Page 22 of Bleed the Shadows

“Get her boots,” I said to Poe.

Then we were making our way back through the tunnels, taking Maeve home.

Where she belonged.

17

MAEVE

I gotout of the shower and toweled off, then wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror so I could see my reflection.

I was almost surprised by the familiarity of my face. If it hadn’t been for the piece of gauze Remy had taped to the wound on my neck, it might have been like the Hunt hadn’t happened at all.

Except it had. My heart raced when I thought about the Ghost who’d dragged me to the ground, the pressure of his body on top of mine as he’d tried to subdue me, and my cheeks still burned with humiliation when I remembered the way Meathead had cut my clothes from my body, how he and Mr. Skinny had pulled off my jeans.

I’d beenscaredwhen they’d chained me to the wall, and I tried to figure out why. I’d opted in to everything it entailed, and not just once but twice. I’d seen the blonde girl naked and chained in the first Hunt, but the bird men who’d chained her there hadn’t seemed like they wanted to hurt her, and the hockey team who’d been ravishing the blue-haired girl had clearly been delivering pleasure.

Subversive pleasure, but pleasure just the same.

The Ghosts — I knew that was what they were called from Remy and Poe — had wanted to hurt me.

Humiliate me.

I turned away from the mirror and toweled off, then pulled on my sweatpants and a long-sleeve T-shirt. I’d packed my stuff in the trunk of June’s car before the Hunt.

This time, I knew the drill.

I’d hoped to win, but I’d been prepared to lose. Bailey knew what I was doing, where I was going. She hadn’t been happy about it, but she knew by now that there was nothing she could do to stop me from getting justice for June.

I’d text her in the morning, apologize for leaving her without a roommate again.

Ugh. I sucked.

I combed out my hair and headed back into my room.

No, I headed back into the guest room that had been mine when I’d stayed with the Butchers. Thinking of it as mine was even more dangerous than the Hunt, and feelinghappyto be back, like I was home, was the most dangerous thing of all.

The room was filled with bright light from the morning sun. It was jarring after the darkness in the tunnels, and I went to the wall of windows and pulled the curtains shut.

I was zipping up my hoodie when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

I knew it would be Remy or Poe. Bram hadn’t said a word to me since he’d stalked out of the tunnels, his face an immovable mask, his eyes unreadable. He hadn’t been able to find the Ghosts, and his vacuous energy was even blacker than usual, a vacancy that swallowed everything around it.

Even Titus — that was the name of the Barbarian who’d searched me for both Hunts — had steered clear.

The door opened and Poe entered the room carrying a tray of food.

“Thought you might be hungry.”

He set the tray on the bed and I saw that he’d brought me a sandwich, two bottles of water, and a cup of tea. He’d even included one of my own brownies.

“You’re comforting me with my own treats?”

“I’d bake you a cake if I knew how.” He sounded sincerely sorry. “It would say 'I’m sorry those fuckers dared to touch you’ on top. Or maybe ‘I’m going to kill those fuckers for touching you.’ Which would you prefer?”

I smiled and sat on the bed. “Either. Thanks.”