She stepped back, her mouth dropping open. Her scent shifted, and she recoiled in the bond, stinging with my rejection. I steeled myself. She didn’t deserve an apology. She’d distracted me and prolonged Kaos’s suffering,
“That’s part of my job,” she said, all haughty airs again. “It would look strange if I didn’t touch you.”
“I find it distasteful. Don’t touch me unless you have to.”
“Noted,” she said coolly. “Now, are you going to explain why you’re waiting for me in the dark like a creep?”
“You’ll need to help Kaos when you get in. Listen carefully…”
FORTY-TWO
LAUREL
I paused at my villa door, frowning down as I went over Finch’s strange conversation.
Kaos was having an episode? What the fuck did that mean?
But he had commanded me, and obeying wasn’t a choice. I opened my door and stepped inside. It was dark, and when I flicked the switch, the light didn’t turn on.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark as I took off my heels. Then I took a breath and followed Kaos’s sharp scent of absinthe and static.
I walked over to find him curled up on the couch, staring at the wall. He looked so different than he had this morning; his expression was completely blank, his mouth turned down at the corners.
The bond was still muted from earlier, so I couldn’t feel much from him, but what I could detect was pain.
I sat down next to him, and he shifted, empty eyes staring up at me. Or perhaps through me.
Then he laid his head back down, returning to stare at the wall.
“Kaos?” I asked, but he didn’t respond.
My heart was pounding as I went over the instructions Finch had given me.
I couldn’t do this.
I wasn’t the right person.
But Finch hadn’t left me an option.
I gently but firmly pulled Kaos to his feet, and he offered no resistance, letting me lead him to the bathroom.
He was so vulnerable right now.
Did he go with me because he trusted I wouldn’t hurt him? Or would he have gone with anyone?
I tried to flick on the light, but to my annoyance, the light here didn’t work either. It wasn’t the power, because I could see the glow of my toothbrush charging on its stand.
Pulling the emergency lamp from underneath the sink, I clicked it on, bathing the room in a dull white glow that washed the color from everything. I turned back to where Kaos was standing, right where I left him. My bathroom didn’t usually feel this small, but there seemed to be barely any room between me and him.
I took a deep breath. “I’m going to help you take a shower, all right?” I said, keeping my voice soft.
Finch hadn’t told me to talk to him, but it felt wrong to do any of this without words.
“I’m going to start by taking your shirt off,” I said, wondering if any part of him was absorbing my words or actions.
I tugged off his shirt, then talked him through removing his pants. He stood there, in just his boxers, as I stood up again. His arms were covered in intricate tattoos, stark in the lamplight. His skin was like a work of art, though I lookedaway quickly. It seemed wrong to stare at him when he was like this, as though I would be taking advantage of him. Still, I’d be blind not to see that he was hauntingly beautiful, despite his gaunt frame. Dark eyes, framed by long lashes. A sharp mouth and a nose that looked like it had been broken in multiple places.
My face heating, I stepped out of the bathroom and changed into a tank top and shorts.
