Hunter looks torn, glancing with uncertainty from me to Edith. Something passes over his face when he sees me -- a combination of melancholy and frustration -- and then he nods. “Um… yeah, sure,” he says, giving the witch shifter a small smile. “That sounds good. Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Edith purrs, brushing past him as she saunters back to her living quarters. Hunter shrugs sheepishly before trailing after her.
I’m left to watch him go, brows knitting together. What was that about? I wonder. At the risk of sounding vain, I was expecting him to put up more resistance, if not because he got last dibs, then because he’ll be rooming with a virtual stranger. I swallow hard, telling myself not to overthink things. I’m tired and I’m not thinking clearly.
The others begin to disperse, Landon flops down on the couch, and it takes me a moment to realise I still don’t know where I’ll be sleeping. As if on cue, Silas puts a hand on my arm. “Do you want to bunk with me and Shade?” he asks tentatively. “No guarantees he won’t set the room on fire, but…”
I turn to him, relieved. “That would be awesome, Silas. Thank you.”
The dragon shifter smiles, hesitating for a moment before pressing a brief kiss to my hairline. “I’m going to go change,” he announces. “I smell like seawater, and not in a good way.”
Shade unceremoniously barges into our room, and I follow him, dragging my bag behind me. “Silas is right,” I say, dropping my stuff onto a chair by the window. “We’re disgusting. I think I might take a shower.”
The wolf shifter smirks at me. “Want company?”
I snort, rolling my eyes. “Nice try, Ivis.” Without another word, I grab a towel off one of the hooks on the wall and make my way to the bathroom. Everything will look better tomorrow, and this uneasy feeling will go away with some rest.
I hope.
Chapter 9
Silas was right. None of us are exactly camera-ready right now, perhaps me most of all. My hair is hanging in damp strings around my face, and I realise belatedly that I’ve been tracking ocean water around Mollie’s apartment, making me groan. I’m going to have to deal with that, but not now. Right now, what I need is a good cleaning.
The exhaustion starts to creep in again almost as soon as I get to the bathroom. How the hell did Edith cast a high-level spell so easily? Stop worrying about it, I remind myself. You’ve been doing this for less than a year. Instead, I focus on disrobing, my muscles feeling weak from our sudden flight. I feel like I’ve run a marathon, and when I close my eyes to check on my magic, I can barely sense it, like the well of power has been completely tapped out. Shifter magic is like a muscle -- the more you use it, the stronger it gets -- but my god, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. Getting my arms up over my head is enough of a challenge to my aching limbs, and I feel glued to my damp clothes, which aren’t exactly giving me an easy time. Wincing, I manage to pull my shirt off, and make the mistake of glancing in the mirror.
I look like a train wreck. My eyes are tired and bloodshot -- no doubt courtesy of sleeping on a motel room floor for the past few nights -- and my face looks gaunt and stressed. Worse, however, is the angry red mark that creeps up my left side, from my hip to just under my breasts. I don’t even remember getting injured, but the adrenaline of running from the Academy could have easily covered up the pain. In short, I look a mess, and I’m glad no one is here to witness my pathetic struggles. I’m supposed to be in charge here.
The bathroom is big, pristine, and the water runs hot from the shower head almost immediately. I’m grateful for that, and by the time I actually step into the large shower, I feel like I could practically fall asleep standing up. It’s only as the water rains down on me, washing away the dirt and muck, that the full extent of my injuries becomes clear: the impact from hitting the surface of the water must have really messed me up. I can only hope that I broke the surface tension in time for the others to avoid the same fate.
Closing my eyes, I let my forehead rest against the wall and breathe deeply for a few minutes, relishing the fact that we’ve made it this far. Still, I can feel the noose tightening, and no matter what Mollie says, we’re not going to be safe forever.
As for Edith… Maybe I just need to get to know her better, I reason. The dynamic has shifted with her around, but for better or worse, she helped make me what I am today, and I owe it to her not to shut her out just because she wasn’t at the Academy with the rest of us. It might take some time, but it’s not like we have anything better to do while we’re hiding out here. Resolving not to let my uncertain intuition muck things up, I’m able to start cleaning myself, luxuriating in the feeling of finally being able to relax.
By the time I step out of the shower, I’ve managed to steam up the entire bathroom, and end up having to wipe some of the fog away from the mirror so I can rake a comb through my tangled hair. It’s only after I do this that I realise with a muttered curse that none of my clothes are clean; they all went in with me, and I have no idea where Mollie keeps her spare stuff. Groaning, I look around, and chance upon a fluffy white bathrobe hanging from a hook on the door. Good enough. I cross the room and bundle myself in it, giving my hair a quick towel dry before I finally feel ready to be seen by other people again. Letting out a long breath, I straighten up and open the door, pausing for a moment to return to the cabinet above the sink and rummage a little. Bandages, ointment, rubbing alcohol… I grab a bottle of ibuprofen and take three tablets, hoping that will take the edge off the pain a little, along with a disposable ice pack, before padding out of the bathroom, my dirty clothes tucked under one arm.
It’s cold in the hallway, and I can’t help the goosebumps that break out on my arms as I return to the room Silas, Shade, and I are sharing. The bed is enormous, but I’m not under any illusions that the guys will want to sleep together, so we’re going to have to dig up some sleeping bags. Shade seems to be elsewhere in the house, and I feel alone enough with the door shut to open my robe and crack the ice pack, relishing in the relief it gives when I press it to the mark on my side. My eyes slide closed, and for a moment I forget where I am…
A moment too long, it seems. An instant later, there’s the sound of the bedroom door opening, and a familiar roguish lilt hits my ears. “You know, Boots, you could’ve…” But his voice trails off when he sees me, half naked and scrambling to cover myself back up.
“Sorry,” I murmur, a blush filling my cheeks. “I didn’t know where you went.”
The wolf shifter stares at me for a moment before slowly crossing the room. I’m surprised to see that his grey eyes aren’t locked to my body at all, but rather the welt on my side. And there’s something in his expression… concern, I realise with a start. The Academy criminal is actually concerned about me. “When did that happen?” he asks, tucking his hands into his pockets.
Self consciously, I close the robe more tightly around myself. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell him. “Happened when I hit the water, I think.”
He hisses through his teeth. “They say it can feel like concrete.”