“I was just giving Grayson here a little lesson on personal hygiene,” Jessalyn announces.
I swear my cheeks light on fire in embarrassment, my shoulders stiffening as I stare at the floor. “You know, maybe one of the others would be better. I can go and get Jax—,”
“Wait,” Sienna says tightly as I turn around. My foot freezes mid-step as she disappears inside the room, rustling around before she reappears with a towel in her hands. She presses it into my hands.
“Go and shower. We’ll get you something to wear.”
“You don’t have to—,”
“I know,” she says abruptly. “Go.”
Slowly, I make my way into the bathroom and push the door closed.
Then I bang my head against it. Once. Twice.
The third time, it swings back and smacks me in the forehead. I stumble back with a curse as a hand appears through the door, waving a clean pair of sweatpants.
“Courtesy of Logan. Are you done with your pity party? ‘Cause I can hear your head smacking into the door down the hall.”
I snatch the sweatpants with a snarl. That girl is the spawn of fucking Satan. I can hear her cackling as she walks back to whatever lair she’s got set up now she’s not sleeping in with Sienna.
The hot water feels like heaven as it pounds against my back, but I don’t waste time. I’m in and out, slipping the sweats up past my hips and pulling the door open.
Sienna’s door is open, and I pause. She’s sat on her bed, her hands clasped together and her eyes focused solely on my torso. Cautiously, I keep rubbing the towel through my hair and run it over my chest to catch the last of the droplets.
She looks away, her jaw tight.
“Sienna…” I don’thaveany pretty words. I’m a damn architect, good with my hands but not so much the social side. I’m fucking petrified that if I open my mouth, more stupid shit will pour out that’ll drive an even bigger wedge between us.
When I don’t say anything, my Soul Bonded presses her lips together. “You can sit at the end of the bed.”
“Okay.” Placing my boots down, I shuffle my way onto the bed, careful to avoid her legs. The final rays of the evening sun are fading, filling the room with golden light that bathes Sienna’s skin.
I snatch glances at her as we sit in silence, breathing in the soft, slightly bitter scent of raspberries. She’s curled up, her head on the pillow and eyes open as she stares at the opposite wall.
My concern grows as I watch her, giving up any pretense and openly staring. She looks pale, even paler than she has before, and I can see sweat beading on her upper lip.
Something is wrong.
When she twitches, I reach out for her. “What—,”
Her body convulses violently, an agonized retch ripping from her throat.
“Sienna!” I can’t move fucking fast enough as she jerks, her head twisting over the bed. As I land next to her, my hands pushing back her hair, I’m spattered with something viscous, and I stare down in horror.
Blood.
“Fuck, Sienna,baby.” My hands shake against her skin, my heart fucking ripping apart in my chest as she groans weakly.
My fault. This is what we’ve done to her.
She doesn’t protest as I lift her, carrying her out of the room and into the bathroom. Her head lolls against my shoulder as I carefully prop her up on the bathroom counter, taking her weight as I reach my left hand around to flick on the faucet. Grabbing a washcloth from the counter, I dampen it, nudging her back and gently holding the back of her neck so I can wipe her face. Her eyes are dazed, a touch more awareness filtering in as I rinse the cloth and work it over her neck, her collarbone.
When she meets my gaze, her own wary and shuttered, I take a deep breath.
“It’s not working, is it?” I say quietly. “You need more than we’ve been giving you. Maybe proximity helped a little, at first, but it’s more than that.”
Instead of answering, she buries her face in my shoulder. I can feel her shaking, damp tears soaking my skin. My hands reach up, slowly, so fucking carefully, as I cup the back of her head.
