I’ve killed someone. My breathing hiked up. I’d murdered Demi with my bare fucking hands.
“What the bloody—” Sinclair groaned, wrenching me to the present. “Briar!” he roared. “Elias, where the fuck is Briar!”
Sinclair flopped onto his back, hoisting himself upright just as I got into his view.
He stopped moving.
“Briar.” The relief in his voice was palpable. His focus snagged on my bleeding arms. I crouched in front of him and slid my fingers over the duct tape, trying to find the edge.
“Your arms.” He hissed out a breath. “That cunt Demi.”
I found the edge and tugged it.
“Where is she?” Anger flashed across his face.
I opened my mouth and closed it.
“Briar? What did she do to you? Where are Elias and Kyan?”
“They’re okay. Demi is outside the cabin.” I swallowed without elaborating. I finally got the tape to the end, but some of it was still wound around his arm.
“Briar,” Kyan shouted, his voice groggy. I let go of Sinclair, and he finished pulling the tape off.
“Go.” He jerked his chin in their direction.
I stood and shuffled to the bedroom. Kyan slumped against Elias’ side.
Elias cut off whatever he was saying.
I knelt beside Kyan and undid the tape and then worked on Elias, whose focus hadn’t wavered. He’d seen me lose it on Demi.
My face heated under his attention, and it made me twitchy.
Sensation was beginning to prickle my feet, and I shivered.
“Briar.” Elias’ voice was gentle, his tone so soft it made me want to hunker into my skin. “Are you?—”
I stood up so quickly I made myself dizzy. “I’m going to shower.” I shuffled away, panic squeezing my throat. He would tell them what I’d done. Would they look at me differently?
I swallowed with effort.
It wouldn’t matter, right?
But, God,it did. It mattered to me whether they still wanted me, and with what I’d done, I didn’t know how they’d react.
Sinclair was mid-shuffle, holding onto the wall to get inside, his ankles still cuffed.
“I can pick the lock, I just need something sharp.”
“I’m going to shower,” I blurted and ran past them, locking the door behind me. I yanked on the water. Hopefully, the spray would drown out my vomiting. I bent over the toilet, and bile dripped. When I gagged again, nothing came out.
Once I spat, I straightened and flushed the toilet, shucking off all my clothes and climbing under the hot water.
My hand shook as I squirted soap into my palm. It wouldn’t be enough. I lifted the bottle and squirted it on my head. Then I set into rubbing every inch of my body with hard swipes. Suds mingled with a pink tint, and I closed my eyes, scrubbing under the water. Only when the pink was gone did I stop rubbing my raw skin.
“Are you okay?” Elias’ soft voice echoed through the door.
“Yeah, almost done,” I shouted back. If I didn’t finish up, they’d all be in here. I shut the shower off and wrapped my hair and then my body in towels.
