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“Anything else you’ve noticed? Any deviances, outside of the trucks coming and going?”
“Yes. A few months ago, we disbanded a truck that carried a half dozen women in the back. Captives from the Deadlands.”
“Who was transporting them?”
“Men in uniform. Not Legion, though. These women were said to have worked as prostitutes for a woman. I’m guessing the one that tried to sacrifice you.”
“Madame Beaumont. I believe you’ve just uncovered your ticket into the Convent. I’m going to propose something prematurely, Lilith, as I’ve not yet discussed it with Titus.”
“What’s that?”
“Doing something I really don’t want to do, given the circumstances, but I think we might both benefit. I want to help you get inside that convent.”
* * *
A hard thunk at the door rouses me out of sleep, and I startle upright, searching the quiet room that’s lit only by the fire. The door opens, and Titus stands there, his body glistening with sweat over a layer of grime and dirt.
My heart damn near flies out of my chest at the sight of him, and I scramble to my feet, practically flinging myself at him. “Thank God you made it back!”
A slight odor clings to his body, likely a result of having walked nearly a hundred miles in a single day. I lift his hands to better see the bleeding chafed skin across his palms, from carrying the two gas cans the whole way, and with a tug, I guide him toward the bathroom. “Come on. I boiled water about an hour ago. It should be cooled enough for a bath.”
Not hesitating, he limps after me. “I want only two things afterward: a glass of liquor and your naked body beside me.”
“Your wish will be my command. Once we get that dirt off of you.”
“Everything is packed for Szolen?”
Gliding my hand through the tubful of water that I worked most of the evening to create confirms it’s cooled enough. “I have a different proposal. Lilith dropped by earlier today.”
He groans, peeling his shirt from over his accordion muscled abs, but his eyes scan over me, as if looking for sign of more injury.
“She didn’t come looking for a fight. On the contrary, she came to make a truce. But she also told me some things. Things that might change our course a bit.”
Brow furrowed, he slides off a boot, tossing it to the floor. “What kind of things?”
“Jack told my family that Atticus would be sent to purgatory, for his crimes against my father. We assumed it was the prison in Szolen. As it turns out, there is a part of the Convent where I was to be sent that’s referred to as Purgatory.”
With his other foot hiked to remove his boot, he pauses. “Atticus is staying in a convent?”
I kneel down, tugging at the boot for him, and toss it beside the other. “This isn’t a convent. From what I understand, it’s hell. Cruelty is carried out there, though Lilith refused to say in what form, when I prodded her. But if those containers coming and going are any indication … I suspect very bad things happen there.”
“Why a convent, though?” He goes to work on his pants, pushing them down his thighs to reveal the distraction of his perfect body.
I clear my throat, trying not to ogle the hard length of flesh between his thighs. “They’re thought to be a sanctuary. Particularly for women and children. How easy would it be to corral them?”
He rubs a hand across his jaw and over his head. “Fuck!”
“I’m proposing that we postpone our travels to Szolen until after we free your friend. We can forego the risk of filling the truck. What you brought back is plenty to make it to the convent and back.”
“What about Jack? What he did to your family?” He steps into the tub, and the moment he leans back against the porcelain, his muscles hitting the water, a moan escapes him.
“What he did is already done.” Nabbing a cloth I set out earlier, I work the lavender soap into a foam and run circles on his shoulders. He moans again, the sound of his pleasure sending a tickle to my stomach. “There’s no urgency there anymore,” I continue. “But Atticus could die any day in that place. I’ll have my revenge, but it’ll have to wait. Your friend needs to be rescued first.”
Cupping my face, he drags me to his lips and steals my breath, as only Titus knows how to do. One hard yank, and he pulls me into the tub with him, sending the water splashing over the sides, and I let out an involuntary squawk. A masculine sound vibrates in his throat, while I lay across his body, as his lips and tongue seal off my air, fingers digging into my flesh.
“I don’t deserve you, Viper.” The sudden tenderness in his kiss mirrors the solemn tone of his words. “But I’ve learned this world will take what isn’t claimed. So I’m calling you mine.”
Chapter 38
