clean as the last time I was in this space. Someone’s been staying in here, which is weird since wasn’t I supposed to be the one staying in here? Well, before I tried to kill a lamia with a pool cue, that is. That same comforting scent touches the air in the room. And I look at Siah, questions clear in my gaze.
He rakes his hands through his brown hair and steps back from me. “Um, this is my room,” he tells me, and my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline in shock. “I was surprised when he announced this is where you’d be staying. I don’t know if he was doing it because he thought you’d be more unsettled having to stay with someone you thought had betrayed you or if he suspected our connection even then,” he explains.
I think about what it could have meant for a beat and then decide I don’t care. Adriel’s dead now, and I don’t need to spend time trying to unravel his fucked up mind. I step further into the room. Bastien, Knox, Valen, Sabin and Torrez all pile in behind me, and I look around the space, even more curious now that I know who it belongs to. I don’t know Siah well; he’s kind of a hot ball of mystery at this point, and I don’t spot anything around the room that further clues me in to the different facets of his personality.
I look back at my guys, glad that it’s just us for now. I’m antsy with the need to see Ryker and ensure with my own eyes that he’s okay. Enoch and Becket are down the hall in Sorik’s room, and Kallan headed off to find Ryker and send him our way when he saw how many of us were in need of healing.
Knox and Bastien both whip off their shirts and wipe at various wounds on their chests and torsos with towels that Siah hands out. I try to do the same, but I wince with pain as I try to pull my shirt higher than the bottom of my ribs. Valen comes to my rescue and helps me take off what’s left of my ratty, stained sweater. I smile at him, and he gives me a peck as he pulls his shirt over his head. He turns to toss it on the ground, and I see a massive cut down his back that’s bleeding. I hiss at the sight of it.
“You look a hell of a lot worse than me, Vinna, so don’t go getting any ideas to shove me at Ryker first when he walks through the door,” Valen warns.
I would probably argue if I couldn’t feel warm blood dripping down my front and back right now. I place my hands on Valen’s back and shove Healing magic into him. He gasps as my teal magic surges through him, and I can feel all of his injuries as they quickly heal. The cut in his back knits together, and when I can’t sense so much as a bruise anymore, I release my hold on my magic. A wave of dizziness hits me, but I mask it.
“Ryker can heal us, Vinna. Save your energy,” Valen scolds.
“You were bleeding, and you’re welcome,” I snark, and he rolls his eyes at me.
“Thank you,” he tells me with a cheeky smile and then flicks my nose.
Sabin chuckles at our exchange and then calls dibs on the shower. He sprints through the doorway Siah motions to before Knox or Bastien can rob him of it. Torrez blinks into a man, and Knox groans his dissatisfaction.
“Abracafuckyourself, sparkle wand, I’m a shifter. This”—Torrez smiles and motions down his body—“is part and parcel. Just don’t look at my dick if it intimidates you.”
I crack up and immediately regret it. Now that adrenaline isn’t flooding my system, I can feel every bruise and scratch. “Sparkle wand,” I repeat on a giggle, and Knox glares at me playfully.
“You let Ryker call me Squeaks,” I challenge, and he cracks up.
“Yeah, but Squeaks is so cute and accurate.”
“Sparkle Wand is cute too,” I argue, loving how his face cringes at the name.
“But it’s not accurate. Do you need me to pull out my wand and remind you, Killer?” Knox wags his eyebrows at me, and my stomach gets all fluttery. Torrez’s nostrils flare, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Keep it to yourself, Wolf,” I order as I reach out and place my palm on Knox’s huge