Page 166 of Fangs
Together, they maneuvered me down the ladder. Next thing I knew, I was sitting on the counter next to the sink, and a dripping washcloth was wiping the blood from my face. I was finally able to get my eyes open and realized Wolf stood on one side of me, holding me upright while Sable wiped the blood off my face. Both of them were smeared in the blood that covered me. I shook uncontrollably, breathing in short gasps, and all I could smell was Madame and blood.
My stomach heaved, and I clasped a hand over my mouth to avoid getting sick again.
“It’s okay, Em,” Wolf murmured, but his voice was rough.
“Here, lean her over the sink,” Sable ordered.
The room spun as I moved, and then I was leaning over the sink while someone poured water over my head. I clung to the side of the sink and closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see the red water running from my hair and down the drain. Madame’s scent was getting slightly fainter, but it was still there. I realized I had my jaw clenched tight, trying to keep my sobs contained.
“Not sure this is gonna come out of this quilt.”
I straightened so fast I knocked the bowl in Sable’s hand into the sink with a clatter. I twisted to look at Kai, my stomach somewhere on the floor, to see him holding my quilt,Trey’s quilt,covered in dark red blood.
“No,” I whispered.
I pushed away from Wolf and strode toward Kai, only partially aware of the water running in rivulets down my neck and clothes. He handed over the quilt when I reached for it, his brow furrowed. I turned around and returned to the sink, feeling like I was floating outside my body again. Wolf was saying something, but my ears were ringing too loudly. I dumped the quilt in the sink and started trying to scrub the blood out. Someone touched my elbow, but I jerked away. I had to get the blood out. I had to. I couldn’t lose this quilt. I just…I just couldn’t.
There was so much blood, and the quilt was so large that I struggled to get the whole thing rinsed. The red faded to pink, but I couldn’t get the entire thing clean. I lost track of how many times I rinsed it, but I couldn’t get all the pink out.
“Em.” Wolf’s voice was so gentle.
“Don’t,” I said through my teeth.
I felt him hovering at my side, watching me try to squeeze the water out of the quilt. Everything blurred as tears filled my eyes, and soon, I was sobbing too hard to see what I was doing.
“Let me try, Ember,” someone said, prying my hands from the quilt.
“Here, I got her some clothes,” someone else said.
Wolf half pulled, half carried me to a corner, barking at everyone to turn away, and Scar appeared before me. She towel-dried my hair like I was a child as I sat on one of the wooden chairs and cried, covering my face with shaking hands.
“Let’s get you in some dry clothes,” she murmured.
I realized she was watching me warily as though expecting a fight again, but I didn’t have a single spare fuck to give about my scars at the moment. I stood and pulled my shirt off. I watched her eyes flick down to see the brand; her nostrils flared, and her eyes hardened, but she just handed me a dry shirt.
“What happened to your arm?” Scar asked suddenly.
She carefully ran her fingers over a ring of dark bruises on my upper arm. My brow drew together as I stared at it. I had no fucking idea where it’d come from.
“These look like fingerprints,” she added, meeting my gaze.
The fury in her eyes startled me. Fingerprints? I pressed my fist hard against my breastbone, rubbing it. Had someone grabbed my arm?—
Hawk.
Hawk had grabbed my arm. I remembered how much it had hurt as his grip tightened. I hadn’t even noticed the ache in my arm until now, but I was so accustomed to bruises?—
“Ember?” Scar caught my attention again. “Did someone do this?”
I bit my lip hard and pulled away to put on the jeans she’d found in my dresser, but I saw her expression darken. She’d given me the sleeveless shirt Trey had found for me when I first came here. I hugged myself, covering the bruises with my hand and shivering.
“Here, Em.” Wolf reappeared and draped Mac’s jacket that he’d lent me the other day over my shoulders.
I put it on and pulled it tightly around me. It smelled like Mac, and that comforted me. Kai was scrubbing my quilt in the sink. Sable, Lee, and Tuck were missing. Wolf and Scar ushered me outside, the three of us sitting on the porch. Scar lit a lantern and set it on the worn wooden floor.
“What happened, Em?” Wolf asked.
I glanced at him. His gaze was intense, his jaw tight, and his entire body felt coiled like a spring. I ran my fingers through my damp hair, working out the tangles.
