He holds it delicately between two fingers.
“Good that you’re awake,” he says, tone shifting into something much more focused. “I wanted you conscious before we handle the last part.”
“…The what?” I croak.
He taps the packet lightly.
“I need you to put this inside your vagina,” he says.
My soul briefly leaves my body.
“Excuse me—“
“It’s a probiotic suppository,” he continues. “You had a lot going on in there yesterday, and I don’t want you dealing with a pH imbalance on top of everything else. This will help prevent infection.”
From the floor, Mark makes a muffled, utterly disgusted noise, like someone just described open-heart surgery.
Cassian doesn’t even look up as he leans down and smacks the back of Mark’s head.
“Don’t make that fucking noise,” Cassian mutters. “It’s basic anatomy, you absolute manchild.”
Nathaniel presses the pill gently into my palm. “Go put it in. Then come back. We need to leave in five minutes.”
My blush reaches my spine.
But I take it. Because of course I do.
This body has needs. Consequences. And apparently, even when I forget that, Nathaniel doesn’t.
I push myself up, blanket slipping, and grab it with one hand. I head for the bathroom just as Talon steps out, toothbrush in his mouth, cheeks puffed with foam. He leans against the doorframe.
“Hey there, sleeping beauty,” he purrs around the toothbrush. “Sleep well?”
I ignore him and storm inside, shutting the door with more force than necessary.
There, I do what Nathaniel told me to do. Fast.
Then I brush my teeth with a toothbrush that’s already waiting for me.
I stare at myself in the mirror and exhale.
The person looking back blinks like she’s still not sure she exists.
My hair is smoother. My skin looks less dead. My eyes look… wildly alive, in the worst way.
I’m really living the reckless life here, aren’t I?
Let’s see how far that will get me.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if all those wraiths came to life while we’re out here?” Talon asks as we climb back into the car.
Funny isn’t the word I’d use. Tragic, maybe. Predictable, considering the trajectory of our lives. But not funny.
Cassian doesn’t say anything. He just turns the key.
The engine rumbles to life.
The sky is bluer today. Almost like it could be a nice, pleasant day. That is, until it hits me: today we’ll reach the murderers, and we still don’t know exactly where or when.
