Chapter 3 Little Girl
Grace felt her head pound when her eyes snapped open. She winced and grabbed her skull, wincing at the ache that came from blinking. Then, the memories came rushing back.
She wasn’t sure what she had seen… claws? Or maybe she just hit her head that badly. The question echoed in her head again, but softer and more distant, she groaned and rubbed her head and, it was then she noticed the bedsheets.
Grace blinked.
She was more aware of her surroundings now. The ceiling above her was high, white, and cracked in one corner. The air smelled like cedar and soap, clean but faintly smoky, as if someone had been near a fire. For a moment, she didn’t move. Her body felt too heavy, her mind too blank.
She sat up. Where the hell was she?
Sheets slid down her shoulders, silk against her skin. Her dress… God, where was her dress? Her eyes roamed the whole room and she found her necklace, which was lying on the bedside table, she quickly stretched and grabbed it not caring that the blanket had fallen revealing her white lacy bra.
She examined the necklace, the wire was bent and the glass bead cracked down the middle. She panicked because she was warned to take good care of that necklace.
Grace held the necklace and proceeded to get up from the bed, there was a huge wardrobe in the room and she wanted to check if her dress was inside it. The walls of the room were dark grey, lined with shelves full of books and vinyls. A single lamp glowed in the corner beside a leather chair. The hum of a city night came faintly through the half-open window. She swallowed hard.
“Where…” Her voice rasped.
It was then she heard water running, she turned towards the noise and saw it was coming from behind a half-closed door.
Grace’s stomach turned. The incident from earlier came rushing back without warning and she even fell on one knee because of how much her head hurt, she could practically hear Dylan’s sneer, the taunting, the mirror shattering. And, he was there…
She heard the shower shut off and she quickly rushed back to the bed pulling the blankets over her. The bathroom door opened before she could settle down, her heart was racing. Steam rolled out the open door.
And there he was.
Enzo stepped into the room like he owned every inch of air between them. Barefoot, towel slung over one shoulder, water sliding down his chest with hair covering his eyes. No shirt. No shame. Just him.
Grace froze.
He wasn’t the kind of handsome you found in magazines. He was sharper, rougher, as if someone had carved him out of smoke and shadow. His hair was dark and damp, curling slightly at the edges. She met his eyes, they looked almost black now, but she could swear she saw a sudden flash of gold in them. His jaw was strong, cut clean, and there was a faint scar near his temple and she wanted nothing more than to trace her fingers on it.
He didn’t look surprised to see her awake.
“You’re up,” he said simply, voice low and smooth, like velvet dragged over gravel.
Grace gripped the blanket tighter and narrowed her eyes at him. “Where am I?”
“My place.” He responded nonchalantly and crossed to the wardrobe grabbing sweatpants, but didn’t put them on yet as he rubbed his hair with the towel. “You passed out. I didn’t exactly have the heart to leave you in a pool of broken glass.”
She stared at him. “So you brought me here?”
“You’re welcome.”
She blinked at the sarcasm, then scowled. “You couldn’t take me to a hospital?”
“And tell them what?” He finally looked at her then, fully, his gaze steady with a raised eyebrow. “That you broke a mirror with your mind?”
She frowned. “Broke a mirror with my— what are you talking about?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he moved closer, stopping just a few feet away. The space between them felt charged, humming.
Grace’s heartbeat stuttered. She could see every drop of water tracing the lines of his collarbone, the faint shimmer of light on his skin. He was too close, too calm, and far too aware of the effect he had on her.
“Where is my dress?” She whispered.
He waited a beat before silently raising his right hand to point at the wardrobe, “They’re in there,” his voice deepened slightly. “You can get it.”
Her chest tightened. “I can’t…”
“You can’t what?” He didn’t let her finish, “You can’t get it? Last I saw your legs work, don’t they?” Grace’s frown deepened.
He hung the towel over his shoulders and put the sweatpants on the edge of the bed, “They’re alive.” He said, watching her reaction.
“What—?”
“The boys, the ones you took to nearly an inch of their lives?” He saw her eyes finally widen in understanding, “Yeah, those ones. Banged up, confused, but alive.”
Grace sagged in relief, then frowned. “How do you know that?”
He just smirked and reached for something on the nightstand, was it a phone, a set of keys, she couldn’t tell. “I made sure.”
That didn’t make sense. None of this did.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked quietly.
He shrugged.
She clutched the blanket tighter and pressed on, “Why?”
He glanced at her then, his head cocked to the side with one eyebrow raised. “You tell me.”
Grace narrowed her eyes but he stepped towards her, not seeming to mind that he was flaunting his nature’s goods everywhere, “What are you?”
Grace wanted to look away, but couldn’t. There was something hypnotic about him, about the quiet power under his skin. Her throat felt dry. She didn’t even realise her eyes had drifted lower until she caught herself staring and she instantly snapped her gaze up.
He caught the motion, of course, he did. And he smirked.
“Relax. You’re safe. I don’t take advantage of unconscious little girls.”
Her head snapped up. “Little girl?”
“That’s what you are.”
She flushed and her gaze drifted lower once more, she didn’t even realise she was biting her bottom lip. “You look not more than five years older than me.”
He tilted his head. “And?”
“I’m not little.”
His grin turned slow. Dangerous. “You’re not little you say…”
Her pulse jumped. “Yes.”
“Then prove it.”
He put his knee on the bed and she shrank back on instinct, clutching the blanket tighter as his shadow fell across her.
For some reason, that innocent reaction made him want to tease her even more.