Page 6 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

“Kenny,” she croaks.

I rush to her side, nearly knocking over a tray of gauze and ice chips.

“What the hell happened?” My voice is shaking. “Who did this to you?”

She blinks slowly. Her gaze darts toward Mom, then back to me.

“Don’t remember,” she whispers.

“Bullshit,” I snap before I can stop myself. “Adora, come on. You don’t just forget something like this.”

She flinches, and I immediately feel like a monster.

“I—I’m sorry,” I murmur, reaching for her hand. “I’m just… I’m scared, okay? You look like hell.”

Adora manages the ghost of a smile. “Thanks.”

I glance over my shoulder. Mom’s in the corner, arms wrapped around herself like she’s holding her ribs in.

“They said no broken bones,” she says quietly. “But they’re keeping her for observation. Her blood pressure was erratic when she came in. She had a panic response when they tried to sedate her.”

Adora closes her eye again, breathing slow and shallow.

“She doesn’t want to talk about it,” Mom adds, her voice almost apologetic.

“I can see that,” I mutter, brushing Adora’s hair off her cheek. “But I’m not gonna just pretend this didn’t happen.”

“Neither am I.”

I look at her. “Do you think it was some psycho? A random attack?”

Her lips press into a thin line. “I don’t know.”

But she does.

I can tell.

There’s something in her eye—something haunted. Like whatever happened, it wasn’t human. And she knows I’ll dig until I find the truth.

So why the hell is she trying to protect it?

“My nightmare last night,” I say suddenly. “That bad one. Blood and teeth and…I don’t know. It felt real. I woke up shaking. That’s why I came to your room. And you said…” I try to read her. “Why did you go out?”

Adora’s fingers twitch in mine but she says nothing.

“I didn’t think it meant anything,” I go on. “Until now.”

She opens her mouth, closes it. Her throat bobs.

“I was just walking,” she whispers. “And then… something shifted. I didn’t see it. I justfeltit. Like the world blinked and I was somewhere else.”

“That doesn’t make any goddamn sense,” I say softly.

She nods. “I know.”

And that’s it.

That’s all she gives me.

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