AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I squeezed my lids closed and tried to breathe through the talons ripping at my insides. Words stuck in my mouth, but honestly, I had nothing to say. The feel of their warm, sticky blood washing over me as their life faded consumed my thoughts.
Why was Hawk’s life or mine more important than theirs? I was a raven. I was supposed to sacrifice myself for the innocent, and the one time I was given a choice, I saved Hawk and myself. Except Hawk had never been in danger.
“Come on.” Fane rested his hand on my lower back and directed me into the hall. Instead of going to the room I used before, he steered me into another where his scent lingered. He clicked on a lamp and then drew me into the bathroom, using the dimmer switch to lower the light.
My boots squeaked on the gray tiles as I halted in front of the white countertop. As my gaze lifted to the mirror above the sink, Fane used his hand to block my reflection.
“Don’t look.” He gently lowered me onto the closed toilet lid, opened the glass door to the shower, and cut on the water. Steam quickly filled the room.
I reached for my left boot, sucking air as a sharp pain ripped through my side where Oliver stabbed me. Fane kneeled on the ground and removed my shoes. His face strained, and some of the pain ravaging me melted away.
“Don’t do that,” I muttered.
He arched one eyebrow. “Do what?”
Somehow, Fane was taking my pain. He’d also done it when Dirgos tried to connect with the Infernal Sol. Maybe it was just a special gift he had, but more likely, it stemmed from the link between us.
“I need it right now.” The physical pain helped dull the emotional agony trying to shatter me into a million pieces.
He didn’t say anything or acknowledge his ability as he stood and shucked his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Even with dirt smudging his cheeks and collecting in his hair from the explosions that rocked Karn’s, Fane was still one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen.
Deadliest too. He proved that when he easily ripped the demon lord to shreds.
“I’m taking a shower.” He pressed a hand on the counter and leaned over me. “Do you really think I’m going to leave you in there alone when you just tried to claw your own flesh off?”
My lips thinned as memories of the last time we took a shower together simmered forward.
Fane’s fingers rested under my chin to lift my face, his barely more than an inch away. “That was different,” he said, sensing where my mind had gone. “We’re just going to get clean.” He tilted forward, his lips almost brushing mine as he gripped the edge of my shirt and slowly drew it over my head.
My teeth clenched as agony whipped through my upper body. When I looked down, my throat convulsed. Their blood had soaked through my clothes and stained my torso. I shut my lids as I tried to breathe through the coppery scent choking the air.
Fane finished undressing me as I kept my eyes closed to avoid the gruesome sight, and a few moments later, the hot spray hit my chilled skin.
A gasp blew from my mouth, and I jerked out of the water, cursing.
“Too hot?” He reached over to fiddle with the temperature, but I grabbed his hand.
“It’s fine. I’m just cold.” Ice sank all the way to my bones.
He still used the brushed metal lever to lower the heat a tiny bit and then pulled me under the spray again. My teeth gritted as the water hit the cuts on my arms, the stab on my side, and the one in my leg. A barely contained roar ricocheted against the shower walls, and I lifted my head as Fane scrutinized my injuries now that they were more visible as the blood washed away.
Tension wove through his scarred, tattooed physique until every muscle popped and strained. His nostrils flared, and I resisted the urge to cover myself while he continued his examination. We were bared before each other, but there was nothing sexual in this. My injuries preoccupied him, and unlike the other night in the shower, I wasn’t starving for a release.
Maybe I was starving for something else.
His attention rested on the center of my chest where an oddly shaped bruise formed around a shallow cut. “What happened here?”
I choked back the bile oozing up my esophagus. “Karn used a magical stone to find information on the Infernal Sol while he sucked my soul, but I distracted him with other memories.”
“A black Verity stone.” Fane’s jaw twitched. “You showed him what’s in your nightmares.”
My voice wouldn’t come so I nodded.
Fane’s thumb gently swiped over the bruise, his touch so soft compared to the fury building on his face, cutting harsh lines into it. “Turn around.”
Without arguing, I turned my back on him, keeping my head up to avoid the pink water swirling down the drain. A bottle clicked, and the hint of honey and warm spices perfumed the shower. And then Fane Maverick rubbed his fingers along my scalp as he lathered shampoo in my hair.
