Page 28 of Princess Broken

“Why did you do that?” I ask him.

“What did he do to you?” Flame is beside me in a second, and he flicks back his wet blond hair with a quick head movement. “Did you fucking cut her? Already?”

I suck in a sharp breath.

Without responding, Blade slides onto his back, floating away from us. Blade may have only cut my hair, which will grow back in a day, but Flame implied it’s only a matter of time before I feel the sting of Blade’s knife cutting into my flesh. The threat shivers through me. Even if I heal quickly, I certainly feel pain.

Brushing back my hair, I shake the fear from my head. “Blade didn’t hurt me,” I tell Flame, who looks like he’s planning to attack his friend. “He…” I shake my head. “It was nothing.”

Whatever went on between Blade and me feels private, and I’d like to hear an explanation directly from him, before discussing it with the others.

I turn in the water, taking in my surroundings. As my ears foreshadowed, a stream of water is falling into the pool at the far side, sparkling as if lit by a pinhole of light from above. The cave itself is very high, the hole we dropped through the only visible opening above.

“Done swimming?” Crusher’s voice echoes through the cave, bouncing off all the surfaces and making it hard for me to follow its source. But then I spot Crusher, standing at the edge of the large pool, arms folded over his broad chest. Behind him, Phil leans against the wall, staring down.

Glad for the distraction, I swim slowly to where Crusher and Phil are standing.

Both Flame and Blade reach the edge before me, and they use their powerful upper bodies to propel them out of the water and onto the rock, with so much force it makes my heart stop.

I’m about to do the same, perhaps a little less forcefully, when Crusher reaches down to offer me his hand.

Pushing down with one arm, I let him take my other, and he helps me out of the water as if I’m a feather. Unprepared, I fall against his body when I land.

“Sorry.” I push back, realizing my soaking wet gown has dampened Crusher’s clothes.

“No apology needed,” he says sharply, then turns toward an archway behind him. “Tour’s over for today. You’ll sleep in the guest room.”

“Okay.” My body nearly collapses at the word sleep. I might need blood, but my current hunger and exhaustion can be at least temporarily cured by a good days sleep. I wonder whether it’s day or night. I’ve completely lost track of time.

I follow Crusher, and the other three fall in behind me. This passageway is painted, and LED lights come on overhead as we move forward. It’s like the lights are racing us down the corridor, staying just a few feet ahead. The passage opens to a room and soft lighting comes on there too.

“Games room, living room, whatever room,” Crusher says. “We use this space the most.”

The decor oozes testosterone, and reminds me a bit of a games room my father frequented at the palace. The walls are padded with dark leather, the furniture’s leather too, and the room has the scent of whiskey and tobacco, even though I’ve never seen one of these vampires smoke.

A beautiful pool table sits to one side, its legs and base formed out of marble from the looks of it, and wooden pool cues hang in a rack against the wall. These four must trust each other, and anyone else they bring in here, to have such obvious wood weapons at hand.

Glancing around, I spot a ping-pong table, two dart boards and various other games on tables. At one end of the room sits a massive fireplace with an ornately carved mantle. Logs of wood sit next to it—more potential weapons if they’re real—but surely it’s all ornamental. We’re too far underground for a wood-burning fireplace.

“Guest room’s through here.” Crusher strides to a door at one side of the room, and then holds it open for me to pass through.

“Wow.” I turn, taking in my surroundings as soft lights come on in the bedroom. “It’s beautiful.”

“You know,” Phil says, “all this shock is starting to get insulting.”

I turn to apologize, but spot a grin on his face. “You picked out the colors in here yourself I presume?” I slip my hand over a lushly upholstered chair, its floral velvet fabric a mixture of soft pastels.

Phil grunts a short laugh. “N’ah. I’m more of a paisley guy myself.”

Turning, I smile at him, marveling at how we seem to have discovered each other’s funny bones, despite the overt animosity he’s shown toward me.

The bed is huge—bigger than any bed I’ve ever seen. It’s four-postered, and overlaid in a thick duvet, covered in robin’s-egg-blue silk that shimmers in the soft lighting and beckons me to snuggle myself under it.

Blade enters and hands me a long-sleeved black t-shirt, not unlike the ones they’re all wearing. “Something dry to sleep in,” he says. “Gonna be big on you, but should be better than your wet clothes, or…nothing.” His cheeks darken. Is Blade blushing?

“There’s a sink through there,” Flame gestures to an opening at the side of the room. “Afraid we don’t have guest showers or a bath, but we’ll give you privacy whenever you want to use ours.”

I nod.

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