The Blood Contract
Chapter 102: I like him

Chapter 102: I like him

Serena walked into the living room, her steps dragging slightly like she was trying not to think too much but failing miserably. Her body slumped into one of the chairs like all the strength had been zapped out of her. She leaned back, her head pressing against the top edge of the seat, and let out a breath.

Then, slowly, she picked up her bag that she had dropped on the floor earlier, placed it on her lap, and rummaged through it until her fingers wrapped around the familiar shape of her phone.

She pulled it out and tapped the screen, expecting to be met with notifications from her social media platforms or at least a bar of signal, but there was absolutely none. No service. Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled down into a frown. Darrell had told her earlier, but she hadn’t taken it seriously. The complete lack of connection to the outside world somehow made the silence in the bunker even more suffocating.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she slid her thumb across her screen, searching for something that could distract her. She finally found an offline game tucked in between unused apps. With a shrug, she opened it and started to play, but her fingers were moving on autopilot. Her mind was elsewhere, refusing to engage with the colorful game on her screen. Her thoughts were stubbornly stuck on Lucian.

She couldn’t shake the fact that he had guessed her reason for leaving the house that evening. She hated it. She hated that he was right. The most infuriating part was that she didn’t understand how he could see right through her like she was made of glass.

As her thumb moved sluggishly across the screen, guilt began to gnaw at her. If she hadn’t left the house, if she had just kept her emotions in check, then maybe they wouldn’t be hiding in this underground bunker now. They would have been safe, in the comfort of the house instead of being forced into this cold, heavy atmosphere where time felt like it was frozen.

With everything going on in their lives at that time, she should’ve known better. She should’ve acted better. Her anger had led them here, and now she couldn’t even pretend she wasn’t responsible.

A movement caught her attention, and she looked up just in time to see Lucian walking past her toward the kitchen. His broad shoulders moved with effortless grace, and soon, she could hear the subtle clanking of kitchen items. It wasn’t hard to figure out that he was either washing dishes or already cooking something.

The guilt in her chest swelled a little more, and her body grew restless. She could no longer sit still. Tossing her phone aside without a second thought, she rose to her feet and began padding toward the kitchen. Her steps were soft, the hush of her movements matching the weight of the emotions swirling inside her.

She came to a stop beside him, watching in silence for a moment. The way his hands moved as he chopped vegetables was oddly calming. There was nothing overly special about the act itself, yet it drew her in. Her stomach fluttered slightly, and her brows twitched in confusion, but she pushed the thoughts away.

"Need help?" she asked, keeping her eyes glued to his hands.

"You don’t think I can handle a little cooking?" Lucian asked without looking up. His voice was calm, but there was a flicker of amusement in it that made her want to roll her eyes. As the urge came she didn’t push it aside she did indeed roll her eyes.

"I never said that," Serena replied instantly. "I only asked if you needed help. You can still need help even if you can handle it alone." Her brows pulled together in a frown. She didn’t like that he twisted her simple question into something else. He could’ve just said yes or no, she thought. But almost as soon as that thought settled in her mind, another followed behind it: Would she really have been satisfied with a simple yes or no?

"Don’t worry, I got this," Lucian finally answered after a pause, and the words settled like a soothing balm over her restlessness.

Silence fell between them, but it was not uncomfortable. It was filled with the gentle rhythm of chopping vegetables, the occasional clatter of a pot, and the hum of something unspoken lingering between them. Serena stood there, unsure of what to say next until her heart grew too heavy to carry in silence.

"About this morning," she began, her voice softer now, almost uncertain. "I want to apologize for lashing out at you the way I did. I only heard part of the story and assumed the worst. For that... I’m sorry."

She stared at the counter, her heart pounding. She needed to get the words out. The guilt had become a weight too heavy to carry. It was time to drop it.

Lucian was stunned. He hadn’t expected that. Her apology caught him off guard, and he paused slightly in what he was doing, trying to figure out what to say.

But the words didn’t come easily. So instead, he asked the question that had been eating at him for some time. A question he had tried to bury beneath logic and reason, but it always clawed its way back to the surface.

"Do you like Vincent?" The words came out before he could filter them. He turned around, facing her fully now, his probing gaze locking onto hers.

"He’s my friend, so yes, I like him," Serena answered, caught off guard by the sudden turn in the conversation. Her heart skipped. She hadn’t expected that question. Not now. "He has been my only friend for a long time."

"That wasn’t what I meant," Lucian said, his brow creasing as he looked away briefly, then back at her.

"What did you mean?" Serena asked, her frown deepening.

"Do you have feelings for him? Romantic feelings." This time, Lucian didn’t beat around the bush. His voice was steady, but there was a tension in it that told her this question mattered more than he was letting on.

Serena blinked. She stared into his eyes, lifting a brow, unsure if he was serious. But when he lifted both brows in response, she knew he was. He wasn’t going to let this go without an answer.

Serena let out a soft sigh and looked away. "I don’t," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I just don’t want to see him hurt... the same way I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but can you guys just forgive each other and not try to kill each other every time you meet?"

"That’s not possible," Lucian said immediately, turning back to the stove and resuming his cooking like that settled it.

Her answer about not having any romantic feelings for Vincent, brought a kind of calm to his heart that forced him to question himself again about what exactly was wrong with him.

"Why?" Serena asked, frustration bubbling in her chest. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t just let it go. "What did he do?"

"He tried to cheat me on two occasions and cost me a huge loss on the third occasion. That is one thing I can never forgive. Currently, I have no business with him, but if he keeps meddling in my affairs, then he’s got what’s coming for him." Lucian’s voice was flat, firm, and final.

Serena heard the truth in his tone. She knew then that there was nothing she could say that would change his mind. The silence between them thickened again as Lucian focused on finishing the meal.

When he was done, he dished the food for both of them and handed her a plate. "Eat up," he said, giving her a look. "I know you’re hungry and didn’t have enough to eat before things escalated."

Serena stared at him, her lips parting in surprise. "How do you know that?" she asked.

"I heard your stomach rumbling while I was cooking," he replied with a small smirk that made her roll her eyes again.

She didn’t argue with him. Instead, she took a bite of the food and was stunned to find it actually tasted good. Really good. But her pride wouldn’t let her admit it aloud, so she kept chewing and refused to make any comment. They ate in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Just a few minutes after they finished eating, something neither of them saw coming, happened.

The bracelets around their wrists tightened.

Simultaneously.

Lucian’s head jerked slightly as he looked down at the band. Serena did the same, her heart skipping in sudden panic as the metal constricted just a little more around her skin, releasing it’s warmth.

They both lifted their eyes to look at each other at the same time.

’This can’t be happening,’ Lucian thought, and immediately stood up and walked away from the kitchen without saying a word to Serena.