Page 13 of Stone Cold Touch

“But—”

“I saw you in your bra just yesterday. Remember?” When he pointed that out, it wasn’t as though my argument for modesty was valid. “You were around Dupont?”

I nodded, swallowing hard as he lifted my sweater. “I was out trying to spot a demon. You know, to figure out if I could see anything different around them.”

“Dammit, Layla, you could’ve asked me. I would’ve gone with you.”

The sweater being tugged over my head and off my good arm hid the face I’d made. “I wasn’t going to engage the demon.”

“Yeah, that’s a moot point when a demon obviously engaged you.” He didn’t even check out my lacy pink bra as he gently eased the sweater down my left arm.

I sucked in a breath when he reached the wound.

“Sorry,” he grunted.

“A demon didn’t engage me.” The wound was angry looking and bloody, and I forced myself to look away, focusing on Zayne’s bowed head. “I’m not even sure I saw one.”

He was quiet as he worked the sweater completely off. Reaching over, he grabbed a quilt, draping it over my front. “Then who did this to you?”

I reached up with my uninjured arm, wrapping my fingers around the necklace. “A Warden.”

His head swung toward me and his lips parted. “A Warden did this?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen him before,” I said, breathing in deeply as he gently inspected the wound. “He grabbed me as I was walking to meet up with Nicolai. I did nothing to instigate it. He just came out of nowhere and I tried to get him to understand I wasn’t a threat, but he came at me.”

“Shit. This was an iron blade.” Tension radiated off Zayne as he pulled back, fingers covered in my blood. “Did you shift?”

“I started to when he got me with the knife, but... Bambi came off me then and...oh God, Zayne, I tried to stop her, but the Warden—he wouldn’t listen.”

He stilled as his gaze flicked up, meeting mine. “What happened to the Warden?”

I shook my head slowly, not wanting to say it. My stomach roiled. “Bambi...she ate him.”

Zayne stared at me. “Atehim?”

“Whole. Like gobbled him right up.” A choked laugh escaped me as I ducked my chin. Strands of hair slipped forward over my shoulder. “Oh my God, this is so bad. I think it’s the Warden from the New York clan. Tomas? The one they were talking about downstairs. I mean, how many unfamiliar Wardens would just be roaming around D.C.? And that means Dez knows him and is probably his friend and I like Dez. He’s always been nice to me and now my pet demon snake ate his friend and I—”

“Whoa, slow down, Layla-bug. Okay? It might have been him, but there’s nothing we can do about that. He came at you and Bambi defended you. Enough said.”

“Yeah,” I breathed, knowing the other Wardens wouldn’t see it like that.

“Stay here.”

Like I was going anywhere bleeding and shirtless?

Zayne disappeared into his bathroom and returned quickly with two damp towels. He soaked up the blood in silence and the act...ah, it reminded me of when Roth had cleaned me up in his apartment, which made my chest ache as badly as my arm and this whole situation about a thousand times worse.

“How badly does this hurt?”

“It stings.” I watched the array of muscles moving under his shirt.

“Where’s Bambi now?” he asked, glancing to where the quilt covered my chest and belly.

“On me.”

He arched a brow. “Is she invisible now?”

I cracked a smile. “She’s wrapped around my leg at the moment. I think she’s hiding.”

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