A colourless, cold and empty one.
Loren had the terrible feeling that Olivia would take his heart with her, leaving him hollow and dead, drifting through his existence without feeling anything ever again.
He pressed his bare hand to his chest, the black scales of his armour cold beneath his palm, and focused there, using his abilities to strengthen the connection between him and Olivia so he could feel her clearly.
She was still on his senses, her heartbeat level and her emotions stable. Sleeping. She had probably worked herself too hard again and had fallen asleep on her desk. It had happened last night too, after she had worked for almost two days solid on gathering the data she needed from him and Bleu, refusing to take even five minutes to rest.
Her injuries still hadn’t healed yet.
He could feel them as a dull ache on his body, something he took as a sign that despite the current distance between them, they were growing closer and their bond was growing stronger. He could sense her more easily too, pinpointing her location with more accuracy without expending as much psychic energy.
When he had offered to heal her injuries for her, she had refused. He had pressed her for a reason why but she had given him none. Did she feel as though she should suffer the pain of her injuries as payment for what had happened? Or was she clinging to them as a reminder of what had happened so she could hold on to her anger?
She was angry with him, and with herself.
Loren could distinguish the difference between the two emotions if he focused when he was around her. He didn’t need to focus to know she was angry with him though. She made that perfectly clear whenever she had to take blood from him or go anywhere near him. She had stabbed, jabbed, prodded and poked him, all with gusto that warned her rough treatment of him was meant as a form of punishment.
She had also taken to touching Bleu, placing the pads on his bare body with deliberate care and lingering a second too long with her fingers on his skin.
She was doing it on purpose. He had warned her several times not to push him but she didn’t listen. Whenever she had an opportunity, she did something that wound him tight inside and drove him close to attacking Bleu. It took every ounce of his willpower to stop himself. Bleu didn’t deserve his wrath when he had done nothing wrong.
Loren only wished he knew why Olivia punished him so cruelly. He could understand it if she lashed out at him, or shouted at him and laid the blame at his feet. He couldn’t understand this torment though. What did she expect of him?
Did she want him to hurt his friend?
“Here you are,” the soft female voice cut through the silence of the night and he brought his gaze down from the stars and looked over his shoulder at Sable.
She stood near the roof exit, her black combat trousers and t-shirt causing her to blend into the darkness and the breeze blowing her black ponytail across her shoulder. She could be an elf with hair like that.
“Here I am,” he countered and turned to face her. “Is there a problem with Bleu?”
“Oh, hell no.” She waved her hand dismissively. “He’s resting from the latest can of whoop-ass I opened on him.”
Loren smiled indulgently. Bleu was most likely giving the human female time to catch her breath, feigning tiredness to save her from having to swallow her pride and admit she was beaten. He had come to understand Sable at least. The female had an admirable sense of determination about her. She refused to let anyone best her. If someone beat her, she got right back up and tried again to defeat them.
“I am sure he will be ready to lose to you again soon enough.” Loren had wondered often over the past few days whether Bleu was interested in Sable in an intimate way. His second in command seemed content with sparring with the female, but sometimes he had a look in his eyes that said he wanted more than an exchange of physical blows with her.
Sable shrugged. “It’s not the reason I fight him. I’ve been trying to give you two time together to talk but all you do is mope around and all she does is hide in her work. So let’s get to business.”
“Business?” Loren didn’t recall desiring to discuss any business with the female and he certainly didn’t recall moping at any point over the past few days.
She nodded and crossed the roof to him, peered over the edge towards the street several storeys below, and then up at the stars.
“It sure is quiet tonight. If I was your psycho brother, I’d be busy plotting something bad. It’s a good night for bad shit to happen.”
Loren scowled at her, his fangs descending and his ears changing, the pointed tips appearing.
“Dial it back a notch, big guy. Your brother is a special case.” She tapped the blade sheathed at her waist. “Liv told me about him. I can see why you want to break things off with her. It’s not because this whole bond thing weakens you now, is it?”