TWENTY-THREE

*LUCIEN*

“You look like shit. What happened to you?” Skylar said, closing the door to her room behind her.

“What do you think?” I snarled at her, collapsing into one of her seats in exhaustion.

“Stand up!” She shrieked. Her sudden loud voice startled me up like a soldier responding to a command. I flew out of her seat at once before glaring at her. “I don’t want you to get blood on my seats.”

“You really are a bitch,” I muttered under my breath. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“What did you say?” She hissed, her eyes darkening in a second.

“Nothing. I came here for a reason.” I could feel a pulse all over my body. My eyes were swollen but my left eye was worse. I could not see through it as I spoke. I walked with a limp and a sharp pain in my left leg with blood trickling down countless parts of my body.

“Does the reason have anything to do with why you’re all bruised and bloody?” I shrugged in response.

Skylar was a very smart girl. Smarter than people gave her credit for. I knew she