Nocturnal (The Noctalis Chronicles 1)

“Let's get you cleaned up.”

“Okay.”

I sit on the tub as Peter bathes my cuts and scrapes with alcohol. It stings, and I bite my lip so I don't make a sound.

“This doesn't bother you, does it?”

“No. The blood is dried. The life has left it.”

“Oh.”

I don't talk about the elephant in the room. Di. We both know if she wants to keep him, and get rid of me, she's going to poke a hole through that promise. There are always loopholes. I know enough by being the daughter of a loan officer.

I don't want to think about that tonight. I don't want to think about how Ivan teamed up with Peter and Viktor and protected me. I don't want to think about explaining the scrapes and how tired I'm going to be and how behind I am in school and how I'm going to have to tell my mother about Peter. I can't keep it from her any longer.

Once I'm covered in antibiotic cream and an entire box of band-aids, I get back into bed. Peter sits beside me, almost nervous-like.

“Come here,” I say. He leans over. I rake my hands in his hair, pulling it away from his face.

“Are you going to kiss me?”

“If you want.”

I blink at him. He smiles.

“I will take that as yes,” he says.

Yes.