“Lily will flip if she sees blood on us,” I say before we get to our dorm room. “We need to make sure she doesn’t. And I don’t want Maddy seeing it either.”
“I have a feeling Maddy doesn’t have a problem with blood,” Finn informs me but slows to a stop in the middle of the hallway. “But you’re right. Lily will have a panic attack if she sees us like this … We can shower in the locker room and change into some workout clothes.”
“Good idea.”
We turn around and start making our way toward the locker room.
Fortunately, it’s empty, and five minutes later, I’m scrubbing the blood off my flesh.
The doctor instructed me not to get the wound wet, so I have to keep one side of my body out from the spray of the showerhead. It’s a pain in the ass, but I manage.
I’m a lot slower than Finn, and I’m not done when he calls out, “I’m done. Do you need help? Or can I head back to the dorm and check on things?”
He’s worried. So am I.
While the society said I’d completed the task to get in, which was them taking Maddy and leaving her in the woods, I don’t believe they’ll simply leave her alone now. Not when she was already on their radar. Plus, she may be connected to a once hunted bloodline that became extinct. Although, if Maddy is an Everford, then the bloodline isn’t extinct, which puts her in danger.
“Go check on them,” I call out over the water hitting the tiled floor.
“Are you sure?” he checks.
I think he might be worried about me.
I’m fine, though.
I am.
I always am.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I assure him.
A few moments later, I hear a door click shut.
I’m alone with nothing but the steam of the shower and the throbbing of my wound for company. My chest feels tight, and I lower my head against the wall and breathe in and out.
I try to fight it, try to get my body to give in to the numbness of the pain medication. But in the end, my anxiety overwhelms me. I gasp for air, clawing at the wall. The water is humid and complicates breathing, so I hurriedly shut it off. I still can’t get air into my lungs, and I’m on the verge of passing out when I hear voices coming from inside the locker room.
“Do they know if it’s her?” a guy says, his voice laced with familiarity.
“I think Eli is almost positive she is, but I don’t know … He’s got some sort of vendetta against this chick, anyway, so can wereally trust him?” another guy replies over the sound of a locker shutting.
“Maybe he just wants to fuck her,” the first guy replies. “She’s hot. I bet she’s a lot of fun, too.”
“Yeah, but she’s northside,” the other says. “God knows what diseases she’s carrying between her legs.”
I grit my teeth with so much force that my jaw pops. While I’m not usually a violent person, I want nothing more than to go out there and punch both of them in the face. The only thing that stops me is that I’m wounded and doped up.
I suck in a breath, reining in my rage the best that I can, and instead listen. But the room grows quiet, so I’m assuming they left.
What I want to know is why Eli has a vendetta against Maddy. Is it because Maddy is an Everford? Even if that’s true, that still doesn’t explain why Eli is so fixated on her. Unless he knows and is slowly hunting her?
That thought puts me on edge.
But no. There’s no way that could be true. Eli is an asshole, but a killer …? There’s no way.
And yet, the drop of doubt residing inside me has me questioning everything.
CHAPTER 24
