Page 23

“She wasn’t in her right mind,” Luna repeats back slowly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Luna growls, throwing her hands on her hips. Cocking my head at her, I’m confused on what she’s trying to get at.

“It means exactly what I said, she wasn’t in her right mind.”

Standing up, I take a step towards Luna. “She’s mine, Luna. I won’t let anything get in the way of that, so before you think you can just slip into my mind and tell me I’m better without her, you’re wrong.”

I don’t know where all this is coming from, I just know I don’t like what Luna is trying to say. Even if she didn’t say the words, it was between the lines.

“Jace, I didn’t mean anything. I just—come on, I haven’t seen you in years and you show up with a stab wound, a bloody mess, and a girl who has yet to speak. Not to mention she is also a bloody mess, with a wound in her shoulder, and then you tell me she’s the reason you have a chunk missing from your leg. What do you expect me to say?”

She’s right. I shouldn’t have come here, but it was the only place close enough, hidden, and somewhere I could take Blake and know she was in notruedanger. Luna would never hurt her, especially now that she knows Blake is mine. Whatever that entails, Blake is under my protection, and not just because she’s a job right now.

“Why doesn’t she speak?” Luna whispers.

“I’m not sure.”

Luna glances away, too deep in thought before she nods her head, coming to some sort of understanding. I’m not sure what, but when she finally sighs and looks back at me, it’s like she’s finally understanding that there was never going to be an us.

“You both can stay as long as you need, I’m not sure she likes me much, but you’re both safe here.” Stepping back, Luna doesn’t wait for me to say anything; instead, she heads towards the door on the opposite side of the living room. Letting out the breath I’ve been holding, I look up, hating that I’ve hurt Luna. I might be a killer, but there is a heart somewhere in there. And she’s done nothing but be nice and caring towards Ryker and me. I just can’t help that I don’t feel anything there.

Realizing the shower is no longer running, I head towards the bedroom, and slip inside but find the bathroom door closed. Limping to the side of the bed,I ease down. Between the wound to my side, my thigh, and the bruises that are forming around my body, I could easily sleep a week. Or longer.

I can’t remember a time when a job went this far south, not even our first job. Sure, there are some hiccups along the way. Not all can be smooth sailing, but this job, it’s been nothing but a fucking mess. Maybe because I hate to consider Blake as a job. I want to protect her, and I don’t even care about the money. I just want to help her; I want to make all her problems disappear.

Letting out a sigh, it dawns on me that she’s been in there for an hour and the shower has been off for the majority of that time.

Getting to my feet, I limp toward the bathroom, rapping my knuckles against the wood door. “Blake?” I call out. I don’t expect her to answer, maybe to knock back, or make some sort of noise. Only it’s dead quiet on the other side.

“Hello…Blake, it’s Jace, it’s me…” I try again. I know she wouldn’t answer for Luna, but I thought if I told her it was me she would make a sound. But she doesn’t. Against my better judgment, I twist the doorknob, not surprised to find it locked. I’m actually happy she knows to protect herself. And I couldn’t be prouder of her.

“Alright, Sunshine, come on,” At this rate I really just want to shower and get into bed and the longer I have to wait for her to open the door, the more irritated I become. I don’t give her any more time before I shove my bodyweight against the door and after a few tries it finally gives way.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath. My body already aches so the last thing I wanted to do was break a door down. Luna is going to be pissed.

Standing up straight, I shake my head, realizing Blake is standing there in a towel, staring at the semi-foggy mirror. My eyes bounce back to Blake, opening my mouth to say something when I stop.

A mix of large and small white scars litters her skin starting from her collarbone and down her arm. Some scars are more recent than others, and some are raised, deeper. I can see part of her back, and burn marks cover the majority of it. The side of her neck has two bite marks, human. My eyes trace down to her leg. Her paleness does nothing to cover the amount of marks covering them. A mixof bite marks, human and dog. Cut marks, burns… and rope scars. And that's when I noticed one of her toes is missing.How did I miss this?

Blake must realize I’m looking at her feet because she curls her toes and shifts. My eyes snap to hers in the mirror. Blankness, no emotions, as if no one is there. I don’t like it. I’ve seen others leave. I’ve seen them become a shell and become nothing but a walking emotionless being. But this is different. Blake is there screaming inside, but she’s stuck.

“How many?” I ask. I’m not sure why this is the first question I ask, but it’s the only explanation of her silence and why she doesn’t trust anyone.

Blake glances at me, her towel firmly pressed against her chest. Slowly reaching across, her finger writes into the mirror. I don’t look until she backs away and cocks her head at me. Nothing prepares me for the unhinged feeling coursing through my veins when I see the number she drew into the foggy mirror.

22.

When I come out of the bathroom, I nearly miss the fact Blake is lying in bed because she's hiding underneath the blankets. If she were anyone else, I’d assume she was asleep.

But she’s not.

After she told me twenty-two people hurt her, I was frozen and didn’t know what to say. I had no words, nothing but anger inside me. And she must have known that, because she grabbed her clothes from the counter and rushed intothe bedroom. I stand there in the bathroom, confused and fighting against every fiber in my being not to go hunt down every single man that did that to her. It also raises even more questions. Who were they? Why had she been hurt? What the fuck had Dimitri done to stop it? I wanted to fire question after question at her, only I know I would have been met with silence.

So even if I know I shouldn’t do it, I cross the room and crawl into the bed beside her. I lay on top of the covers, so she doesn’t freak out and stab me for the third time. I’m not sure my body would even handle that well. Keeping still, I lay on my back, looking up at the dark ceiling.

Her breathing has evened out as she tries to pretend she is asleep. She’d done that in the hotel room the night we were attacked. Though I’m grateful she wasn’t in the room when they started to break in. She was safe in the bathroom.

“Blake,” I whisper into the darkness. “I want to ask a few questions for you to answer,” I blurt out. Blake flinches, her body tensing under the covers, and I know she has those scissors in her hand.

“Do you think you can do that?” I ask.