Page 40 of The Breeding Cave
When I pushed open the restroom door, expecting to not see anyone inside, Ella stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and her pointed gaze on me. It was as if she had been waiting for me to come here.
“What were you doing with Luci?”
“Luci?” I repeated, furrowing my brows and feigning innocence.
Nobody could find out what had happened! Except … everyone seemed to know already.
“Don’t play stupid,” she hissed. “Luciano Bates.”
“What do you mean? We were just in the elevator …”
“Know your place.” She shoved me. “It’s not here. You don’t belong.”
I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, then glanced back at the mirror. “I … I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We can all smell it,” she growled, nose wrinkling. “It’s disgusting.”
“Smell what?”
She looked me up and down, then drew her tongue across the front of her teeth, highlighting the pointed canines that she had. They weren’t small like a human’s, but much bigger, like those fake teeth I used to wear on Halloween as a vampire.
“Stay away from Luciano,” she said, twirling around. “He’s mine.”
With wide eyes, I stared at the door as it swung closed. The secretaries really hadn’t been kidding when they said that Ella had a thing for Luciano. Were they lovers? She sure acted that way. Maybe they had a past together.
When I finally overcame the complete confusion and shock from what had just happened, I locked the door so nobody else could come in and turned my back toward the mirror to peer at my shirt.
No blood.
At least none that I could see yet. But my back was burning still.
I swallowed hard and gently tugged up on the bottom of my shirt, revealing the huge red scar on my lower back. I squinted and moved closer to the mirror, eyes slowly widening in horror.
Is this … a burn mark?
A deep red outline with spots of yellow and a bubble already started forming in the center.
What had he used on me? A lighter? That would’ve burned my shirt though.
Someone wriggled the doorknob, and I pulled my shirt back down so that nobody else would see. How was I going to explain this to the beast when he saw it later? He would ask about it, saying that this was why I couldn’t have the money. Because of his enemies.
Maybe I could hide it from him. It couldn’t be that hard, right?
I could come up with an excuse that I was tired or that I was sore from this morning. I glanced down at my skirt and straightened myself out. Besides, I was feeling a bit guilty for what had happened with Luciano.
It wasn’t like the beast and I were exclusive. He didn’t even like me like that.
“Alana?” Brent shouted from outside the door.
After blowing out a breath, I pulled the door open and gave him my best smile. “Yes?”
“You all right?” he asked, hiking his thumb behind him. “Ella stormed out of the restroom in a huff. I thought I’d check on you.”
“Yes,” I whispered, lying straight through my teeth. “I’m fine.”
I wasn’t okay one bit. My back was somehow scarred. Ella had breathed down my throat for sharing a couple of minutes with our boss in the elevator. And worst of all, I needed to figure out how to get the money before the Dragon Clan burned me alive.
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