After I’d calmed down enough to stop shaking uncontrollably – now my shakes were much more controlled, more of an orchestrated effort – I turned off the shower. The heat from it had permeated every inch of me. Saturated and soothed. Or so I thought. Then I realized it wasn’t the shower heating me but something much hotter. Much more dangerous.
Without another thought, I threw open the shower curtain, practically stumbled over the edge of the tub, and rushed into Reyes’s arms. He was angry. Outrage reverberated around him, but he held me as though I were the last morsel of food he would ever see.
I was getting him soaked. He wore a light blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, and when I leaned back to see if I was bleeding onto him, the shirt clung wetly to his wide chest.
“I’m bleeding,” I said, trying to back away.
He didn’t let me. He pulled me close again, and we both shook against each other. Me with a combination of terror and relief. Him with a combination of anger and, well, anger.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked into his shoulder.
“The Daeva called me.”
“Oh.” It was all I could say. But I’d wanted to say, the traitor. I should have known the Dealer would call Reyes. It was pretty brave, actually, since he’d just seen me naked. Not many men would risk calling the son of Satan after that. “You got here really fast.”
“He said you were in the shower. It was incentive.”
“Oh, again. He was closer,” I explained. “And I was covered in blood. Since we live in a high-traffic area, I was afraid people would see.”
I could feel him fight with that judgment call despite my reasoning. I hadn’t gone to him. I’d gone to what he considered to be a lesser life-form. A being who could not protect me when push came to shove. But I would argue with him on that point. On all of them.
After a moment, his hold eased. He put me at arm’s length. Frowned. Studied me and frowned again.
Then, as though a revelation had hit him, his anger flared to life again, as strong as I’d ever felt it, and I knew that he knew. I’d meant to change it back before going home or to the office, but I forgot.
He bit down, worked his jaw until he said, “You blocked me.”
I lowered my head, confirming both my guilt and my hesitation in admitting it to him.
His grip tightened. He’d never known his own strength, and he was proving that once again. One hand had a firm hold right where the hellhound had swiped at me like a hungry tiger. I winced, but he didn’t notice. He wouldn’t. Not with the all-consuming anger riveting through him as it was now. “First you leave without me, knowing what we are facing, and then you block me from feeling you. From finding you.” When I didn’t answer, he scoffed. “No wonder I didn’t pick up your distress when the Daeva called. I just thought it was because I was so worried, but —”
“I just didn’t want you to know I’d left. You were… busy.”
“What the f**k does that mean?”
My own anger roared to life at his condescending tone. Had he forgotten his little encounter with the celebrity temptress? “Let’s just put it this way,” I said, pushing out of his grip, “you blocked me first.”
“I’ve never blocked you. Not like this. I’ve kept you from emotions at times, but —”
“Physically,” I said, turning to search for my clothes. They were gone.
The minute I turned around to yell at the Dealer, he threw a pair of jeans, a pair of boxers, and a T-shirt over Reyes’s shoulder. I caught them in midair, waiting for Reyes to turn on him. He didn’t. He was too busy glowering at me.
“What are you talking about?”
“The chick in the bar. You purposely blocked me from seeing you while you talked to her.”
“There was a reason.”
I jerked the shirt over my head. “And?”
“I don’t think she’s right in the head.”
“Really? That’s your excuse? If I give you more time,” I said, jumping into the boxers that fit alarmingly well, “do you think you can come up with a better one? That one is as lame as my uncle’s dead horse.”
He watched as I tried to step into the pants and lost my balance. He started to help me but I held up a hand to stop him.
“I don’t need your help.”
“I didn’t want her to see you, Dutch. Not the other way around. There’s something wrong with her.”
“She looked fine from my vantage point.”
“Mentally, I mean.”
Unlike the boxers, the pants were about two sizes too big. I stormed past my man in search of the Dealer. “Do you have a belt I can borrow?” I called out.
“Right here,” he said, coming out of a bedroom. He nodded with a grin. “Not bad. And the bleeding stopped. I’ll find those bandages.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need any. Can you just put my clothes in a bag?”
“I’m burning them,” he said, matter-of-fact, handing me a thick black belt.
“Burning them?” I was starting to panic again. “I have to call my uncle.” I threaded the belt through the loops. “He has to know what happened. There’s a dead body on what is now our” – I turned to glare at the only person in the hall glaring back – “property. I can’t just leave him there. I have to tell them what happened. I took a shower. I burned my clothes. It’s all going to look a tad suspicious, don’t you think?”