Page 68 of Marked
“It was a vampire that bit her, or did you forget that part?” I ask. “No foreplay or sex to temper the pain my kind can cause. Nothing but a violent tearing of her flesh.” I soar to my feet, rage spiraling into something dark inside me. Or maybe awakening what was already there. “Any interest she may have had ... It’s gone now.”
I pace in agitated loops in front of my chair as the quiet grows.
“It was not merely your fault, Captain.” Caine’s voice is soft. Empty. “We all are to blame for her injury.”
I look at him.
He walks over and lays a hand on my shoulder. “If she blames you alone, then whatever was between you, it was not what you thought.” He squeezes once and pushes around me, closing the door calmly behind him.
Chapter 30
Lilah
My eyes flutter open on a familiar dark room. I try to turn, but my limbs are heavy and a sharp pain beats in my neck. I raise a hand and feather it over a square of gauze taped to my skin. The wound twinges. “Ouch.”
Pulling away, I scan Ruin’s four-poster bed and drink in spice and leather as I sit up. The fragrances are masculine and soothing. And considering the panic attack lurking, it’s needed.
Soft voices filter through a set of sliding opaque doors across from the big four poster. And I smirk as the numerous familiar cadences register.
Really? All of them?
Climbing to my feet, I stumble and crash into the wall with a jarring pain to my shoulder. The doors fly wide and Ruin fills the frame, Tanner and Gage tight on his heels.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Ruin demands. He flits over, his body a blur, to snare me about the waist and tuck me back under the blanket. Though his motions are swift, every touch is unbelievably gentle.
“I heard you guys talking,” I say, staring up at him as he carefully presses the thick bedspread around me. Mummy style.
His dark eyes are unfathomable, almost empty. I pull my arm out and grip the cool line of his cheek. He stills.
“Hey,” I say. He looks at me, lips tight together. “What’s wrong?”
He pulls away slowly. “Nothing.”
I snort. “Sure.” His brows knit, but he remains quiet and he won’t meet my eyes. “How long was I out?”
“A few hours,” Tanner says.
“Time, beast boy?”
“A quarter to six,” Gage calls over the shifter’s sputtering.
I groan loudly. “Fuck, I’m late.”
“Language, Lilah.” I peer around Ruin’s impassive frame to find Horan with a sour expression on his face.
“Look,Mom,” I say and the others snicker, “not that I don’t appreciate the care ...” I push the blanket off me, “But I have a job to get to.”
Ruin lays a hand on my shoulder, keeping me down. My eyes roll up to him. “You need to rest,” he says at my brow arch.
“You can remove your hand on your own,” I say sweetly, “or I can remove it for you.”
He blinks.
Leaning forward, I grab his belt loop and pull. His hands disappear. Quickly.
I smile, but it’s not happy. All the progress from before is gone, and we are back where we started. “That’s what I thought.” I climb to my feet, slower this time, and remain upright with no extra support. My blouse barely covers the tops of my thighs, but there is little else I can do about it. Besides, they all saw the rest at the lake. But I can’t exactly walk through the house like this.
I look at Ruin. “Got any sweatpants I can borrow?”
