She’s not injured, but she’s still much too cold.
“Can you walk?” I ask Kai.
“Yeah.”
“Turn on the shower. We need to get her warmed up.”
Kai winces as he hobbles out of the room, but he doesn’t utter a word of protest. He needs to rest, but there won’t be any of that happening until he knows Haven is okay.
I lift Haven from the coffee table, cradling her to my chest as I carry her to the shower. Kai nods when he sees me, his hand outstretched to the gentle spray of water. I set her down and make sure the water is lukewarm before we strip her down and guide her into the shower. She stands under the spray, unresisting, as we wash the streaks of blood from her face and neck and hands.
There’s still some blood caked under her nails and trapped in her cuticles, but Kai and I wordlessly decide that she’s clean enough, and bundle her out of the shower so we can towel her dry.
We don’t speak, but we neither fumble nor bump into each other—moving methodically, efficiently, like we’ve trained for this moment our entire lives.
Kai limps out of the bathroom behind us when I guide Haven to the bed, but I shake my head at him.
“Clean yourself up. She doesn’t need a constant reminder of what happened.”
Not that I have a fucking clue whatdidhappen…but all in good time. None of us are going anywhere—the piles of snow outside the window and the howling wind will make sure of that. I’m more convinced than ever that this area will lose power soon.
At least that will make it harder for people to come looking…and they’ll definitely come looking.
I guide Haven to my bed and ease her under the sheets before scooting her to the middle of the mattress. I fetch another blanket from my closet and throw it over her, tucking her in tight. She’s still got a towel wrapped around her damp hair, and I leave it in place.
Once I’m sure she’s as warm as she can be at the moment, I change out of the clothes I wore to The Hollow Point, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a loose-fitting long-sleeved shirt. It’ll be too warm for me to sleep in with the fireplace cranked to high, but the heat’s not for me.
It’s for Haven.
I fetch two bottles of water out of the fridge, setting one on each nightstand, and switch off the lamp on my nightstand. With only a single lamp illuminating the room, everything seems exaggerated.
The snow outside seems to glow. Haven’s body looks twisted and deformed beneath the bulky blanket, like I nestled a monster under the sheets instead of the sweet, broken girl Kai brought to me tonight.
And when Kai comes out of the bathroom naked, shoulders bunching as he towels dry his hair, he looks larger than life.
When he spots me at the side of the bed, looking at him, he drops the towel to his crotch.
“Walk-in closet, first shelf on the right,” I tell him.
He backs up slowly, disappearing into the closet to fetch a pair of sweatpants. I’m already sliding in beside Haven when hecomes back. He hesitates again, and I gesture him over with a flick of my wrist.
“Get in behind her.”
“Right. Body heat,” he mumbles.
He might not be half-frozen like Haven, but whatever happened tonight took a massive toll on him, too. He gives his hair another violent toweling-down, then tosses the towel into the bathroom and limps over to the bed.
The mattress shifts under his weight, rocking Haven’s cocoon against my chest as he inches closer to us.
I lift the sheet, finding his arm and dragging it over Haven’s naked body. Then I slide my hand down his hip, gripping him and tugging him against her.
“Jesus, she’s freezing,” he mutters, shivering.
“Exactly.” I shift closer, tucking her arm between my chest and hers, sliding a leg between her thighs.
Kai recoils when my leg touches his, hesitates, then brings it back so her limbs are sandwiched between ours.
Haven makes a sound that almost sounds like a sigh, shivers, and goes silent. We don’t say a word, both listening to the sound of her breathing growing steadier and deeper.
