Page 68 of Xantera
But I step back—because I don’t think she should be waiting on me and I have a necklace between my legs that might seem rather strange.
“Really, Eleni,” I laugh awkwardly. “I can do it myself. You don’t have to… serve me.”
She throws her hands up, worry creasing into her face, before she gestures with her hands in an indecipherable motion.
I’m sure she’s just as worried as I am about you,Lucan offers.You just had some of your blood replaced with venom. She’s seen this hundreds of times.
“I’m fine,” I tell them both. “I promise.”
While my muscles do feel like they’re on fire, it’s a good kind of burn—like a light snaking through my veins, a power activating some deep recesses of my mind.
My limbs still zing with every movement, but the world around me has slowed. I feel more alive than ever. Which definitely means I need to sleep this off, because I shouldn’t be feeling so exhilarated after the murder I just witnessed and the pain I just felt.
“Eleni.” I smile. “I’m going to take a bath and go to sleep, and you need to rest yourself. It’s almost two in the morning.”
She hesitates, but I see the exhaustion seeping out of her movements. It doesn’t take another word from me—just a gentle, reassuring touch to her arm and a once-over from her, and then she’s retreating from the bathroom.
Before I close the door, I watch her cross over the plush rug to the other side of my bedroom, slip something out of her pocket, and press it against the wall.
A panel pops inward, silently swinging on hidden hinges.
Just before Eleni steps through into the dark, she looks over her shoulder at me and flashes me a quick smile.
I suppress my laugh and say to Lucan,I think I just made a friend.
Warmth envelops me.
From my neck down to my toes sticking out the top of the water.
The steam clears my senses and my pores. The scent of lavender calms me, pulling me far away from images of that dead Chosen One on the floor and sliced tongues and the two pinpricks of blood that have dried on my wrist. Hopefully tomorrow, when the venom has faded a bit, I’ll remember to hate anything and everything that comes from the Guardians, but for now…
Lucan, baths are my new favorite thing.
I’m met with cold silence.
Lucan?
Panic flares—a worse feeling than vampire venom flooding your heart—until I realize I left the necklace on the stool next to the tub after I undressed and forgot.
The Monster has become such an ingrained part of me, it’s almost natural to just assume he’s in my mind.
I sit up and pick up the blood-red vial, the chain uncurling from its little pile, before I slip it over my head. The pendant slides downmy slick skin and hits the water, where it floats for a second before sinking down between my breasts.
The curve of them looks so sensual against the surface of the water, and when it ripples, my peaked nipples alternate between the warm liquid and the cool air.
I run a wet fingertip over my right one.
Saskia,Lucan says firmly through my thoughts.
Baths are my new favorite thing,I say again, for some reason unbothered. I feel like I should be embarrassed, but I’m not.
Lucan chuckles.I figured that’s why you forgot about me.
I think it would be impossible to forget you at this point.
Is that so?
His voice is so thick it feels like it’s coating me. All these little places that have always felt neglected and empty, they’re bursting with fire out of my control.
