Page 62 of UNAwere

I try to catch my breath. Try to tell myself to calm down and go back outside to find Briggs. But everything is too much, and I can’t see, I can’t hear. My mouth tastes like blood, and it feels like my veins are going to explode.

‘Sybbie.’ Someone’s gathering me against their chest. Warm, soft, full of comfort and hope.

I sink against Briggs, letting him carry me outside, back to where we were in the bar’s garden. A cool wind that smells like rain rustles through the leaves above our heads, the festoon lights jingling.

‘Sweetheart.’ The word is spoken against the hair at my temple. ‘You okay? What happened?’

‘I-I’m fine,’ I lie. ‘I got lost.’

He sets me down onto my feet, but keeps me against his chest.

‘What’s going on?’ I hear him take in a breath, and then it stills. I hang my head, ashamed. ‘Who touched you?’

Ashiver slips down my spine at the intensity in Briggs’s words.

‘No one. I’m okay. Can… Can we just go back to our room?’

I step from him, clinging to the cardigan that’s wrapped around my chest. Briggs takes my hands gently. He’s breathing in those short bursts again. And there’s an urgency in his touch that tells me to allow him to remove my hands. The cardigan falls away.

A sound like thunder rumbles in his chest. ‘Who the fuck tried to mark you?’

‘It’s fine, he was drunk, and I just… I’m—’

His hand enters my hair, cradling the back of my head. I gasp when his fingers tighten against my scalp, moving my head to the side to allow him room to sink his nose towards my chest. Before I can stop myself, I reach up and clutch his shoulders, trembling. Briggs takes a deep breath, and when he lifts his head, his eyes are pure black. And his face is so full of rage, I hardly recognise him.

‘Briggs…’

‘I’m going to take you back to the room, okay?’ His voice is hollow.

‘What are you going to do?’

‘C’mon, Red.’

He takes me around the back so we don’t have to go through the bar. We reach our room, and he helps me inside.

‘Go shower, sweetheart,’ he says gently. ‘I won’t be long.’

‘Briggs…’

He’s about to close the door, but then he stops, glancing at my face.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

I stare at him, confused. ‘I-I don’t know… I don’t think so.’

‘Of course you’re not. A Were just tried to mark you without your permission.’ He nods to the bathroom, all business. ‘Shower. I’ll be back soon to check on you.’

‘Stay here,’ I whisper. ‘I-I don’t want to be alone.’

A breath shudders through him. He steps in and closes the door, and for a moment, I think he’s not going to leave. He gathers me against him, pressing his face against the crown of my head.

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘What’s happening to me?’ I ask. ‘H-he told me I was asking for it. Was I?’

‘Of course not,’ he murmurs. ‘God, sweetheart, no. Of course you weren’t.’ He sighs. ‘I should never have taken you in there. I’m so fucking sorry.’

‘I don’t understand.’