession with you. He told me in hopes I’ll finally move on,” he says and lifts his hand to wrap it around my jaw. “You know, I wish you would have given me a chance,” he whispers as he drags his thumb over my bottom lip. “I think we would have been amazing together.”

My wolf growls inside my head. She is not pleased that a man other than my mate is flirting with me in a hotel room where anything can happen. I pull back from Jude’s hand and stand up. “Okay, mister, time to go. I need to get dressed,” I say.

He stands with his hands lifted in mock surrender and strides to the door, opening it. “I’ll see you later,” he says over his shoulder.

One hour later , a hunky bodyguard that’s all muscles and wavy auburn hair escorts Chloe and me separately from the band toward the two blacked-out SUVs waiting for us at the back entrance of the hotel. He is wearing dark sunglasses even inside, which I find pretty weird, and when he touches the back of my arm to guide me through the door, an ominous shiver skates down my spine. I shake it off and chalk it up to nerves.

Everything that’s happening seems too freakin’ surreal to me, especially that my best friend is now living like a celebrity. She’s already used to all of this, but I feel trapped in some kind of alternate universe. Like, how is this real life?

The bodyguard opens the door, and I get in after Chloe. The only seat available is the one in the back next to Jude since Chloe and Knox took the middle seats, the car being one of those fancy SUVs that looks more like a limousine.

Jude gives me a rueful smile and pats the seat next to him. “C’mon, Ava. I saved you the best seat,” he drawls with a devilish wink.

Rolling my eyes at his remark, I sit down as far as I can from him. The bodyguard closes the door with a loud thud and gets in the passenger seat. There’s something about him that irks me; I just can’t put my finger on it. The engine starts, and the car glides out of the alley into the evening traffic. Jude’s eyes burn a hole through the side of my face as I try my best to feign ignorance and scroll on my phone, though I won’t be able to do that for long. The battery is at one percent since I listened to music in a failed attempt to drown out Chloe and Knox’s sex noises, and I forgot to charge it.

I’ve barely spoken to Logan these past two days. Not by choice. Josh’s funeral was today, and between organizing the service and new patrols at their community borders, we didn’t get much time to talk, but I don’t mind. He has a lot on his plate at the moment. He also wasn’t happy when I told him I was going to the concert, but he saw the state I was in while grieving for Tony, and he agreed that I needed to do something to keep my mind off the horrible way he died, especially since the security will be tight at the concert.

When my phone dies, I watch the city pass by in a deep scarlet blur as the sun sinks in the horizon. It takes us about forty minutes to arrive at the venue. We all file out of the two SUVs, Chloe, Knox and the rest of the band getting into the building before Jude and I.

Just when I’m about to wrap my hand around the club’s door handle, the heel of my right boot gets stuck in the uneven pavement. Ugh, why does this keep happening to me? I want to kick myself for borrowing Chloe’s high-heeled spiky boots. It seemed like a good idea at the time since they go really well with my leather mini-skirt and see-through mesh turtleneck. I pull my leg back with too much force, and I almost topple over Jude, who was walking behind me.

“You okay?” he asks as his hand wraps around my elbow.

“Yeah. Thanks,” I respond, turning my head over my shoulder to look at him.

His eyes lift over my head before snapping back to mine. Before I realize what’s happening, he steps into my space and kisses the corner of my lips briefly. I’m too stunned to act at first.

Suddenly, someone yells, “Jude! Are you two together? Is she your girlfriend?” Loud camera clicks and bright flashes of light follow before one of the bodyguards drags the paparazzo away.

“What the fuck? Why’d you do that?” I ask him through gritted teeth and push him a few feet back from me.

His eyes widen, probably not expecting me to be so strong. Then he shrugs nonchalantly as he ambles toward me. “Relax. It wasn’t even a real kiss.”

“You had no right.” My fists clench and unclench, and I have to take a few calming breaths before the need to shift and tear Jude to pieces subsides. “I told you I’m with someone, Jude,” I clip out with narrowed eyes and fling the door before he can reach me, stalking forward and almost barreling into Chloe.

Her eyebrows pinch with worry at seeing the fury clearly written on my face. “You okay? Did something happen?”

“Not here,” I mutter as all the band members turn their heads in my direction, probably alerted by the high pitch in Chloe’s voice.

“Follow me,” Chloe says, grabs my trembling hand, and drags me backstage. “What happened?” She sits down gracefully on the brown leather couch in the backstage area, lifting a water bottle from the table in front of us and taking a few gulps.

I plop down next to her. “Jude kissed me, and a paparazzo caught it on camera. Well, it wasn’t a full-on kiss. He only touched the corner of my mouth, but from the angle that paparazzo took the photos…it must have looked like a real one. I think he did it on purpose.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Do you have a charger with you? My battery is dead, and I need to tell Logan what happened.”

She puts the bottle back on the table. “No, sorry. You can use my phone if you want.”

“I don’t know his number by heart.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. You can tell him tonight after the concert.”

Worrying my lower lip between my teeth, I say, “But what if that paparazzo sells the photos, and then Logan sees them and—”

Chloe’s hand wraps around mine as she interrupts me. “Calm down, you spaz. It usually takes some time before that happens. If there is going to be an article, it’s going to appear tomorrow. Plus, Logan doesn’t seem like the type to read trashy tabloid stories, and you can call him at the hotel tonight and tell him everything, all right?”

“Fine,” I relent with a deep sigh. Chloe is right. I can do damage control after the concert. “Ugh, I want to fucking strangle Jude.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so harsh on him, Ave. He’s still hung up on you,” she tells me after a few beats of silence.

“Well, he knew I was in a relationship and did it anyway. He came into my room earlier while you were busy talking to Knox.” I waggle my eyebrows and exaggerate the word talking .

A laugh bubbles out of Chloe, and she shrugs unapologetically. “Knox likes to fuck before he plays. Says it brings him good luck. So, what did he want?”

“He wanted to talk about that night in the tour bus when my heart stopped.”

“And?”

I pop a shoulder and start unzipping my boots. “I told him he has nothing to feel guilty about.” Dropping the boots to the floor, I roll my ankles a few times and tuck my legs under me, sinking into the cushion at my back.

“You know, he truly has changed. I told you, the other guys have brought girls to their hotel rooms every night, and Jude hasn’t. He also hasn’t touched drugs or alcohol since the tour restarted. Maybe you should give him a shot, and then we can all travel together.”

I huff. “Like a big happy family?”

“Exactly, can you imagine? We’d be having so much fun, and we would travel the world like you always wanted.” Excitement dances in Chloe’s eyes, and I can see on her face how her mind is spinning with the possibilities.

“That’s a nice little fantasy, Chlo. Unfortunately, I don’t feel anything for Jude. I’m with Logan, and he makes me happy, even if we haven’t been together for long. I think he’s it for me.”

“Aw, my bestie is in looove,” she says in a sing-song.