He raked his long hair away from his face. “I’ve been here since it began.”
“You fought?” I rubbed my temple.
“Is something wrong with her?”
Christian scooped me up in his arms. “Aye. Your balls dancing in her face like two baby hamsters wrestling in a water balloon. Now if you all don’t mind, Raven’s done saving the world for the night. We’ll be upstairs, and I’ll ask everyone for a wee bit of privacy.”
My head throbbed, and my muscles ached as if someone were stretching each one of them taut. I nestled my face in the crook of his neck as he carried me away. It felt good to be alive again.
And home.
CHAPTER32
Istretched in my bed, the cool sheets tangled around my legs. Through the tall windows on my right, a pinch of blue sky beckoned me to come out. I yawned loudly and noticed Christian rising from a chair.
“Don’t tell me I slept until Christmas.”
He held out his hand and pulled me out of bed. “How long do you think you’ve been asleep?” he asked, stripping off my gown.
I rubbed at the dirt on my palms. “Two days?”
The panties went next. “Try seven hours.”
“It feels like I slept for ages. I don’t even remember dreaming.” I stepped out of the clothes and, unlike before, they didn’t magically reappear on my body again. My reflection in the standing mirror looked ghastly. “My hair is a rat’s nest.”
Christian caressed my belly as he kissed my shoulder. “Come with me.”
He led me around the corner behind my bed and into the bathroom. The lanterns on either side of the sink mirror to my left were lit, and he’d even put candles on the toilet tank. The standing shower straight ahead reflected some of that light on the glass door, but that’s not what grabbed my attention. It was all the rose petals scattered on the floor and floating inside the steaming claw-foot tub to my right. The recessed wall alongside the tub usually held my soaps and shampoo, but he’d put candles in there instead.
I chuckled softly. “I was just going to use the shower, but this is fine too.”
He helped me step into the water. As soon as I sat down, I slid underwater, the delicious heat a welcome relief. When I sat up, Christian was at the sink.
His reflection gave away nothing in the oval mirror as he pulled a bottle of white wine from the ice-filled sink and brought it over. “I thought after yesterday’s bloodbath, we might go with the white.”
I slicked back my wet hair and washed my face. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to seduce me.”
He sat on a short stool and filled my glass. “That comes later tonight. This is just a preview.”
The moment I took my first sip of Riesling, I nearly exploded. I couldn’t believe how delicious it tasted, and I gulped it down. “That’s unbelievable!”
“So I hear.” He refilled the glass. “Wyatt woke up early this morning and went down for a snack. I think the poor bastard ate everything in the cupboard.”
I tried to sip the wine this time but couldn’t. It was as if my taste buds had been reset, and I was experiencing flavor for the first time in my life. “You should have brought up cheese or chocolate.”
“I thought you’d rather go downstairs after a bit and chat with the others. Viktor and Shepherd are still sleeping last I checked.”
I handed him my glass and then separated my hair before working it into a braid. “Are the wolves still here?”
“They left an hour ago. I suspect we’ll be busy over the next week or two cleaning up around here. There’s blood all over the property, and we can’t do much about that. But we might have missed body parts. Not to mention we have to dig up all the remaining fragments and ashes from the bonfire pits. Viktor doesn’t want them here on his land.” He set the glass aside. “The halls are covered in blood, and I could see it sprayed all over the high ceilings and paintings. I don’t know how we’ll manage. After we get this place spiffy, Viktor will hire contractors to work on repairs.”
“What about Sparrow? Is he—?”
“Dead? Nothing would satisfy me more. Shepherd patched him up. Said something about broken ribs and a fractured elbow. Shepherd’s been giving him intravenous fluids to replace what he lost. Can’t have him dying before we turn him over.”
I arched my eyebrow. “Broken bones? And how did that happen, Mr. Poe?”
“Couldn’t say. Viktor’s arranging to have Regulators pick him up this afternoon. I guarded the prisoners downstairs for a few hours. You never heard so much whining.”
