Page 104 of Power of Shadow

“What the fuck?” Eli’s words reach me. He doesn’t see Ash yet; he’s looking at me.

I thought it was my inner beast growling, but I guess it came out of me, out of my throat. I’m that beast.

“Jesus Christ, Ash. What happened to you?” Zoe spots her sister. She approaches her slowly, but Ash takes a step back.

Is she in shock?

“It’s nothing.” Ash waves her hand. “What’s going on here? What are you all doing here?”

My fists clench, and I take two steps forward. Ash immediately glares, raising her hand to stop me. Her eyes are hard, as if she’s saying, Don’t mess with me right now.

But I can’t.

I have to see with my own eyes and touch with my own hands to make sure she’s okay, that she’s not seriously injured.

“Your sister is out of her mind!” Eli yells, losing his temper, and Zoe turns to him. “She thinks she’s in Mission Impossible!”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, already,” she snaps. “Nothing happened!”

Eli grabs the ends of his hair and yanks. “Nothing? Nothing?! I killed an innocent guy for you so the Pact wouldn’t track you down. That’s nothing to you?”

I roll my eyes because I can’t believe how smoothly these two have gone back to fighting each other, forgetting about Ash’s state, when she’s the only one I see.

Ash’s eyes are fixed on them, which perfectly opens the way for me to get to her. Before she can stop me again, I’m face to face with her.

Her slow reaction tells me she must have taken some serious blows.

My fists open, and I raise my hands to Ash’s face. They’re shaking, but I hope I’m the only one who can see it. I gently brush the strands of hair from her face, looking at the scratches.

“Tell me what happened,” I whisper to her.

Eli continues to argue with Zoe. Their exchange annoys me.

I continue to examine her below the neck. She only lasts so long before I start to lift her shirt, then she pushes my hands away and looks at me with anger.

“I’m fine, damn it. I already told you. It’s not my blood, Ryker.”

I can’t shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong; she’s not telling me everything.

“Are you playing without me, my Little Killer?” I try to keep my tone light, even though I’m boiling inside.

“No. I went to see Alex, and someone jumped me.”

“Oh, fuck off already!” Zoe yells, and a moment later she’s standing beside me. “Sis?”

Ash tries to calm her down. “It’s just a few scratches. I’ll go freshen up and join you in a little while.”

“But—” Zoe doesn’t give up when my girl heads for the bedroom.

“I said I’ll be right back!” This time, Ash raises her voice.

Zoe glances at me, confusion mixed with concern in her eyes. Neither of us understands what happened, and the fact that Ash doesn’t want to talk about it doesn’t sit well with me. Doesn’t she understand how much this affects me?

The muffled click of the bedroom door breaks the silence of the apartment. My gaze follows the sound, weighing my options. Should I respect her decision and ignore what happened? Should I stop worrying about her?

No way.

“Fuck it,” I growl and head in that direction.