Page 57 of Havoc

Levi steps into the room, covered in blood, as his eyes find me.

The blood could belong to any random Iron Sinner. It could belong to Titan. It could belong to some person who stepped into his path at the wrong moment.

I’m not sure I’d blame him when I had the same urge after that happened to me.

Weeks—months—were a blur. To the point where I still can’t place what was real and what was the never-ending nightmare after the doctor stitched me back up.

Levi drops his chin and rakes his hair back, streaking blood through it. He pauses just long enough to lock the bedroom door before walking into the bathroom.

The shower turns on, and I listen to the sound of clothes falling to the floor. His bare feet move over the tile. I listen until the only sound is water cascading over skin.

Only then do I climb out of bed, still naked.

When I turn the corner into the bathroom, the glass shower enclosure is foggy. But I can make out Levi’s silhouette, tall and broad. His shoulders flex as he lifts his fists over his head and presses them to the tile.

I round the corner into the shower and find him with his forehead resting on the tiles.

Blood runs in rivers down his body, over his firm backside. So much of him is inked that there’s more demon than skin. It paints a portrait of the years we spent apart.

I step into the shower, and hot water beads on my skin. My hair immediately begins to curl from the steam. Stopping at Levi’s side, I rest my back against the wall andtip my head to the tile. I close my eyes and let the water run over me.

“Remember that ice cream truck that used to drive past Kings Auto every Sunday?” I don’t know why I say it.

Or why I’m talking at all.

Levi might not want me in here, but he hasn’t kicked me out.

“The one with the broken microphone,” I clarify.

Levi huffs out an unamused laugh. “The one that sounded like a haunted circus luring children to their death?”

“That one.” I blink my eyes open to find the bathroom is misty. “That truck was creepy as hell, but it had the best strawberry ice cream.”

Levi turns his face to me. “Fuck yeah it did.”

“Those were good times.” A tear slips down my cheek.

Or maybe it’s a bead of water from the shower.

It’s all the same in here. I feel it and I don’t.

Nothing and everything.

Levi lifts off the wall and pulls me into a hug. His chin rests on the top of my head, while I hold my palms against his tattooed chest.

Hand to heart.

Skin to skin.

He holds me until the water runs cold.

Until blood drains and the water clears. Until my teeth chatter and my body shakes.

He holds me so long that time stands still.

Until the hourglass once more flips and we’re moving forward again.

19