“Nina!” I continue to rap my knuckles on the wood.
A broken wail seeps from the room, and the fear in her cries wrap around my throat, threatening to strangle me.
“What the fuck?” I pull on the handle, trying to force it open.
“Nina. Please just open the door!” I shout, punching the plaster surround. “Fuck!”
I let my head fall to the door, feeling at a loss as she continues to cry.
I hear a thud followed by a howl, a chilling, blood-curdling sound that has me taking two steps back. Panic fills me, feeling unhinged at my lack of control. I square my shoulders, lunging into the door and taking the lock clean off the wall. The plush carpet breaks my fall, but I barely touch the ground before I’m around the bed and kneeling at her feet.
She’s curled into herself, arms wrapped protectively around her knees.
“Nina,” I rasp, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Nina, baby.”
I reach out to touch her, and her eyes snap to mine. Red-rimmed and wild, pure fear etched on her beautiful face. “Nina,” I frown. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Her body shakes uncontrollably, dripping in sweat. I try to grasp the blanket she’s holding from her hands, but she grips it tighter, flinching as I retract my hand.
What the fuck?
“The blood. So much blood,” she mutters, sounding crazed.
I start to search her body but fail to find any blood.
“Nina, you’re not bleeding. There is no blood. I’m here, it’s me, Mase,” I say softly, unsure as to what I should do.
She squeezes her eyes tight, opening and closing them until her wary eyes find me. “Mase?” she asks.
“Yes, I’m here.” I grab her, seizing the opportunity whilst she lets me. “Fucking hell.” My heart hammers in my chest as I sit on the floor, holding her tight. Her body is slick with sweat, her hair damp.
“Mase,” she cries, fisting my T-shirt and burrowing deeper into my chest. She breaks down in my arms.
For the first time I see her distinctively. No barrier, no wall, just raw, unfiltered pain—it’s what I wanted, right?
More than just her body.
“Nina, I’m going to get you in the shower. Is that okay?”
“Why? The blood?” She panics.
“No, no blood. You’re just really hot.”
“Okay.”
She looks up at me, my chest aching with the hurt in her eyes.
God, this is all my fault.
Why did I bring up that shit with her mum?
I lift her in my arms, carrying her to the en suite. I don’t put her down, walking in the shower with her locked tight in my arms. I reach in and turn on the spray, sitting with my back to the wall as the warm water runs over her.
She lies broken in my arms.
My beautiful broken Pixie.
