"No, just curious," she said with unabashed inquisitiveness.
I opened the passenger side door. "Get in the car, Evelyn."
She shrugged one shoulder like she couldn't disagree, and with some care, she tried to gather up her bloody clothing and keep her hands from touching anything as she slid into the seat.I scanned the parking lot for any possible additional threats, but there were only a few shoppers bringing purchases to their cars.
Whoever had just attacked us—or hired men to do it—had the right idea. Bloody nose, swipe a sample, and get out. Begrudgingly, I had to admit that it was the way I'd go about it, too. But as I glanced at Evie, whose eyes were already swelling, I wanted to break every one of their nasal bones. And maybe their fingers for good measure. It was heartlessly cruel to attack an innocent woman just to win some sick game.
We went to the nearest ER, which was a modest hospital owned by a larger Seattle conglomerate. They took one look at the amount of blood on her hands and clothing and let her bypass the few people already in the waiting room. They got her into a triage room where the nurse took her vitals, which all looked good, and they returned my shirt to me and replaced it with gauze. I tossed the shirt in the hazard container, and when we were shown to Evie's bed, she finally looked down at her ruined dress in dismay. "I look like a haunted house extra."
I glanced down at the hospital T-shirt they'd given me after I'd thrown mine away. "I suppose I shouldn't complain then."
She switched hands as she held the gauze, blinking rapidly. It had to hurt like a son of a bitch. I gestured to the gauze, leaning forward from the rolling stool to peer at her face. "Let me see it."
Hesitantly, she moved aside the gauze. Blood leaked from her nostrils in a sluggish trickle, but the break didn't look too bad. Her nose was definitely a bit sideways, and bruising was climbing up the bridge of her nose. "If they can't fix that, they shouldn't have a license," I murmured, assured.
"Good thing you're here to make sure," she grinned. She was way too chipper for someone who had just been attacked in a hardware store.
I took in her disheveled long hair curling down her shoulders and tinted pink with blood, the bandage still on her injured armfrom last night, and the obscene amount of red staining her skin. All of that, and still, her hazel eyes watched me with undiluted trust. I frowned, lowering my gaze to her small hand which was curled into a fist on the bed. "I failed you in every way that counts, Evie."
She reached out and took my hand, pulling it onto the bed. "Don't say that. It's not like you're the Secret Service."
Her fingers were cold, but I couldn't resist tightening them in my grip. I raised my eyes to hers. "I shouldn't have taken you in public."
Evie shrugged, entirely unconcerned. "Now we know. And you aren'tactuallyresponsible for me, Benjamin. What you've done so far… it's more than I could have ever dared to ask for. You can back out anytime. I mean that."
But I did feel responsible. I'd known the woman less than twenty-four hours, but inexplicably, I felt a pull to protect her. From the moment she'd fallen into my arms, it had been an irresistible draw, like she had some kind of supernatural ability to compel me to her side. Like the song of a queen bee to her drones, I was powerless. I brushed my thumb over the back of her hand. "Hey, Evie?"
"Yes?"
I snagged her gaze. "Stop trying to get rid of me."
She held my stare steadily, and then her features softened. "Alright."
Chapter Nine
EVIE
After talking it over, we decided that we neededsomesecurity at the property for the night. Two attacks within twenty-four hours had me second-guessing my "It might not be that bad" theory. Also, my face had its own heartbeat, and I could barely see out of my swollen eyes, so I wasn't feeling terribly optimistic.
Benjamin left me in the locked car, and he parked it right in front of the store—illegally, I was pretty sure—and instructed me to call 911 if anyone so much as bumped the window.
Despite the fact that I had a newly set broken nose and shattered expectations about ever feeling safe again, I was pretty sure he was being overly cautious. He returned in less than ten minutes, slightly out of breath and with a cart jammed full of supplies. He'd also grabbed the window air conditioning unit, bless him. All of it barely fit in the back of his small sports car.
By the time we made it back to the house, the pain meds in my system were making me extra sleepy, and I kept dropping the ice off my nose as I nodded off. Benjamin parked in front of the house, his eyes scanning the woods to our left and the quiet property to the right. "Stay here," he said softly.
I saluted him. "For the good of the mission."
He rolled an exasperated glare my way before cautiously exiting the car. He had the enormous flashlight in his hand like a police baton, and he took a full fifteen minutes checking the perimeter, peering behind bushes, and then entering the locked house to ensure it was empty. Satisfied that we were alone, he returned and opened my door. "Okay, inside, Marshmallow."
"I feel very squishy," I admitted, blinking tears out of my eyes. Every movement made my face ache. I made my way inside, keeping the ice pack balanced on my bandaged nose, and as I crossed the threshold of my little barn home, a wave of exhaustion washed over me with overwhelming force. It wasn't even dinner time and I wanted to crawl under my quilts and hit the reset button.
Benjamin came in after me, shutting the door and locking it firmly. "If you're up for a shower, I can start getting things set up around the house."
I gave him a weary smile. "I'm getting kind of sick of my own blood."
"Me too. Keep that shit in your body," he returned with equally tired humor. "Go ahead. I have things down here."
I dragged myself to the one bathroom, which was on the first floor, and once inside of it, I got a good look of myself in the mirror above the double vanity sink. I gasped and stumbled back a step. I was amonster. Above the pristine white marble countertop, a disheveled creature covered in blood gaped back at me. My dress had been positively soaked with blood, which was now a grotesque tie dye of brown and rusty red. My neck, face, shoulders, and arms all had smears of dried blood on them—and myface.
