Page 32 of Midnight Queen

I would wear Silas’s bruises with honor—they’re a symbol that I’m his and that’s all I fucking want to be.

Holding my breath against the pain, I peel the bandages off the matching wounds below my collarbones. My stomach twists once I finally lay my eyes on what Gideon did. True to his word, he made the Xs symmetrical. For the rest of my life, I will look in the mirror and remember what I’ve survived.

After redressing the wounds in fresh bandages, I examine my bare body one last time in the mirror. Feeling at peace with what I see, I swipe the discarded T-shirt off the floor and pull it over my head as I leave the bathroom.

I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m done sitting in this room reading books and staring at the ever-changing paintings. Speaking of paintings, I glare at the boring red one that had replaced the original one. The irritation I felt when I first discovered Silas had switched it out reignites in my chest.It’s just another way he’s coddling me.

“Good Lord, woman. What were you doing in there? I thought I was going to go gray waiting for you to resurface,” a thick Irish accent comes from the bed.

Stopping in my tracks, my head whips in the direction of the voice. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

The blond vampire is reclined on Silas’s side of the bed, a bright blue sparkly tumbler cup in his tattooed hand. Shrugging, he takes a drink and dark liquid moves up the matching blue straw. “I was growing bored downstairs and I figured since you’re no longer a crying mess, you might finally make for some good company.”

Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I look between him and the tumbler. “Are you drinking blood out of aStarbuckscup?” Looking closer at the cup, my jaw drops. “Wait! That’s mine.”

Duke brought it to me one of the times he had snuck me another romance novel.

“Is it?” he shakes the cup back and forth. “I found it in the kitchen.”

Grimacing, I shake my head. “It’s yours now. Consider it my thanks for helping Silas find me.”

Lorcan sits up in the bed and crosses his legs beneath him. His shoes are still on, and I just know I’m going to have to change the linens before Silas gets back.

“I must say, this is a really lame present compared to what Silas got me. He got me a shiny check with six figures on it, but I’m open to other forms of payment.” His lips pull into a flirty smirk.

My stomach rolls at the knowledge that Silas paid that much to find me, but at the same time, my heart also warms, knowing he was willing to do anything to get me back. I can’t imagine what I’d do if the roles were reversed, and Silas was taken from me.

I want to be irritated with Lor, but despite my best efforts, I find myself smiling back at him. “I’m sure you are, but you and I both know you’d be a dead man walking if you touched me.”

“I have a feeling it’d be worth it,” Lor flicks his light-brown eyes over me. “Silas never did learn how to share.”

“Maybe I’m the one not willing to be shared,” I point out, but right now, I’m so hungry for Silas’s touch, if being shared is what it would take for him to do more than caress my arm or give me a soft peck on the lips, I would do it.

Lorcan rolls off the bed, leaving the maroon duvet wrinkled. “You’re missing out, darling.” He looks around the room, taking in each corner of Silas’s private space—a space I still don’t feel totally confident occupying.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” I remind Lor, even though I know he knows this.

“I don’t much like someone telling me where I can or can’t go. In all honesty, it usually only makes me want to do it more when someone tells me no.”

I could lie and say I don’t relate to what he’s saying. I originally discovered what Silas was because I wanted to see what he was hiding in the rooms he told me I couldn’t venture into. Of course, my happy ass ignored all the neon red warning signs and marched through the doors that contained his secrets.But I don't regret doing it for a single second.

“So, what do you want to do? Surely you don’t want to be holed up in this room any longer. A change of scenery would do you good.” His nose wrinkles up in sudden distaste. “It smells like Silas in here.”

Without another word, he stalks across the room, leaving the double doors open behind him.

I hesitate only a second before I remind myself I’m not a captive in this room and exit the doors behind him. As we descend the winding staircase, Lorcan looks over his shoulder at me and grins like he’s somehow won something.

The second my feet hit the last step, I know something is wrong. Holding on to the railing, I slowly look over the entryway as concern grips me. Just like my bedroom, everything is exactly where it was the night of the attack. Nothing has been moved.

The flowers I’d cut from Ira’s rose bushes hang limply over the side of the crystal vase on the entryway table. A thin layer of dust covers the same table, in some places, I can see lines in it like someone has run their finger through it at some point. A trash bag sits by the front door like someone had thought about bringing it outside, but never got around to it.

None of that would have happened if she were here. Consumed by panic and worry for my friend, I chase after Lorcan into the kitchen. “Where is Della?” I demand. The dishes that sit in the kitchen sink confirm that the overly tidy housekeeper hasn't been here in days.

Leaning against the countertop, Lorcan cocks his head at me in confusion. “What do you mean, where is she? She’s still sitting vigil at the hospital. I think Silas is overreacting by having her stay there, but who am I to say how he should run things.”

My blood runs cold as fear takes over. “What do you mean she’s at the hospital?” Silas told me both Duke and Della were giving me time and space to recover.

Light-brown eyes narrow at me as his tattooed arms cross in front of him. “Silas didn’t tell you?”

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