Sovran’s brow ticks up another notch. “Yes,” he says simply, then turns his back to us and points towards a doorway on the far wall. “There is a working bathroom through there. Clean up and get some rest. We leave in an hour.”
Xeni
Thegroupexchangesglances,though no one tries to argue against Sovran. If he wants to be in charge of this hot mess, we’re all too exhausted to fight it.
Bash squeezes my hand, his eyes searching mine. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I nod, exhaustion pulling at me like gravity as we step into a dimly lit bathroom with two sinks and two stalled toilets. It’s seen better days, like everything else down here.
The others linger in the main room, giving us privacy without needing to be asked. Bash closes the door behind us with a soft click before he turns to me. His eyes roam over the blood and grime streaking my skin, stopping to track the bruises and cuts from the fight.
“Sit,” he says, guiding me to the edge of the sink.
I perch there, legs dangling as he turns on the faucet. He tests the water until it runs warm, then searches for a towel. When he comes up empty, he pulls his shirt over his head.
My gaze drifts over his exposed torso. “No one told me there’d be entertainment.”
A reluctant smile tilts his lips as he wipes the blood from my hands and arms with careful strokes. The silence stretches, but Bash’s mind is occupied, so I give him space to process.
“Do you want to talk about what just happened?” he finally asks.
I stare at my hands as he cleans them, watching the pink-tinged water swirling down the drain. “It’s not very complicated, really,” I say with a shrug. “I killed him, and I don’t regret it.”
Bash pauses, his shirt hovering over a cut on my forearm. His eyes meet mine, searching but not judging. “You don’t have to regret anything.”
“He was a monster,” I continue, gaining conviction as the words spill out, “and I’m not sorry he’s gone. The world is better without him in it.”
Bash nods slowly, resuming his gentle cleaning as he moves to my face and dabs at the dried blood near my temple. “You did what you had to do. That doesn’t make you like him.”
Of course he would hear that fear, even without me saying it out loud.
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat easing at his reassurance. “All I feel is…relief. Like his hands had been around my neck for my entire life, and now they’re gone, and I can fuckingbreathe.”
“Good,” he whispers, cupping my face with a clean hand.
His thumb brushes over my cheek, similar to how my father would always touch me, but this one is different. It’s like he’s erasing the memories from my skin and rewriting them into something beautiful.
Something that belongs to us, not the past.
“You deserve to be free of him.” Bash presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “You survived him, Xen, and you didn’t become him. I’m so proud of you.”
The emotion hits me then. Not sorrow, andnevermourning.
Profound release.
I lean into Bash, letting his arms wrap around me as he finishes cleaning the last traces of blood from my neck.
“Thank you,” I murmur against his shoulder. “For being here. For…” I force another swallow. “I don’t think anyone’s ever been proud of me. Not for anything good.”
“I’ll always be here.” He pulls back to meet my eye with that steady gaze that grounds me. “And I’ll always be proud of you, Xen.”
“Promise?” I ask in a whisper.
His smile is sweet as he nods. “Cross my heart.”
Another long sigh pushes from my lungs as exhaustion hits me hard.
Bash clocks the flutter of my eyelid, and glances down my body. “Let’s get the rest of you clean. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
