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“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he says, offering me his hand.
I take it with a huge grin on my face. I walk into my bathroom as Lev starts the water, making sure it’s nice and warm before he pulls me under the spray with him. He takes his time washing me off, even though I tell him I’m fully capable multiple times. He makes sure to clean out the scratches on my side and applies some ointment I had left over from the accident as soon as he pats it dry.
When we walk back to the bedroom, I get nervous again. Is he going to want to stay the night? As much as I loved everything we just did, I’m too afraid I’ll hurt him, or worse wake up in a panic and kill him.
As if he sensed my tension. “I’m gonna tuck you in then head to my room. Why don’t you spend the day with your friend tomorrow.”
“Really?” I ask him as we get dressed, slightly surprised he would rock the boat after everything that’s been happening with the guys.
“Yes, really. I need to talk to Damien about our organization back home, and Alexi is busy planning some stuff for his father.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, reaching out and squeezing his hand. I climb into bed the second I have my clothes on, wanting his blanket to surround me.
Lev climbs in with me, kissing me until I’m putty in his hands. With one last kiss, he slips out from the covers. “Sleep tight, Lucky Charm,” he says with a glance back at me through the doorway.
“Sleep tight, Ghost.”
He leaves, locking the door before closing it behind him. I know I’ll regret getting close to him. It will make leaving him behind so much harder. But I can’t bring myself to regret tonight, because right now, I find myself feeling truly at peace.
Chapter 34
I’m having the best dream. I’m outside with my family having dinner on the patio overlooking one of the vineyards. The breeze in my hair almost feels real, and I can imagine the taste of the salad in front of me, made with fresh veggies my mother picked from our garden.
My little sister is sitting next to me giggling over the silly faces my older brother is making in front of us. At this moment, everything feels right with the world. I remember what it was like being a family. Peace and love filling the air around us.
I jolt awake to the sound of the suite door closing. No one is supposed to be here. I grab the pink kitty self-defense keychain off of my nightstand, sliding my fingers through the cool metal as I walk to my door. They require us to carry a weapon at all times here, but the only weapon I’m good with is a bow, and that isn’t exactly easy to carry around. Instead, I settled for something inconspicuous. My role, after all, is to play the nice girl.
Hiding behind the door, I press my body into the wall and wait for the intruder to make their move. A soft knock on the door relaxes the tension in my spine. There’s only one person who could be here. I toss the keychain on my bed, swing the door open, and throw my body around my former/temporary roommate.
Evie lets out a grunt and a laugh before wrapping her arms around me. “Good morning to you too, Little Firecracker,” she greets.
The men who control her life keep her from our room, except on Sundays. It’s ridiculous, but it’s the game we’re forced to play on Elysium.
“It’s not Sunday,” I inform her as if she’s unaware. “Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Everything’s fine. The Kings are busy today, so they said I could stay here for the weekend,” she says, her face unusually calm.
Evie is an independent soul, so when people make decisions for her, she’s typically pissed. Except the girl standing in front of me now almost looks happy.
“Did you murder them in their sleep?” I ask her, feeling like that’s something she would do and also thinking that it’s the only reason this girl would have to look happy right now.
“No,” she says, pinching her brows together. “Why would you think that?”
“You just look—happy? Almost. I can’t think of many reasons for that.”
I study her again before asking, “Are you sure you didn’t kill them? I’ll be your alibi if you did, you just have to tell me so we can come up with a cover story. Oh, like we're secret lovers and you snuck into my room last night so we could hook up. No, wait, we ran into each other on our way to the gym last night and decided to have a girl's night. Actually, no that doesn’t work either, I never go to the gym. No one would believe that.”
I pace a few steps before a genius plan hits me. “I got it. We say you went on a run and I spotted you on my way back from the library. We ended up talking and fell asleep on the couch together,” I say, grabbing her by the shoulders.
She laughs hysterically, leaving me to feel like an idiot. Those were good ideas. “Hey now, jerk,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do you have a better idea?”
Tears fall from her eyes at the force of her laughter. It’s not often I want to hit people, I’m pretty laid back. But right now I really want to slap my friend.
“No,” she giggles, “I don’t have a better idea. Those were great.” She composes herself finally. “I just don’t need an alibi because I didn’t kill them. But, it’s nice to know you got my back, girl.” She reaches out and grabs my shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
“Then what made you so happy?” I give her a puzzled look. “It’s weird not seeing you look like you’re ready to punch anyone who crosses your path.”
She shrugs, dropping her hand, “I get to hang out with my friend for the weekend. Why wouldn’t I be happy? You’re one of the only people here I don’t actually want to strangle and probably the only one that will ever see me like this.”
