I can’t wait until the day I can carve every inch of skin from Marston George’s bones.
I drop the cloth when I realize it’s a lost cause. No matter how many tears I wipe away, more keep coming. The moment I give up, Aurelia angrily swipes at her cheek and then stares at her wet fingers in disbelief before her astonished and broken gaze meets mine. “Why is it that Zeke is the only one who seems to know how to make me cry?” she whispers. “Is it a good thing or a bad thing?”
“I suppose it depends on the reason. Turn over.”
Aurelia rolls onto her stomach while I grab the jar of Vaseline. I focus on gently spreading the jelly over the red welts that crisscross her inflamed skin. “How are you feeling?”
“Like my boyfriends are psychos and I’m even crazier for loving them this much?”
I grunt and move on to the welts on her thighs. When I’m done, I set the jar aside and move to sit against the headboard.Aurelia practically crawls into my lap, and I’m quick to arrange her so that she’s not hurting herself any more than we already have.
I hold Aurelia until she falls asleep and then I lay her back on my bed, carefully arranging her so that she doesn’t feel the sting on her ass before I climb from the bed and leave the room.
When I step outside of the cabin, Thorin is walking back into the clearing alone.
“He okay?” I ask once he’s within earshot.
“Sporting a giant boner that he didn’t want Aurelia to see, but otherwise fine,” Thorin answers tightly. His jaw is twitching, which means he knows something I don’t.
“All right. So where is he?”
Thorin shrugs and steps onto the porch. “Said he’s going to walk it off.”
I nod and take a seat on the steps. As soon as I do, I’m reminded of the promise I made Seth that I would protect Aurelia at all costs, even if it means choosing her first. Feeling myself torn in two directions, with one slightly more persistent than the other, I hadn’t really understood the gravity of what I was promising until now.
“I don’t remember him being this stubborn,” I blurt. “Do you?”
Thorin blows out a breath and shakes his head. “Not really. No.”
“Do you think we were wrong?”
“Well, he’s handling her being here a lot better than we thought, so it’s possible, but my gut tells me no. We just need to let him do this his way. In his own time.”
“That might be easier said than done.”
Thorin turns to face me at the gravity in my tone. “What did you learn?”
“Bane. He showed himself to Aurelia again. During her run with Zeke.”
Thorin is already shaking his head. “Not possible. She wouldn’t be alive.”
“And yet she came back without a scratch on her, which means we’re either dealing with a new alter altogether or Bane is evolving.”
“How?” Thorin barks. “There’s no stimuli for that.”
“Isn’t there?”
The color leaks from Thorin’s skin. “Aurelia.” We’re both quiet for a while before he speaks again. “But why? You think he—”
“Wants her? Maybe.” Thorin swears. “There’s something else,” he adds, and the look in his eyes makes my heart drop like an anvil into my stomach. “Zeke told me there was a gap in his memory during their run. He said it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but all he remembers is that Aurelia was fine one moment and then it felt like she was terrified of him the next.”
“Definitely Bane.”
“The bright side, if you’re looking for it, is that if our theory tracks, we may not have to worry about him hurting her, but I’m not willing to take that risk.”
“And if Bane is evolving, it doesn’t mean we’re safe. Somehow, I doubt that an alter who’s already tried to kill us multiple times will be down for sharing a girlfriend.”
“No.”
