It smells like Maven's blood. Again.
Even though I'm gorged on the blood of our enemies, my mouth waters and my fangs ache at the fragrance. Gods above, nothing in the world should have the right to be so enticing.
Leaving Baelfire to wrestle with his inner dragon, I try to get myself under control as I approach the bathroom door. There are two bathrooms in this apartment. The bigger one is attached to the main bedroom that we all view as Maven's, but she's in the smaller bathroom connected to the hall right now.
The door is locked. I rest my forehead against it, gritting my teeth against the urge to break it down. "Maven?"
She doesn't answer.
Something is dreadfully wrong, another voice in my head snickers.
Perhaps she’s bled out completely. One can only hope.
I ignore the voices. “Are you hurt? Answer me."
There's a soft sound of distress, and that's my breaking point. Sending a hex through the wooden door that makes it cave in like paper, I force my way inside the bathroom—but I freeze when I see the nude silhouette of Maven behind the glass, scrubbing feverishly at her skin. The entire bathroom is filled with steam as I round the corner, anxiety curdling my insides.
Normally, Maven would be angry that I violated her space like this. But she doesn't even look up at me as I approach her, ignoring how I'm getting drenched in the shower spray as I reach for her.
She just keeps scrubbing.
"Stop. Maven,stop."
As gently as I can, I grasp her elbow and turn her to face me, but she flinches back immediately.
"Don't."
Misery fills me when I see tears in her eyes and streaked over her cheeks. But it's immediately eclipsed by unadulterated horror when I spot the steel wool clutched in her tremblinghand, the scarlet blood running into the shower drain from where she's literally scrubbed the top layers of her skin off.
Myblood blossom is typically so composed and practical, but now she's shaking and in a blind panic as she scrapes herself raw.
I can barely get the words out as I put the pieces together. "Who touched you?"
She lets out a shaky breath and throws the steel wool to the ground, grabbing the soap instead and slathering it over her arms, neck, and stomach.
They touched her stomach.
Red creeps into my vision as my throat burns.
"Maven.Who the fuck touched you?"I whisper.
She makes a gagging sound and drops the soap to cover her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. Seeing her like this is ripping me to shreds. I want to pull her close and heal her damaged skin and beg for names so I can find whoever did this to her and paint the castle red with their blood.
But when Maven finally manages to speak, she whispers, "It's nothing. Wait outside for me."
She stoops as if going for the steel wool again, but I swipe it off the ground as I leave, refusing to let her touch it again.
In the quintet's entry room beside the kitchen, Bael is still gripping his head in residual pain, but he looks over as I storm into the room.
"What's going on? Is she?—"
I left the door to the bathroom ajar, so we both hear the faintest sniffle from the shower.
That has him on his feet immediately, but I put up a hand to stop him and nod to the dining room table instead. "We're going to wait here for her."
"But—"
"You do not want to argue with me right now, Baelfire," I warn.
