Perfect.
Untying the blindfold, I met his eyes in our reflection in the window. The glass blurred our forms into one, precisely how I craved for things to be.
Embracing him from behind, splaying my palms across his torso, I swept my lips against the abused flesh on his shoulder line. “Are you okay?”
“Uh…” Panting, he quietened. “I think so.”
“Wait here.” A peck on his temple, and I strode to the bathroom. Keeping the lights off to avoid shocking him out of his dizzy state, I dampened three towels in the sink and wrung out the extra moisture.
Careful not to aggravate the affected skin, I draped the cool fabric over his back and hooked the second towel around his hips to soothe the irritation.
“That was—” He swallowed. “I don’t know what that was.”
Reining in my laugh, I dabbed the sheen of sweat off his forehead, and then wiped the dresser clean of any residue of our games.
Zion zeroed in on the two black floggers resting on the piece of furniture. “Where did you learn that?”
“Damia,” I said, strolling to the closet made to fit the entire wall.
“What?” He whipped around, the towels falling to the floor in a heap around his bare feet.
“She experienced this once, thought I would like it, and connected me with her…let’s sayacquaintance,” I shared as I dug into the shelves filled with his and Kali’s clothing. “A few lessons, a couple months of practice on willing subjects”—I threw Zion a pair of navy sweatpants and a pale-blue hoodie—“and it turned out that she was right; I quite enjoy doing this.”
One foot inside the sweatpants, Zion paused, focusing on the uncomfortable bulge in my pants. “What about you?”
“This was not about me.” I shut the closet’s sliding door, hiding the meager outfits in it. Kali still hadn’t procured enough clothing for herself—the dozen items collecting dust on the shelves were a far cry from what she used to have before Zion had incinerated her wardrobe. “Same as with Kali.”
“Oh, shit.” He hurried to finish dressing, his hoodie failing to conceal the emerging spots of discoloration on his neck.
Nowhere near enough to satisfy me. But I shoved that thought away, instead asking, “What’s wrong?”
“I swore to Ava I would come to Vice to take over the watch from her. Jayla’s shift ends before Kali’s.” Finishing lacing up his boots, he headed for the door. “You can’t come. They can’t see you.”
Nobody knew I was alive and not locked up in one of Ilasall’s prison cells.
“I’ll bring Kali back,” he said, then closed the door behind him.
Rubbing my temple, hoping it would chase the sudden sense of loneliness away, I trudged to the farthest of the three windows and leaned against the windowsill.
A pair of green eyes narrowed in on me as the furry creature stretched in the corner.
“Darkness.” I acknowledged the kitten with the name I had chosen for her during my absence. “Have you missed me?”
19
GEDEON
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
I lifted my head off the pillow, grogginess clouding my senses?—
A steady pitter-patter of flowing water trickled from the bathroom. Dimness spilled from the cracked-open door, but the shower sounds pacified my unease.
Zion and Kali must have returned from Vice.
Burying my face in the pillow, I listened to someone—most probably Zion—wash up. Realization I wasn’t alone anymore dissipated my bleariness.
Last night hadn’t solved our problems. The three of us had too many things left unresolved.
