Page 88 of Hunted to Be Mine

The hotel door had barely clicked shut when Selina hit me, arms around my neck, mouth on mine. Her kiss tasted like relief tangled with fear.

“You’re freezing,” she murmured against my lips, pulling back just enough to see me. Her hands framed my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones. “And bleeding.”

I leaned into her touch. “Barely. Scrapes.”

Water pooled off my clothes onto the carpet. She didn’t care. The headache that had started back at the plant hammered behind my eyes, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from her. I toed off my boots.

“I thought…” Her voice snagged. “When the comms went out…”

“Signal jammer.” I shrugged out of my wet jacket. “You couldn’t hear, but Blackout was there.”

Her fingers stilled on my buttons. “You fought him again?”

“Not directly. More like hide and seek.” I caught her wrist and gave a quick squeeze. “I’m okay.”

“Define okay.” She tugged me toward the bathroom, sliding into doctor mode despite the worry in her face. I followed, dropping the papers I’d grabbed on the coffee table along with the guard’s phone I’d lifted before he could hit the alarm. “Sit before you fall.”

I sat on the closed toilet lid while she grabbed a towel and the first-aid kit. My body felt heavy, muscles barking from the rooftop sprint and the detour through half the city.

She dabbed antiseptic at my temple. “Hold still.” Her touch was steady, but her mouth had flattened. “This one’s deeper than you’re admitting.”

The antiseptic burned. I hissed. “Scrape from when I jumped to the next building.”

“You jumped between buildings?” She went still, then kept working.

“Seemed smart at the time.” I tried to smile. It didn’t stick. My head throbbed.

She moved to my ribs where I’d flinched earlier. “Anything else you’re hiding?”

“Nothing worth mentioning.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” She helped me peel off the wet shirt, clinical focus undercut by the way her fingers lingered on my skin. “Drink this.” She pressed a glass into my hands.

I drained it. Didn’t realize how dry my throat was until then.

“Were you followed?” She reached for a clean towel.

“Don’t think so. Lost Blackout at the warehouse after he went over the edge.” I stopped her hand as she pressed the towel to my chest, steadying it. “It was strange. He sensed me even when I went invisible.”

She met my eyes. “Same training. Same conditioning.”

“Yeah.” I threaded our fingers. “But he doesn’t have you.”

She smiled, and for a second, the pressure eased.

“What happened with Blackout? You said he went over?” She applied a butterfly bandage to my brow.

“Rooftop chase across half the industrial district.” I rubbed my shoulder, wrenched on one jump. “Lost him near the canal. He’s persistent. He’ll report back to his handlers.”

Selina nodded, already shifting to planning. “We need to move locations.”

She went to the radiator and grabbed the dry clothes hanging there.

“You should rest,” she said, handing me a clean shirt. “We can look at what you found in the morning.”

“No. I need to know.”

“You’re exhausted.”