Page 92 of Inflict

Not the first, second, or even the third time.

• • •

“Connor?”

Under the spray of the large shower head, and behind the glass doors, Connor vaguely heard the muffled call of his name. He thought it was just his imagination playing tricks on him, giving him what he wanted, not what he actually had.

Evelyn, that was.

The sting of the scalding water kept him coherent enough to stay on his feet, while the constant throbbing in his hand, wrapped in crimson-stained gauze, kept him focused enough not to care.

“Connor?”

Her voice was louder the second time—closer, too.

Connor looked up from his spot under the constant spray of water, and through his foggy vision, he saw the form move in closer. Evelyn’s pretty, yet concerned, features took better shape the closer she came. She didn’t seem bothered at all by the hot water, barely reacting when she was hit with the spray, and unconcerned that her dress was getting soaked.

Breathe in, breathe out.

The mechanics of life seemed so entirely foreign to Connor in those moments. A haze had settled over his mind well over an hour ago, as he watched interesting rivulets of red slide from his clenched palm, down his wrists, and then disappear into a drain. He’d yet to get it to lift fully, but at least his mind wasn’t so crazy now.

Foggy.

Unclear.

High.

Not crazy.

“Connor,” Evelyn said softly, her hands coming up to touch his face with the sweetest touch. “Hey.”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

She should be away.

He’d sent her away.

That was what he needed, or rather, he had thought he needed it.

“I wanted to come home,” she told him. “Killian brought me back—said I screech too much.”

That was amusing, considering Evelyn didn’t screech at all. She was too quiet for that nonsense, too stuck in her own world to care about others.

He liked that about her.

“Your hand is bleeding,” Evelyn said, carefully lifting his roughly bandaged hand in her own. She turned his palm up, looking over the blood-soaked bandage with a furrowed brow. “Why are you bleeding?”

“Home, you said.”

Evelyn glanced up at him. “What?”

“You said home. You wanted to come home.”

“Of course I did.”

Of course.

Like it was so simple.