Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(12)

My night off?

Okay. What the heck just happened?





6. TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCE


To my surprise, Dominic and Maz didn't take me back to my cell in the dungeons. Instead, Dominic led us upstairs to the second floor. His hand was wrapped firmly around my upper arm and even though it appeared to be just another security measure, he was actually using it to support most of my weight. I wanted to ask him where he was taking me and what the hell he had said to Engel, but I didn't want to raise any suspicion in Maz so I kept my mouth shut and followed along in silence. Frankly, I was better off not talking anyway since it hurt to even speak.

We moved through a number of passageways until Dominic finally came to a stop in front of a black, leather chair pushed back against the corridor wall.

“Wait here,” he said, turning to Maz. “No one comes past this point.”

“You got it.” nodded Maz as he took his seat on the chair and smiled happily. I guess I’d be smiling too if I just dodged the kind of decapitating bullet Maz just dodged.

Dominic shifted his gaze to me and ticked his chin towards the end of the hallway. “Keep moving, Princess,” he said as he picked up my arm again.

I followed without fight or complaint.

When we reached the end of the hallway, Dominic turned to his right and opened one of the doors.

A large, royal bathroom greeted me like a scene straight out of my latest dreams. Stone walls and dark, mahogany cabinets planked either side of the room, leading up to a beautiful Victorian bathtub at the center of it.

Dominic pulled me into the bathroom and then promptly shut the door behind us.

“What is this?” I asked, still clutching my ribs as I looked around, lusting over the cleanliness of it all.

Even the shiny toilet made my heart flutter.

“It's a bathroom.”

I shot him a surly look. “I mean, what am I doing here?”

“You're going to take a bath, love, and when you're done, you're going to sit down and eat a real meal for once. Courtesy of moi.”

“You're joking, right?” My eyes were pinned on the tub. I couldn't even remember how clean, warm water felt. I imagined it would feel like heaven against my savage skin. “How did you pull this off? What did you say to him?”

“Never you mind that. The clock is ticking,” he said as he strolled to the tub and turned on the water.

As if that was happening. “Dominic.”

“Must you always be so stubborn?”

“Yes, I must.”

He glanced over his shoulder and fixed me with a look. “I simply suggested that he try playing nice with you for a while. For the sake of encouraging the bloodbond.”

“Oh.” I nodded, liking the sound of that. “Well, that was a good idea.”

“I know. Now get undressed.”

“Excuse me?” I stood there and gawked at him. “I'm not getting naked in front of you.”

“Why not?” He didn't bother facing me as he dumped an entire bottle of bubble bath into the tub.

“Dominic!”

A sultry chuckle escaped him. “Very well, angel. I'll turn around if that makes you feel better.”

“Sure. You can turn around and walk right out of the bathroom and give me some privacy like a descent man.”

“I'm a lot of things, angel, but a decent man isn't one of them. Besides, I'm on strict orders not to leave your side, remember?” He straightened out and faced me and I could see that he wasn't going to waver. He pushed his hands into the pocket of his black slacks and waited for my inevitable compliance.

I guess it wasn't so bad. At least I was with him, about to take a wonderful bath, and not alone in the dungeons with Maz and Damon standing guard outside.

Ugh. Damon.

I swallowed the lump at the back of my throat as I recalled how easily Engel had split him in two. If he could do that to a Revenant, I could only imagine what he could do to me. I shuddered at the thought of it.

“It's nice and warm,” coaxed Dominic, mistaking my body tremble for a temperature issue.

“Whatever. Fine,” I finally agreed, though it was a surprise to no one.

Grinning, he strutted back over to me, his eyes flitting over my face as he stopped just inches from where I stood rooted. His hand came up and gently caressed my cheek with the back of his knuckles.

I winced from the strange mixture of pleasure and pain.

“He's quite lucky he's dead already,” said Dominic, speaking through what appeared to be a clenched jaw.

“Is it that bad?” I asked and then looked over his shoulder to the mirror above the bathroom sink. I blinked into it, disbelieving my own eyes. I looked like a freaking monster! The entire side of my face was swollen twice its size and my right eye was sealed shut. “Oh, my God,” I cried out in horror.

“It'll heal, angel.”

“I'm disfigured.” I shook my head and stepped around him, moving closer to the mirror. The closer I got, the sicker I felt inside. I turned away, unable to face my own reflection. What had I become? I didn't even recognize myself anymore.

Dominic came up behind me. He wasn't touching me, but somehow, I could still feel him there.

“It'll heal,” he repeated, his breath tickling the top of my shoulder as he spoke.