‘Don’t.’ He snatched up the razor. ‘Ever.’ He turned and took another razor off a nearby shelf. ‘Think.’ He opened the bathroom cabinet and pulled out several sharp objects. ‘About that.’ He shut the cabinet. ‘Again.’ He wheeled around to face me, eyes ablaze with a thousand different emotions. We glared at each other.
‘I wasn’t actually going to,’ I countered. I lowered myself back onto the edge of the bath, defensive and rechecking the mental barriers around my mind.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Just hurry up and get washed. I’m not taking my eyes off you any more.’ He left, slamming the door.
‘Fine!’ I shouted after him. I dropped my towel with a humph and slipped into the water. It sent tingles dancing along my spine, and I involuntarily closed my eyes.
If he thought I was going to allow that stupid monster called Ilta Crimson get to me, then he better think again. At least, that’s what I’m going to kid myself into thinking.
I flipped my wet hair back, having washed it twice and scrubbed my skin three times. My feet squeaked as I crossed the bathroom floor, but I didn’t feel clean.
I opened the door to my room, to the sound of a tinkering guitar. He stopped as I walked in, his eyes following me as he sat on the edge of my bed. I walked towards the wardrobe, intending to find some warm socks.
‘I meant what I said about not taking my eyes off you,’ he called after me.
I flopped down on the bed, unravelling the socks as I did. ‘You can sit down,’ I answered, as he jumped up, backing away a little. ‘I don’t bite,’ I continued. He chuckled and sat back down on the other side of the bed.
‘No, but I do. Nice socks, by the way,’ he said, raising an eyebrow at my fluffy bright yellow socks and continuing to mindlessly twiddle with the strings on his guitar. ‘You seem perkier than earlier. Most people would have broken down if they were in your situation.’
‘I’m not most people. Why should I let it bother me? It happened and there’s nothing I can do about it …’ I trailed off, wondering why I was even telling him this.
He continued to pluck the strings. ‘Hiding it isn’t always the best option.’
‘I’m not hiding anything.’ He just looked at me. ‘What is there to hide? I should have listened to you and realized he was bad news, but I didn’t. It’s my fault.’
He set his guitar aside, meeting my eyes – it was a difficult gaze to break away from.
‘Don’t say that. It’s not true and you know it.’
‘It is. Anyway, why should you care?’
‘So you don’t want me to care? Well, in that case, I’ll just go.’ He slid off the bed and made for the door.
‘That isn’t what I meant. Please, don’t go!’
He stopped, whirling back around. ‘I won’t go if you tell me why you’re so afraid of being alone.’
I sighed, fiddling with the loose bits of fluff on my socks, wishing he would douse the fire because I was starting to sweat again.
‘Well?’
‘Because he’s coming back,’ I muttered, feeling my cheeks become warm and not because of the fire.
‘He would be an idiot to do that.’ He laughed. ‘You don’t need to worry about that. He would never get across the border. Honestly,’ he added, seeing my face, which I knew was disbelieving. You didn’t hear what he said, I thought. You don’t know how he said it. He meant it. He wants me dead.
‘Stop laughing.’ I grabbed a pillow and chucked it at him. He, of course, caught it, and threw it back. It hit me square in the chest and I winced as it rubbed against the healing wounds. My eyes examined them, and so did Kaspar’s.
‘They’ll heal.’
‘I wish they would just go.’
He frowned, picking his guitar back up. ‘They don’t look that bad, you know.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘They do.’
‘Don’t.’
‘Do!’
‘Don’t!’
‘Get your shoes off my bed!’
And so it continued for hours, until the sun began to set. Relentless, pointless, witty banter exchanged back and forth until both of us had used up just about every comeback in the dictionary of sarcasm. It masked what was brewing beneath.
It was not until Kaspar reached across and switched my bedside lamp on that I realized how late it was.
‘Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?’ Kaspar asked.
I yawned. ‘There’s your answer.’
He nodded slowly, but the silence was broken by a vibrating buzz. Kaspar darted up like he had been stung, pulling his phone from his jeans pocket. His eyes scanned the screen for a moment, before he cursed.
‘What?’
‘Look, I am going to have to go. There is something I have to deal with.’ He got up off the bed, slipping his phone into his pocket again.
‘Don’t leave me! I don’t think I can sleep if you go,’ I pleaded, holding back the tears. The darkness was closing in, and every corner of the room seemed menacing. Outside, the sound of the wind roaring through the trees was chilling, because I knew what those trees could hide now.
His eyes widened. ‘I have to sort this out. I’ll be back as quickly as I can, okay?’ He flitted out the room. Feeling very exposed, I rushed to the basin in the wardrobe, turned on the tap and began splashing my hands and face with freezing water.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Kaspar
‘Kaspar!—’
‘Charity,’ I sighed, finding her standing against the frame of my door, looking completely overdressed in a short black cocktail dress.
‘Where’ve you been, darling? Your mind is completely blocked off!’ she whined, walking up to me and wrapping an arm around my waist. I felt my eyes go red, as lust pumped around my body. Behave, Goddamn it.
She placed her hands around my neck, and her lips brushed my ear. ‘I have something special planned.’ Her hands ran themselves down to my chest, pausing on my abs. ‘Something very special …’
‘What type of special?’ I grunted, forcing my voice to stay steady. Her fingers were tracing the waistband of my jeans, teasing me as I became hard. At least try to behave. She linked a finger through a belt loop, pulling me into my room.
‘I’ll tell you when you tell me where you were,’ she insisted and I grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. My eyes moved to her br**sts, so ample they bulged out of the dress.