Part of me kind of wished the silver had killed Ray before things got this complicated and I started feeling empathy for a demon.
Because look where it had gotten me.
I hobbled my way back to my apartment, without the coffee I had set out to get, but with a series of cuts and bruises I didn’t seek. Fuck, I ached, my muscles screaming in protest with every step. I’d had worse, and I’d recover from this. A good long bath and maybe another bout of ill-advised drinking and some painkillers, and I’d get through it. I never wanted to rely on alcohol to pass through pain, physical or otherwise. But the humiliation of this entire situation was beginning to pile on my shoulders.
How could I have gotten myself so badly tangled in this damn situation? Whoever Ray had pissed off obviously thought I was involved somehow, and now I was dragged down into her shit.
Footsteps came running up behind me, and I hissed through my teeth as my training took over. I ignored the pain, dropping into a defensive stance and pressing my back against the warm bricks of the building behind me, hands raised and ready to strike.
“Ilsa, what the fuck?” Ray trotted up to me as I dropped my hands, my shoulders slumping as my guard was dropped and exhaustion took over. Her eyes raked over my body, and when she lifted a tentative hand to touch the bruises and blood on my face, I slapped her hand away. I didn’t need the sympathy in her expression nor any of her help. None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for Ray and my weakness toward her.
“Don’t touch me. Just get the fuck away from me!”
Ray backed off, only half a step, and I hated that I cared about the confusion and pain in her eyes. Up until now, this whole back and forth with us had been nothing more than a game to her. But this wasn’t a game anymore. It never really was, and she needed to understand her actions had consequences.
“This is your fault, Ray!” I felt close to tears, and I let them burn against the back of my eyes and throat, refusing to allow them to surface but using the anger they fueled. There was no way I was going to let her know how much she had gotten to me. Dragging me into her bullshit and not having to deal with the fallout.
“My fault? How?”
When I pushed myself from the wall, I stumbled slightly as I moved toward her and angrily shook off her hands as she reached out to steady me when my limp got the better of me in my weakened state. Pressing a fingertip into her chest, I glared at her. “They think I’m with you… they came for me. They wanted me to tell you to back the fuck off because you’re obviously pissing off the wrong people.”
“Ilsa—”
“Don’t say anything, Ray, just stay away from me. Stop doing whatever you’re doing because it’s getting out of hand now. People are getting hurt. I’m hurt.”
Moving to turn away from her, she gripped my arms, regret flashing across her face when I hissed again as she aggravated my already aching muscles. My back and shoulder blades were grazed from the gravel of the alleyway as I tried to fight the men off, knowing I had no chance but having to fight anyway. Cleaning those wounds was going to be a barrel of laughs.
“Ilsa, let me make things right,” she said.
“How do you propose you’re going to do that?” I scoffed out.
“Firstly, I’m going to take care of you as you did me. Secondly, we’re going to stick together until we find whoever did this.”
“Why should I have to stick around while you sort out your mess?”
“Because they obviously already think we’re together. Do you really think being alone is a good idea?”
Pressing my lips together, I glared at her. I know she noticed the way my shoulders slumped and how I leaned my weight ever so slightly against her grip, trying hard not to, but with every passing second, my body screamed louder at me to stop. Because I needed to rest, and I knew she was strong enough to hold me.
Because I wasn’t afraid of her anymore, and she could keep me safe.
I hated I found comfort in that.
Ray was right about sticking together, and I hated that even more.
What the fuck had I gotten myself into? I simply wanted to protect this neighborhood, even those who didn’t necessarily deserve protection. Apparently, even that comes at a cost, no good deed and all that.
“What are you proposing?” I asked, grinding my teeth together against both the physical pain and embarrassment of this whole fucking situation.
“We’ll stay at your place. We’ll work together, and then when it’s over, if you don’t want to, you’ll never see me again.”
“Why my place?”
She bit her bottom lip, but there was a sparkle in her eye. “I don’t have a place. I just kind of move around. We’re instinctual beings. I need sleep, I lie down. I need food, I eat. I’m not fussy.”
“So you can sleep on the floor then,” I said.
“I don’t even qualify for the couch? That’s rough.”
“House rules. Humans on the bed, dogs on the couch, demons on the floor.”
It took all my remaining strength not to shudder at the way she looked at me, her bright teeth on display with the grin and a dangerous glint in her eye. “We’ll see.”