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“Here,” Dason offered, his hands glowing as he conjured a washcloth. He wet it himself, and then lightly gripped my chin, turning me to face him. Gentle swipes cleaned away his blood and stained the white terry cloth.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered, my fingers wrapping around his wrist to stop him.
“I know.” Dason’s thumb caught my lower lip, running along the edge before falling away. My slow heartbeat thumped twice in my chest before he backed up, breaking the spell that’d held us captive. “Here.” Dason placed his hand on the showerhead, using magick to heat the water until steam slowly fogged the bathroom. “Get cleaned up,” he said. “I’ll have new clothing waiting for you in the bedroom.” He left a stack of towels balanced on the edge of the sink, along with some soap and shampoo, and left. I studied his rippling back muscles until he shut the door softly behind him, leaving me to undress and step under the spray.
Goosebumps broke out over my chilled skin as the hot water sluiced down my body. Bloody water pooled at my feet, the rivulets running down the drain. I scrubbed and then scrubbed again, trying to get clean and warm. No matter how long I stood under the barrage of water, the heat never sank below my skin.
Turning off the faucet, I stepped from the shower and reached for the towel, blotting the wet tangles of my hair and drying the beading droplets on my body. The flash of my reflection in the mirror caught my attention, and I stared again, turning this way and that. My skin was flawless, not even red from how vigorously I’d scrubbed.
I sucked in a gasp, my hand flying to the crook of my neck and shoulder. I leaned closer to the glass, hoping like fuck I was dreaming.
Chayton’s mate bite was gone, as though my transformation into a vamp had ruled it an unnecessary scar and healed it. My fingers traced the memory of the bite, aching for the small, raised, crescent-shaped scar that had signified I belonged to someone.
That I belonged somewhere.
Fuck.
A single tear tracked down my cheek, and I quickly swiped it away.
No. You’re not going to lose it right now. You’re not going to give Mara the satisfaction of winning, whether she can see you or not, I scolded myself before giving myself the pep talk I so desperately needed.Shit went south. It often does. Nothing in life comes easily, and you’re going to fight to get back what’s yours.
I’d never longed to see my mates so badly.
I wrapped my towel around my body, tucked it in at my chest, and padded back to the bedroom. Door ajar, I peeked past the edge to see Dason pulling his shirt over his head. His hand smoothed down his abs, lingering on the scar and dried blood staining his skin. It didn’t detract from how ruggedly handsome he was. He was built like Adonis, with golden planes of muscle and etched lines. In fact, the slashing line across his stomach was the only imperfection I spotted as I studied him quietly, allowing myself this opportunity to stare freely.
Bunching the shirt in his hands, he tossed it aside and then his eyes collided with mine. I dropped my gaze and pushed the door open.
“You’re turn.” I hitched my thumb over my shoulder, letting him know the bathroom was his. Stars, could I be any more awkward?
“Yeah.” He slipped past me, pausing in the doorframe we both shared. “I left some clothes for you on the bed.”
“T-Thanks,” I murmured, inhaling deeply enough for my chest to brush his.
Holy hot damn, Batman.
Dason’s scent stayed with me as I dressed in a pair of sweatpants that hung off my hips just right and a fitted t-shirt.
Testing my magick, I conjured a hair tie and piled the strands into a messy bun. New sheets covered the bed, and I settled into them now, suddenly exhausted.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I heard was Dason’s low voice quietly murmuring to someone.
I stirred and opened my eyes.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t call before now,” he muttered. “A lot of shit went down, Jolon. The pack connections are gone, and I didn’t have enough magick to conjure my cell. Yes, we’re both okay. I’ll explain later.” He answered the questions like they were being fired rapidly. I could just imagine all my men talking over each other at once, trying to get information. “Chayton, she’s fine. Her wound has already healed. She’s sleeping.” He paused. “No, I’m not going to wake her up.”
Testing out my increased hearing abilities, I focused on the quiet murmur faintly coming through on the other line. Like the button on a remote, I found I could increase my sensitivity to sounds, and I jacked it up until I could hear the leaves rustling outside like they were in the room with me. I turned it down slightly and eavesdropped on Dason’s conversation, not the least bit guilty since I knew he was talking to my other mates. Their voices were instantly soothing, easing the gaping chasm left in my chest where their mate bonds should be. I counted their voices one by one, cataloguing that they were all okay after fighting off the horde of shadow touched that’d attacked us.
“How’s her injury?” Kota asked, worry lacing his tone. “Mato saw the whole thing happen, but he couldn’t get to her in time. He said the stab was gruesome.” I stared at the wall and listened to him moving around on the other end of the line, like he was prepared to jump through the cell, or at least portal to our location.
Honestly, it made me nervous. Unlike Dason, my other men couldn’t siphon my magick to increase their own. If I lost control and fed on them, if I took too much, they’d need someone else to heal them. Dason was like a safety blanket, alpha enough to stop me with the ability to borrow from my magick and recharge to heal himself.
I wasn’t ready to see the others yet.
I didn’t trust myself.
Dason hesitated. “Her wound has already healed.”
The movement on the other end stopped. “As in you patched her up until I can get there to heal it?”
