Eve jumped when her Nu device alerted her that someone was at the front door. The mechanical chime from the doorbell made her heart stutter. She frowned, rising slowly from her bed, before going to the tablet imbedded in the wall to see the video feed.
She gasped when she saw Valerie and a dark, hunched over, hooded figure, whom she would’ve recognized anywhere. Eve immediately raced down the stairs to the door, pulling it open.
“What are you…” Eve trailed off when she finally saw Khiva, saw the drawn expression on his face, and the way his skin seemed lighter, leeched of some color. She gasped. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
She’d just seen him earlier that night, had thought that it would be the last time she would see him. Her treacherous heart leaped in her chest, but then it quickly turned to alarmed concern when he stumbled over the threshold of her front door, Valerie keeping him from falling completely.
“He needs to lie down,” Valerie said with urgency as Eve shut and locked the door. Eve immediately came to Khiva’s other side to help hold him upright. He hissed when her hand touched his back and she jerked it away when she felt wetness. She looked down at her hand, her face draining when she saw blue blood coating her palm.
“What happened?” Eve cried out.
“Do you have a healing laser?” Valerie asked, ignoring her question.
Think later, act now.
Eve nodded, “Yes. Let’s get him upstairs.”
Her mind raced but she knew that somehow, this was Madame Allegria’s doing. Had this been what Khiva wouldn’t tell her, wouldn’t allow her to know?
Somehow, they both managed to guide Khiva upstairs, though it took time and energy. Every step made Khiva groan in pain and Eve wanted to cry every moment because of it. She’d never witnessed physical pain like this, especially in someone she loved. Never like this.
When they eventually got to her bedroom at the top of the stairs, they maneuvered Khiva onto his front on her bed. Eve swallowed, catching her breath, before grabbing a pair of shears from her cabinet to cut away his clothes.
The clothes, even his coat, were drenched in blood and they landed with a wetploponto her bedroom floor as she cut them away. And when they finally peeled away the final layers, nothing prepared Eve for what she saw.
Every inch of his back was bloody, every inch was stripped away, leaving a mutilated mess of skin and muscle and tissue.
He’d been whipped. He’d been whipped, over and over and over again.
Saliva filled her mouth, her stomach threatening to vomit up the contents of her meager dinner, but she breathed deeply through her nostrils. Khiva needed her. She needed to be strong, for both of them.
“There are clean towels in the hallway downstairs,” she told Valerie. “Go get them.”
Valerie raced from the room and Eve immediately ran into her washroom to retrieve the healing laser, wraps, and salve. Valerie returned the same time she did and Eve covered her hands in the disinfecting salve before gently placing them on his back, thinking that her hands would be more gentle than the towels.
Khiva hissed, his whole body shaking with pain, and Eve whispered, “I’m sorry, Khiva. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t realize she was crying until her vision went blurry. Blinking to clear it, she finished spreading the salve over his back, her chin trembling as tattered skin fell away and he groaned.
“Can we give him anything for the pain?” she asked Valerie, desperation coloring her tone. “Anything at all?”
Valerie shook her head, handing Eve a towel to wipe her hands. “We have nothing strong enough for them. I’ve tried.”
Which implied that this had happened before. Multiple times, judging from the look in Valerie’s eyes.
Oh my God.
Valerie picked up the healing laser. “Truthfully, I do not know if this will help much,” she admitted, turning it on. “I’ve never seen it like this.”
“It was her?” Eve asked. And even though she knew it was true, she could hardly believe it. She could hardly believe that a person could do this to someone, could deliberately hurt them in this way.
Valerie swallowed. “Yes.”
Eve bit her tongue, feeling another wave of nausea.
“This will the pain worse,” Valerie said softly. “Go comfort him while I do this. He’ll want to see your face, hear your voice.”
Eve nodded and went to the head of the bed, kneeling beside it so she would be in direct eye sight of Khiva. His face was turned to the side but his eyes were open, his breathing ragged.
