Page 14 of Knave

She couldn’t help laughing. A warmth spread through her as Ferris exited toward the bathing chamber, glancing one more time over his shoulder at her before going in.

Her smile faltered as she mulled over the talking part… Ferris was going to dig like Maddie. Dig and dig until there was nothing left to find but her melted, ruined heart. The brokenness. Some vampires murdered relentlessly—she’d killed over the years when she felt the ache of what Mr. Taylor had stolen from her, but what she was doing, what she was starting to become wasn’t her—it was Rav’s monster. His creation.

Running water echoed from the bathing chamber and Mouse lowered herself to the soft bed. She removed her boots before fishing Des out from her dress pocket.

The caterpillar cocked her head at Mouse, her furry body completely blue, not a sign of yellow in sight. This meant her mood was down too.

“I know. I know, I did a very bad thing tonight. Again.” Mouse couldn’t get the image of the man she’d killed out of her head. She wanted to believe that he was an awful human being, but most likely he wasn’t. What if he had a wife? Children?Stop it, Mouse. It’s done. A part of her still believed that walking outside into the sun would be the answer, but what came after that? She didn’t know if she would end up in a true hell, where Rav and Imogen were.

Des wrapped her furry body around Mouse’s finger, giving it a hug.

“Thank you, friend,” she murmured, then placed the caterpillar on top of a fresh leaf on the bedside table. Blood lingered on Mouse’s dress, the metallic odor brushing her senses. Her body trembled, remembering not only the man’s face tonight but all the donors she’d slaughtered in the building. Her teeth diving in, her strength tearing off limbs as she’d fed, blood spraying her flesh…

Humming escaped Mouse’s lips while her heart pounded faster, her throat turning dry. Ferris’s heavy footsteps behind Mouse drew her out of her bloody reverie. She stood to face him, his eyes growing wide.

“You’re shivering.” He wrapped an arm around her, the heat radiating from him making her eyes flutter, her body tremble less.

“I know. The bath will warm me up,” Mouse said, keeping her voice light, even though she didn’t feel cold anymore next to Ferris. “Don’t go yet.” She walked past him, inhaling his comforting scent once more.

Lavender enveloped her as she kept the door cracked behind her, the bath filled with endless bubbles. The edges of her lips tugged up again, and Ferris was right—he did know how to make a bath. One fit for royalty. She peeled the clothing from her body, unplaited her hair, and stepped into the water. A low moan poured from her mouth as she sank into the bath’s depths.

“You can come in now,” Mouse called after she was settled beneath the foam.

Ferris cleared his throat and the door opened fully, but she couldn’t see him or even his hulking shadow.

“I said come in, Ferris.” She laughed, amused. “I’m up to my throat in bubbles and you wanted to talk.” As she studied him, her thoughts turned in an unexpected direction—Ferris slipping into the room, her pulling him into the bath with her, clothes and all, his large hands skimming up her naked body, cupping her breasts, then dipping his fingers into her heat.

He stepped inside, yanking her from her not unwanted thoughts, and raked a hand through his dark hair, his eyes darting everywhere but on her. “We do need to talk, but we don’t have to talk inhere.”

For a brief moment, the humming left her lips like earlier, just as it had in her prison cell, just as it would when wandering the Ivory Palace halls. She wanted to keep her thoughts inside her, not bombard anyone, but she couldn’t. Not any longer.

“I don’t want you to see me differently…” she whispered, twirling her finger through the bubbles.

“I see you, Mouse.You. Only you. That won’t change.” Ferris’s gaze trained on hers as he sat on the floor, propping his back against the pale cabinets.

“You know that Rav and Imogen would bring me behind closed doors for interrogations,” she said slowly, taking calming breaths. “It wasn’t only chatting or taunting—it was more than that. They would break me apart. Whip me, drown me, remove my eyes, drain me of blood. So much and too much. And the times when I would see you in my cell, I wanted to forget, and I did. By you being there, it was as though everything was fine.”

“Theywhat?” Ferris inhaled sharply, his hand covering his mouth. “You didn’t tell me any of that. I thought—”

“You thought it was bad but not this bad. Chess was there sometimes and—”

“That fucking bastard.” Ferris pushed himself from the floor. “I’m going to kill him.”

“No.” She leaned forward, holding a hand up. “No. You know he helped me with Des.”

“But he didnothing,” Ferris growled, his fangs dropped.

“He did the best he could and he’s done so much now.” Mouse paused, taking a deep swallow. “I haven’t told anyone. Not even Maddie. And it wasn’t only me who faced Rav and Imogen’s wraths—you did as well.”

Ferris gripped the back of his neck, his face twisted in pain. “Mouse, it was hell for me there, but nothing like that. Imogen’s taunts about my past? Cleaning the palace with my tongue? Rav being an arsehole? Seeing all that awful shit? That is nothing compared to this. I would spend a damn eternity doing all that for them not to have touched a hair on your body.”

Ferris was being a savior, but perhaps she was, too, because she would’ve dealt with it for an eternity if he was safe. “We can’t compare our experiences. They were both equally life-changing. It’s why I had to get you out of there.”

Ferris narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean getmeout of there?”

Bollocks, he wasn’t going to like this. “It’s why I told you to save Alice.”

“Motherfucker.” He clenched his jaw. “I should’ve known.”

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