Leonidas’s sad eyes focus on me. “He’ll be okay,” he breathes.
“He has to be,” I grit out. “There’s no way I can lose him too.”
He says nothing after that.
I find it difficult to see through the thick tears in my eyes. I pause and let out a cry of frustration. The stabbing feeling in my flesh is getting worse each second. Hissing, I halt my steps. Bracing a hand on my knee, I try to fight through the pain.
Leonidas drops to his knees in front of me and panics. “What’s wrong?” he rushes out and holds my thighs.
My forehead creases as I close my eyes tightly. “My feet hurt. I forgot to get shoes when I rushed outside.”
He eyes my feet. When he pulls one up, I brace a hand on his shoulder as he looks at the damage.
“Fuck,” he swears under his breath. “I need to take you home. This looks painful, Trinity! You destroyed your feet.”
“I can’t,” I argue, yanking my foot back.
“Please?” he presses. “I’ll continue to look for him. You need to go home and rest.”
I can’t stay home and wait for news. I’ll go insane. I’m better off out here, knowing I’m at least doing something.
He sees the look on my face and rolls his eyes. Turning his body around, he hunches down. “Climb on.”
I stare at his muscular back and swallow hard. I wrap my legs tightly around his waist, and he stands up straight. Gripping my thighs, he walks through the forest furiously.
Even with me on his back, his strides don’t slow down. It seems as if he walks even faster now.
The birds chirp suddenly, mocking me. I look everywhere. I call out Simba’s name repeatedly until my throat feels dry. Leonidas’s lips delicately kiss my arm as I let out a sigh.
The more ground we cover, the more defeated I get.
I lose hope.
Until I see him …
Elijah hovers over him with his head down.
That’s when my heart completely shatters into a million pieces.
THIRTY-THREE
LEO
As her body stumbles off of mine, I can’t wrap my head around what I’m seeing.
Shit.
This girl doesn’t deserve this kind of pain. Every day, it seems as if she gets slapped in the face harder. I watch the love of my fucking life stagger over to her dead dog.
Her cries echo in the forest as she drops in front of Simba’s body. Her torso shakes as she cries into her hands. Elijah takes a step back and places a fist to his mouth. He shakes his head and stares wildly at me.
My body is rooted to its spot. I watch the girl I’ve grown to love sob her heart out.
World, why? Why did you have to do this to her?
My hands sweat as I stride to her. I want to pull her away from his body and take her home. Tucking her into bed and cuddling seem like good ideas right now. Bitter vomit rushes up my throat as I look down at his golden fur, which is not so golden anymore. I try so hard to spot his chest rising up and down, but I see nothing. Just a dead body.
I feel like falling to the forest floor, joining Trinity in her crying session, but I know I need to be strong for her and hold in my emotions. That’s what she needs right now—a strong boyfriend to pick up the crumbling pieces of her heart.
