Page 79 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘No. No one,’ Kade says. ‘Riley is... very private.’

The soap smells of juniper and sea salt.

The clawfoot tub is almost full.

‘Just you, then.’

‘Sometimes, yeah.’

‘Hm.’

Kade turns off the tap. ‘It’s ready.’

‘You go first.’

‘No, I’m...’ Kade swallows. ‘I’ll use the shower when you’re done.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah. I drew it for you.’ He gestures to the tub. ‘Your bath.’

‘Thank you,’ Lachlan says, a touch hoarse. All Kade can do is watch with bated breath as Lachlan pulls off his blood-soaked shirt, keeping his back to Kade as he bends to dip his fingers into the water, testing the temperature. ‘That’s kind.’

‘Those scars...’ Kade trails off.

There are so many and they’re so deep.

He’s never seen scars like them.

Lachlan reaches over his own shoulder to touch the highest. ‘Yeah.’

‘Why are they so deep?’

‘It’s pretty funny, actually,’ Lachlan tells Kade, unbuckling his belt. ‘The guy who gave them to me used something I invented. A strip of laminar alloy from the bulletproof curtains in the Cove.’

Kade stares. ‘That doesn’t sound funny.’

‘I guess not.’

‘Were they a punishment?’

They are very obviously a punishment, but he can’t not ask.

‘For taking Mimi outside.’

‘Away from the Estate?’

‘No, just outside,’ Lachlan clarifies, pulling off his socks after his boots. ‘Mimi had never been physically outside the Estate walls. No sun that wasn’t through glass, no air that wasn’t through a filter. No rain, no earth, no grass. I’d have let him whip me to the bone and peel me like an apple if it meant her getting to go outdoors.’

‘Why didn’t they let her outside?’

‘Everything in that place was controlled to an unnatural degree.’ Lachlan steps out of his pants, puddled at his bare feet. ‘You don’t have to stay.’

‘I want to stay.’

Lachlan chuckles. ‘You really don’t need to give me a bath.’

‘I want to,’ Kade says, firmer this time. ‘If you don’t mind.’