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“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. They wouldn’t want to be the object of anyone’s pity...” She stood and walked toward him, still clutching the frame. Her gaze returned to the picture. “He ruined my only recent portrait of us, all three of us, together as a family.” She stared at the photo with such calm resolve, her sadness dissipating and shifting into another emotion he couldn’t quite identify.
The silence hung thick in the air, suffocating him.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m not used to dealing with…”Living victims.“Do you…is there somebody I can call for you?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
Jace raised a single brow. “You’re sure? You don’t have anyone?” He regretted the words as soon as they escaped his mouth, and he wracked his brain, trying to think of something better to say. Preferably something that didn’t make him sound like an insensitive moron.
“I don’t want to put anyone in danger,” she said. “All I want right now is to find this low-life piece of shit and tear him limb from limb.” Her volume escalated until she sounded powerful and firm.
He cringed as her hands tightened on the broken glass, not a single trace of pain on her face. He reached out and cupped her hands in his.
An electric jolt shot up his arm and down his spine.
She jumped and pulled back.
“Whoa there. If you want to rip him apart, then you better stop cutting up your hands. You’re going to need them.” He rubbed his thumbs in gentle circles on her skin until her hold loosened.
Taking the frame from her, he placed it on the ground. Shards of glass protruded from her smooth skin.
“Sit on the bed.”
Without another word, she walked to her swanky four-poster, slow and lifeless, like she was in a daze, before resting her hands on her lap.
He scratched his head, not really sure of his next move.
What would I do if she were another hunter? What would I do for an ally? First aid?
“Do you have any peroxide?” he asked.
“There’s some under the bathroom sink.” She gestured to a door on the other side of the one-room apartment.
He rushed into the bathroom and stepped around the mess. The brown peroxide bottle had rolled behind the toilet amid all the vandalism.
Snatching the bottle and some spare toilet paper, he hurried back out. If Princess was anything like him, her wolf genes would kick in and she would start healing in no time. The glass needed to be pulled out pronto before the wounds started healing around it.
He knelt in front of her, and she stuck out her hands.
“Ready?” He looked her in the eye.
She gave him a single nod, and he plucked the first piece of glass from her palm. She winced.
“You okay?”
She inhaled sharply. “Just get it over with.”
Trying not to be too rough, he picked the shards from her skin one by one and tossed the bloodied pieces onto her bedside table. When her hands were glass free, he screwed the cap off the peroxide. “This may sting a bit.”
She gave him a rueful grin. “I know.”
Jace poured the liquid over her flesh. The chemical sizzled and popped as soon as it hit the wounds. She hissed in pain, but her gaze didn’t falter. She took it like a pro.
“You do this often?” he asked.
A little smile curved her lips. “More than you’d think.”
