Page 32 of Till Death

Fire surged through me. I didn’t need a thing from him, especially insinuated mercy. “Then do it.”

“I can do it, Orin, if you want me to,” that soft voice said. “It might be better if I?—”

“Leave us,” he barked, and the door snicked shut.

“Eager to get a peek at your handy work?”

A line formed between his brows. “You’ve never had to fight you, and it shows. You left me no choice, Nightmare.”

“Stop calling me that.”

He ignored me, eyes pinned to mine as he grabbed the cowl neck of my hood, pulling it carefully over my head before dropping it onto the floor. He studied the leather buckles and straps across my chest.

“I can do it. Just leave me.”

Orin’s eyes gleamed with a mixture of amusement and malice as he towered over me, deep brown hair falling into his brow. Ignoring my demand, he started on the intricate harness that once held my weapons and now concealed the stab wound. With each strap he unbuckled, I winced in pain.

“You can’t be left alone. You’ll be off murdering some poor, innocent soul by night’s end.”

I turned to my side and tried like hell to haul myself up, but blood began dripping like crimson tears on the scuffed kitchen floor.

“Don’t pretend you know anything about me, Orin Faber.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, scanning my body until my heart rate quickened. “I’ll just sit back and watch you struggle until you pass out.”

“Are you mocking me for bleeding when it’s your fault?”

“Had I known you were so fragile, I would have been more careful.”

“I think we both know I’m anything but fragile. Now get out.”

“Make. Me.”

Though it hurt like hell, I rolled to my side, gripping the table and shifting until one leg touched the floor. Only with monumental effort did I get the second leg down.

He smirked, studying me as he took a single step forward, grabbed the final buckle, and said, “Not sorry about this,” before ripping it free.

My vision turned white. My legs gave in. The harness dropped to the ground, shredding away what was left of the fresh scab on my abdomen. Somehow, he managed to catch me before I hit the floor.

“I hate you,” I mumbled.

Orin’s hot breath curled around my ear as he leaned close, the deep timbre of his voice causing the hair on my arms to rise. “I hate you, too.”

He laid me back down on the table, pulled up the remnants of my shirt, but left my breasts covered, and then yanked off my boots. His hands burned into me. His touch was like a thousand needless as he worked. I wanted to protest again, to tell him to leave me alone. But I knew the wound needed to be cleaned. I knew few things sounded better than washing away the layer of dried blood on my skin, and I knew, above all else, he wasn’t going to fucking listen to me, anyway.

I couldn’t figure him out. I hoped eventually I’d stop trying. Every word he’d spoken on that roof felt so sincere. The way he’d looked into my eyes had stripped me bare. But then what did I know of genuine sincerity? He’d merely played the part well. And when we fought, he hadn’t held back. He’d taken and given every blow as if it might be his last. I didn’t miss the darkness in his eyes when he stabbed me. He’d meant to. I could see how much my pain had brought him happiness.

Yet, now, I lay before him, hardly able to keep my eyes open, weak from blood loss, and he’d insisted on caring for me. He’d carried me out of that prison himself. His prison. I didn’t understand.

There was a pause before he removed my leather pants, but when I looked up at him, expecting those fiery eyes to be staring at my undergarments, I was surprised to see him looking at my face. As if he watched the wheels of my mind turning, trying, and failing to figure him out.

“You’ve got blood in your hair, and I have to rinse the wound before it can be bandaged. Hot or cold water?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t. But no one in the house slept last night with all the racket, so I’m hoping this wears you out.”

I laid my head on the table, too tired to keep it upright. “Maybe you shouldn’t lock people up. Then you wouldn’t have to bother at all.”