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I’d gotten lucky that time. I’d missed the bus, but I’d also missed Tony’s goon—if it had been him. I never found out, but I kind of thought not. Even the not-so-bright types Tony employed could hardly have missed me, standing in the middle of the terminal, shaking like a leaf.
I hadn’t had a panic attack in years; had thought I’d outgrown them.
But I guess you don’t really grow out of fear.
The shaking finally lessened, my eyes slipped closed and my head tilted back against the slick wood. I was bone tired, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep. Not like this. But I didn’t really feel like doing anything else, either—except taking a bath, and that was obviously out.
But I really needed one. My body ached, my hair reeked and my skin felt itchy, probably from the dried soap I hadn’t had a chance to wash off. Only it didn’t feel like soap. It felt like somebody was touching me, here and there, brief brushes of sandpapery fingertips as they tested my shields, as they tried to find a way in—
A hand touched my arm and I screamed, jumping up and hitting my head on the bottom of the counter. I tried to scramble away, but someone had me by the upper arms and I couldn’t break free. I felt another scream building, a keening, desperate cry in the back of my throat, before I finally heard someone calling my name—
And looked up into Marco’s startled black eyes.
I stopped struggling and just breathed for a minute. I wasn’t sure who was more freaked-out—me or him. Finally, he pulled me in, tucking me under a huge arm and rubbing my head in what he probably thought was a gentle way. It felt more like it was going to take off another layer of skin, but I didn’t mind.
“You okay?” he asked cautiously.
I didn’t know how to answer that, because clearly not.
“Sorry about the other bathroom. We were gonna clean up, but we thought you’d sleep till morning.”
I nodded but didn’t look up, because I didn’t have my face under control.
“You’re gonna have to say something,” he said after a moment. “ ’Cause otherwise there’s gonna be phone calls and doctors and all kinds of dram
a, and I think we’ve had about enough of that for one—”
“My butt hurts,” I blurted out. It was completely inane, but it was true. It also got a chuckle out of Marco.
He’d been squatting beside me, but now he sat down, somehow wedging that huge body between the sink and the tub. He was big and hot, but felt reassuringly solid, too. It was suddenly impossible to believe that anything bad could happen with Marco around.
“You and me both,” he said conversationally. “I think the master chewed most of mine off.”
It took a moment for that to sink in. “He did what?”
Marco laughed, a deep rumbling in that barrel chest. “That’s better. You’ve got some color in your face now.”
“You were lying?” I demanded.
“No, but I like seeing you pissed off. It’s cute.”
I just sat there for a moment because, as usual, I felt like I needed to catch up. “You weren’t lying?”
He shook his head.
“Then Mircea did tell you off?”
A nod.
“What on earth for?”
“For giving you drugs.”
It took me a moment to realize what he meant. “Marco, you gave me Tylenol.”
“Yeah, but it was the kind with codeine. And it seems Pythias aren’t allowed to take that shit. Or anything that leaves them too groggy to use their power. He said I left you defenseless.”
“That’s ridiculous! I couldn’t have shifted any more tonight, anyway.”
