Page 44 of Killer of the Bells
“I’m sorry. The pain will be over soon. It hurts more the worse the injury is.”
That explained why it hadn’t hurt when Vale had fixed my minor sex boo-boos so we could have another round in the shower.
“Just finish,” I said through gritted teeth. Then added, “But don’t fuck up my sweater.”
“You meanmysweater,” Vale said, his fingers heating up against another incredibly tender spot on my back.
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” I said, hissing from the pain. “This is my sweater now. Go get your own.”
“I’ll do that,” Vale said. “You should be okay soon. You should be fully healed now, but for some reason, your body is resisting me. I wonder if it has something to do with what Cal did to you,” he mused.
“Cal?” Who the hell was Cal?
“Hmm?” Vale’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, no one. Don’t worry about it for now. I want to get you inside and check you more thoroughly before we do anything else.”
“He means naked things, Echo!” Apple shouted from the porch.
I startled and grabbed Vale. I reached out a hand and pointed two fingers at my eyes and then at Apple, glaring at him for all I was worth. Then I noticed my hands were now covered in dead guy goo.
I checked my sweater anxiously and sighed in relief when I saw it was still unbesmirched.
Apple laughed. “I’m not going to do anything bad to you, Echo. I’m helping! See? Look at Gareth.”
I looked at Gareth involuntarily before realizing my mistake, but instead of throwing up all over Vale, I only felt a tingle of fear run down my spine. It was negligible compared to looking at Gareth before.
“Huh,” I grunted as I watched Gareth drop a severed arm to the snow next to the soldier he’d presumably beaten to death with it. “How did Apple do that?”
“No one knows, and I don’t care,” Vale said. “Now let’s get you inside.”
“Okay. Hey, is Vix okay? He was grabbed by a dog earlier.”
“Who cares? Let Paris deal with him. Now follow me or I’ll touch your sweater.”
I crossed my arms protectively in front of me, making sure not to touch my sweater with my yucky hands. “I’m coming, I’m coming. No need to make threats.”
As I entered the front door, giving Apple a wide berth from where he leaned lazily against the porch rail, Baz ran past, hair wet and disheveled and naked as the day he was born. “I was in the shower for five minutes, and I missed everything? What the fuck?!”
Chapter
Twelve
VALE
Iwas so close to having Echo back in my wing of the house that I could hear Carol of the Bells coming faintly down the hallway. I didn’t know why, but it felt important to get him there. Like, if I could surround him with as much of myself as possible, I could keep him safe.
“Next time something like that happens, don’t worry about Vix,” I said. “He’s more protected than any other person in the house. Just focus on saving yourself.”
Echo snorted. “Sure thing. I’ll get right on that.”
“I’ll bet everyone thinks you’re incredibly sweet and shy, don’t they?” I saw Echo’s mouth turn up in a smug grin and said, “I thought so. If only they knew the real you.”
Echo dug his feet into the floor and stopped allowing me to guide him to, as Baz would put it, myinner sanctum. “And who do you think that is?” His tone was wary, and he moved as far away from me as I would allow.
“Someone far better than this world deserves,” I snapped without thinking. Why did Echo always look for the worst in everything?
Yes, I’m aware of how hypocritical that thought was. No, I will not be taking questions.
Echo paled. “Fuck. You caught feelings, didn’t you? God fucking dammit, you weren’t supposed to care. Even Gareth told you not to get attached, and you did it anyway. You’re not planning on killing me at all, are you? You owe me, Vale. You owe me, and you know it.”
