The House (46 page)

I almost
panicked as Eddie pulled them off my ankles. He had broken contact
with me entirely to do so and I found my hand reaching out to him.
I found his leg within reach and settled on that. I didn’t want to
hurt him. I had come to myself enough by then to know that if I
held on as tightly as I wanted to it would hurt. I could apparently
punch my hand though a vampyre; I could certainly bruise his leg
with the strength of my hand.

He half lifted
me into the shower. My bra and knickers were still on though, which
I found odd. Apparently he didn’t want me to think he was being
forward or taking advantage. By that time I just wanted to be
clean. I hadn’t had much modesty to begin with and the terror of
the night had all but stripped it from me. I just couldn’t get my
hands to work enough to remove them myself.

I heard a soft
keening noise as I struggled with my bloody bra. It was sending
more rivulets of blood down my skin than I already had on me. It
took me a few seconds to realise that I was the one making the
noise. It was soft and pitiful. The sound of a broken heart. I
didn’t stop when Eddie finally got the bra off me. At least it
hadn’t had enough blood in it to stick to me.

I almost left
my knickers in place but I didn’t want any reminders of the night.
They would have to come off eventually. I knew that. A part of me
decided that they had to come off right then and I sort of managed
on my own. I had to lean on Eddie for support. He held me securely
and he didn’t make me feel weak. He let me struggle through on my
own. He never let go either, for which I would be eternally
grateful. I felt like my contact with him was the only thing
holding me down. Keeping me grounded and sane.

The water ran
pink down my body, reminding me of what happened when I dyed my
hair, but the colour wasn’t quite the same. The water itself wasn’t
enough to get all of the blood off. Eddie took a rough sponge and
started to scrub me down. I was lucky that there wasn’t much blood
in my hair; it would be enough trouble to wash it anyway.

Before I could
get around to it Eddie started to unbraid my hair. It had more
blood in it than I initially realised. It knotted my hair horribly
and I feared that it might mean I had to cut it. I was very
attached to my hair; after everything that had happened, that was
what nearly brought on a panic attack. I focused instead on the
feel of Eddie working through the knots.

He took the
shampoo and conditioner to my hair. The shampoo got the blood out
as well as it normally took care of the grease. The conditioner had
a detangler in it and got most of the knots out. A good comb would
finish off the rest. Eddie’s hands flowing through my hair relaxed
me.

I could ignore
everything else if I focused on that feeling. He hadn’t done too
badly in the end. There is also a limit to the amount of care you
can put into washing while still getting blood out. Especially when
the person the hair is attached to required constant physical
contact.

I found myself
leaning back against Eddie as the water ran clear. He held me next
to him and quietly shushed in my ear. It was oddly comforting.

“Come on.” He
picked me up carefully and took a towel off the rack. It wasn’t
mine, it was one of the white guest towels. He wrapped me up in it
and I felt the warmth permeate into me. I’d always loved the warm
towels in the House. It reminded me that I was home. I could forget
about everything else for a moment. I could pretend that life was
normal and that home hadn’t just lost all meaning for me.

The walk to my
room was short but careful. Doorways just aren’t meant to be walked
through by someone holding an adult in their arms. Eddie didn’t hit
my head or my feet as I curled up against his chest. I couldn’t
hear much of anything in the rest of the house. I was still in
shock. My ears weren’t working yet.

I was still
wrapped up in the towel when he put me down on the bed. He moved to
pull away but I dragged him down with me. I wasn’t ready to let go
yet. I didn’t want to face the nightmares that would happen if I
were left alone to sleep. If I even slept at all.

“I’ll get the
bed all wet, Trix.” Eddie’s voice held just a touch of concern that
made it easier to hold on to him. He felt safe. I just held on
until he sighed. “Hang on then, I need to get these trousers off or
we’ll get cold.” I knew that what he said made sense. I knew that
if we were wet the heat would disappear all the faster but it hurt
me to let go, even for a moment.

He tucked
himself in beside me quickly as if the air was cold. It wasn’t. The
heating was on and it was almost too warm in the towel and the
covers. I slid out of the towel as Eddie pulled it away. It was wet
and not very comfortable in bed.

Eddie was
mostly dry. He must have dried himself while I wasn’t paying enough
attention. My hair was still soaking wet but I was used to that.
Eddie was warm and comforting against me. It was nice, yet I still
couldn’t sleep. There was too much going on. Too much pain waiting
for me to close my eyes.

I ran my hands
over Eddie’s chest to distract me. His skin was smooth and the
muscles underneath moved as I touched him. It was like when I had
been memorising his face, if I could focus just on him and not
Marie or Talon I would be able to function. I traced the outline of
his abdominal muscles and over his ribs. I could feel his heart
under my palm, strong and steady.

I felt his
arms wrap around me. I had forgotten for a minute that Eddie had
been there too. He needed just as much comfort as I did and I would
try to give it to him. I held him as he held me. We pulled the
covers over ourselves. Still I didn’t want to sleep. If I allowed
myself to simply sink into the comfort of the warmth and Eddie’s
arms then I would have to face what had happened. I wasn’t ready. I
couldn’t live it over again in my dreams and stay sane.

I kissed him,
gently, on the mouth. I surprised him. I surprised myself. His lips
were soft and gentle but I didn’t want gentle. I didn’t want soft
comfort anymore; I wanted to lose myself in him. I had come out of
my shock too much for his eyes to distract me completely. I was
able to think far too well for my own well being.

I kissed him
again as I traced his chest with my fingertips. This time he kissed
back with more passion than gentleness. I threw myself into it,
letting my senses guide me. I could push my thoughts away and lose
myself in the sensation of him. Apparently Eddie thought the same
of me.

His hands
traced my body and I felt a thrill of power trail along behind
them. It was like when my power had touched his before. It wasn’t
an unpleasant sensation. It felt like a trail of fire along my
body. I wanted it. I wanted him. In that moment I wanted the power
and Eddie gave me what I needed. I didn’t have to think. I couldn’t
think. I could only feel. And the feel of it was good. It raged
through me and I found myself kissing him with more and more
ferocity. The power still managed to be secondary to the physical
feel of him against me.

I wanted him
inside me. I wanted to feel that fire burn through me. With a
thrill I wrapped my hand around him. He gasped between kisses. I
moved over him but it was too awkward and I fell back down. The
momentary break in contact sent my hands flailing like I had fallen
overboard. He took my hands in his as he laid me back.

Eddie kissed
me in a searing line down my body. I let my hands move with a mind
of their own over his body, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I
practically dragged him back up to my face. He couldn’t do what I
wanted, what I needed, all the way down there.

His body
pressed into mine and I felt the warmth and thrill of anticipation
spread through me. I manoeuvred myself underneath him so that I was
in a better position and took him in my hand again. This time I
gasped at the hardness of him. I started to guide him to where I
wanted him.

The feel of it
came at me in a rush. I was lost to the burning feel of him moving.
I found myself moving in time with him without thinking about it. I
didn’t need to think, didn’t want to think. I wanted to feel. I
wanted to lose myself in the feel of him until there wasn’t enough
of me left to think.

He finished
without me and I didn’t mind. It was the sensations I needed, not
the climax. We had both used up the last of our energy. He managed
to fall to the side of me without crushing me, just about, and we
lay there silently.

Eddie kissed
my forehead once and took me into his arms again so that he held
me. I snuggled all the closer to him. My mind was peaceful in that
moment and I let my eyes drift shut with no thoughts to influence
my dreams except the left over languid feeling permeating through
my body. This was what I needed, the warm haze that follows sex and
the heat of my lover next to me.

I woke up
feeling surprisingly refreshed. Eddie was still asleep. He looked
kind of cute lying there. I sighed. I had to face what had
happened. I wouldn’t be the only one in mourning and we should face
it together. I was still glad Eddie had been there the night before
though; I hadn’t been at all ready to face myself then. The
morning, or rather afternoon I thought as I looked out the window,
had given me more strength.

I slipped out of bed without waking Eddie. He looked to be
out for the count for which I was glad. It was going to be tough
enough on him and he needed his sleep. I was surprised by how
calmly I was thinking about it. I was sure that I would be angry
later...but I
needed
the last edge of shock to keep me going right then. I needed
to be strong.

I went
downstairs in my fluffy dressing gown. I just couldn’t find the
energy to put proper clothes on right then. The others were already
sitting around the dining table but there was no food out. It was
strange to see them like that. I didn’t remember many times that
anyone had ever sat in the kitchen without food.

“Are you
alright?” It was James and it took me a moment to notice that he
was talking to me. I nodded quickly and sat down with everyone
else.

“What
happened?” I asked. I had basically been out of it since I had
destroyed Talon’s mind. Or maybe I’d really been out of it since
Talon killed Marie. Although, looking back, I thought that my
madness may have started even earlier. The call to rush off and
mount a rescue had been so simple, so easy at the time. All things
seem obvious in retrospect.

Marlow looked
at me. He was the cheeriest of everyone around the table. He was
the least close to Marie and he had Shayana back. I couldn’t blame
him. “James and Hercules ripped apart Talon after he shot Marie and
you fainted. I don’t know what you did to him but he was screaming
like he was being tortured.”

“He was,” I
growled. Marlow just nodded.

“Your grandfather told Eddie to get you out. There was some
tension in the rest of them, like they didn’t want you to leave.
And we
will
get
to that later.” He gave me a pointed look. I was going to have to
explain myself to them, there was no other option, but I was going
to find out the rest of the story first.

I waved him
on. “After you left, the witches rounded every one up and just sort
of left us to ourselves. They took everyone away except the newly
changed girl.” He looked at me. “There wasn’t anything else we
could do, we...” He glanced up at the stairs and I followed his
gaze.

There was a
girl stood halfway down the stairs. She looked to be a teenager but
she didn’t look well. She was thin, almost emaciated. I realised
that she was the one who had been screaming in the warehouse. It
was a miracle she survived at all. I knew what they meant when they
said they hadn’t had any other options. The House was built for
troubled shifters, and it didn’t get more troubled than an underage
runaway changed by a homicidal maniac. It just meant that I would
have to look after her on top of everything else. A part of me
resented that.

I squashed
down the thought as soon as it surfaced. Marie was gone but I would
be damned if I allowed someone else to suffer for it. The thought
of what Marie would do to me if I abandoned the girl felt like it
could bring a smile to my face in a few weeks. Right then it just
gave me a deep sadness.

“Hello,” I
said carefully; I’d never had the best luck with newcomers. She
came a couple more steps down and I looked at her more closely. It
wasn’t the change that had left her ill. She was a runaway and had
probably been living on the streets before Talon found her. The
malnourishment looked to be years in the making. Then again, maybe
it was less than that. I’d never lived on the streets. It made it
even more of a miracle that she had survived the change.

She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she reached
the bottom of the stairs. Her hair looked like it had been cut into
a bob that had grown out. It was a dirty blonde colour that managed
to be just as pretty as a true blonde. She
was
pretty – young, but pretty. It
made me wonder what else Talon had done to her.

There wasn’t
any protection for teenage runaways and the prettiest girls got the
worst of it. They were preyed on the most. I was hoping that she
had only been on her own a few months rather than the years I
suspected. It was, however, a question for another time, when I had
won her trust and she had found a home here. There were more
immediate things we needed to know.

“What’s your
name child?” I asked her. A moment after I said it I knew it
sounded a little too old-fashioned and maybe slightly patronising.
I couldn’t backtrack gracefully so I smiled at her instead. I
really didn’t want to mess this up. Marie was dead and I felt it
all the more for this girl being here. We had more than just
ourselves to take care of.