Chapter 50 Bruises - Adele's POV
My eyes popped open as I landed on something soft. I didn’t remember much of anything except being with Tyler. Oh, and that weird beast thing that attacked me.
It had been large with the most grotesque face. Its lips curved downward into a frown, but that did nothing to stop the fangs from being visible. It launched itself toward me, its long arms reaching for me and then…everything went dark.
I glanced to my left, finding Craven. He was staring at me with glowing red eyes.
“Sleep, Apple. You had quite the fright today and need to rest.”
“What happened?” I asked with a groan.
Craven’s eyes narrowed into slits as he studied my face, then looked down at my body. “A chimera came out of the woods. Tyler arrived just in time to keep it from hurting you and brought you back.”
His hand traced the side of my face as I saw the worry reflecting in his gaze.
“So that is what a chimera looks like? It was rather odd looking, but didn’t have wings or anything.”
Suddenly, I heard Darren clear his throat and realized we weren’t alone.
“Chimeras don’t have wings. They really are just a big mutt, basically. A mix of creatures. They love to eat everything, though, including other creatures in the woods and witches, like you.”
I turned my head in his direction, eyeing him. He looked worried as well, but then I noticed there was someone else in the room. Arwen was standing in the back corner, looking like a cat on a hot tin roof with how nervous he was.
Even his ears were twitching.
Another thought entered my mind unbidden. The three men I had kissed were standing right here, hovering over me with worried glances.
Part of me wanted to ask if they knew about it, but I kept my mouth shut out of fear I might be kicked out. Right then, I wasn’t ready to be on my own and I knew I wouldn’t survive this place if I was.
Not with everything going on and a possible killer on the loose.
“So, this blood isn’t mine?” I asked instead, glancing down at my clothes.
All three gazes moved to my body. Each one had a stern expression crossing over their features as they examined me without touching.
Craven was the first to speak. “Tyler said the blood isn’t yours. From what I can tell by scent, it’s not, but you need to clean up and get this filth off you. We would have ourselves, but we didn’t want to upset you.”
Upset me? Like that stopped them when I was carried naked to my room. I almost scoffed as I tried to sit up, but I fell back with a huff.
“In a moment. Why am I on the bed if I’m so filthy?”
“Arwen laid something down on top of the covers so we could make sure you were okay and unharmed,” Darren added. “We were going to wait until you got up.”
“That makes sense.” I tried to sit up again, and this time I was successful.
Craven held my forearm and steadied me as I moved to the edge of the bed. I was a little dizzy, but if that was all that I was, I was very fortunate, because I could have been that chimera’s lunch.
If I had still been living on the mainland, I would have said that was a fitting end. Since I live here now, I wasn’t quite ready to die.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Craven grinned and helped me stand. He stayed right behind me as I tried to wobble my way toward the door. The blood had made my clothes stiff, which in turn made it hard to move. I was a little sore from landing hard on my back as well.
I made it to the door and heaved in a deep breath. “Just a little further to go.”
The door swung open, thanks to Arwen, and I started out with another burst of energy, only to trip on my own feet. Right as I was about to land face-first on the hard wooden floors, someone caught me around my waist.
I was pulled into one of their arms. My eyes widened when I realized it was Brantley who had me.
“Oh, thank you.”
He smiled at first, then he took in the rest of me. His mouth turned into a snarl. “Who let you walk on your own like this?” His gaze suddenly snapped up to Darren, Craven, and Arwen. “You let her walk on her own looking like this? Why?”
“It’s not her blood,” Craven started. “She was doing very well getting around on her own and we don’t want to impede her independence.”
“So, you completely missed the bruises forming around her neck?” He looked back down at me, mostly focusing on my throat. “How could you not see them?”
All four of them grew quiet as their gazes remained on me. Apparently, they hadn’t seen the bruises and now that Brantley had so kindly pointed them out, they were all hyper-focused on it.
“Please, just let me down. I need to shower. Maybe it’s not that bad.”
I wiggled in his arms, but he refused to let me go.
“No, I’m going to carry you up the stairs to the bathroom. You are in no shape to walk.”
I huffed out a breath and stared at him directly in the eyes. “Brantley, I’m perfectly fine. The bruises are probably from falling when the chimera jumped out and surprised me. Nothing more. The blood isn’t even mine.”
Without saying another word, he turned to the staircase and started walking. I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his neck and hold on while he practically ran up them.
Once he reached the bathroom door, he gently placed me on my feet and took one step back. He watched me to ensure I wasn’t going to fall over before he seemed satisfied.
“Go clean up, but I’m standing right outside the door in case you need someone.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, thank you.”
My palm met the knob, and I twisted it with all my might. The door swung open, and I walked inside the bathroom without falling. I looked to my right, only to see a mirror that hadn’t been there before.
My long red hair was a wreck and looked more like a knotted mess. My face was pale, almost too pale. Then, as my eyes lowered, I noticed the bruise forming at my collarbone.
“Just lovely.”
I tried to check the rest of myself from where I stood, but all I saw was a bloody dress and a woman who looked like she had crawled out from the woods. It even looked like I had twigs in my hair.
“No wonder Brantley is ticked.”
“You got that right,” he called out from the other side of the door, startling me.
I just rolled my eyes and hobbled my way toward one of the tubs. Once again, I picked the furthest one from the door, though it didn’t really matter, I guessed. They were all equally visible from the doorway.
I eased onto the side of the porcelain tub and reached toward the knob to turn it on. The water gushed out, but it was freezing cold. It took a few minutes to warm up, and then I plugged the bottom.
While it filled up, I looked over at the cabinets. At some point, someone had cleaned the bathroom and put everything back in its spot. So now, I had to go find what I had used before.
My eyes roamed the shelf so I knew what I was going to get before I ever moved from the tub. It took me a minute to see where everything was, and then I made my move.
I wobbled toward the shelf and almost fell, but caught myself by holding onto one of the lower shelves. With a shaky hand, I reached for the shampoo, then a small bottle of something to put in the water.
I looked back over my shoulder at the tub. It was almost time to cut off the water.
“Fine.”
I walked toward the tub, keeping my steps slow as I approached. I set down the shampoo and the smaller bottle at the edge. It wasn’t all I needed, but I could only carry so much and keep one arm free to catch myself in case I started to fall.
I reached inside the tub and cut off the water with a sigh. “Well, at least I got this done.”
But when I glanced back at the door, I knew this wasn’t the end of it.