Page 67 of Haunted Prey

I glanced at Emery. “Not exactly. There was a security guard…”

Emery’s eyes narrowed, a shadow casting over his features. “What did he do?”

I bit my lip. “He tried to pull me from the tree and twisted my arm.” He grew still, a murderous look now in his gaze and I knew what he was thinking.

I remembered, not long ago, the box with a pair of eyes from someone who had pissed him off—or the kid who got glass in his face just for getting in his way—because Emery had lost it. I could fully imagine what he wanted to do to that guard for hurting me.

I felt the heat of his gaze even as I turned back to Andrea. “One of Lena’s friends in nursing school said it’s just a minor sprain.”

“Well, I’ll be the judge of that,” she said. Andrea took off the sling, slowly placing my arm at my side. She pressed her fingers along my shoulder, then moved my arm gently one way and another to gauge the pain. I felt the sharp ache as she bent it a little back but the pain had noticeably gone down.

“Lucky for you, the student was right,” Andrea said, keeping a steady hand on my arm. “Still, I’d use the sling for at least another few days. I’ll give you a cold compress and some ibuprofen to help.”

I thanked her as she helped me put back on the sling. She checked my side to make sure I hadn’t cracked a rib or hip bone in my fall and deemed everything intact, just bruised. She turned to the cuts on my face next, carefully peeling away the bandages.

“No stitches needed,” she said after pressing her fingers along my skin, “That’s good. Most of the bleeding has stopped. Still, you’ll likely have a scar, shouldn’t be too noticeable.”

I felt cold. I looked over at Emery and met his gaze, unable to read his face. I thought of his skull-face smiling at me in the mirror and shuddered.

Andrea moved over to one cabinet and started taking out various medical supplies, soap, and cleaning cloth. “No sign of infection but best to clean it just in case.” When she washed her hands and set some of the supplies down on the little table next to the chair, preparing to clean and rebandage my face, Emery rose from his seat.

“Let me,” he said.

She stilled as she picked up a wet cloth then set it back down on the table. “All right,” she said softly. She moved toward Emery, getting close enough to whisper something I couldn’thear. I watched Emery nod and, for some reason, I got that sinking feeling again.

She’s just a motherly figure. Something he’s never had, I told myself even if it didn't make the sinking feeling disappear.

“I’ll go check on the others,” she said, stepping away. “I’ll bring a cold compress for you in a bit, Eve.”

She left us alone, shutting the door behind her. Emery didn’t say a word as he brought the stool over, setting it beside me. He took the wet cloth and scrubbed it with soap before sitting close enough that his knee touched my thigh.

My pulse quickened, my hand gripping the fabric of my dress. Being alone with him still affected me, made me feel a range of emotions that contradicted each other. What someone might feel when caught up in loving a murderous devil. A deep, awful longing mixed with undeniable fear.

I’d thought I’d stopped fearing him, but maybe I hadn’t. Maybe my fear had only evolved, morphed into something strange and confusing but completely unique all on its own.

Fear and love together was one fucked up mixture.

Emery reached out, taking my chin with careful fingers and leaning my head toward him. He pressed the cloth to the cut on my cheek first, dabbing away the blood.

Unable to help myself, I let my gaze drift back to his face, watching him focus on cleaning the cut. He was being so gentle. It made the sinking feeling start to lighten.

I knew I feared my ghost, afraid he’d hurt me, scare me like I’d once been scared of Emery’s demons. But as I watched him now, felt his heavy but careful hand on me, I knew I couldn’t stop wanting him either, wanting his touch to keep me sane, keep me here with him. This Emery, the one I knew who could be sweet, who would protect me.

It was like two sides of a mask. And I never knew which one I would see.

For now, I just wanted to let myself soak up this Emery, the one I lost in the water, the one I’d started to fall for when I shouldn’t.

His gaze locked to mine when he noticed me staring, and I could see there was some unspoken emotion raging behind his eyes.

I swallowed. “I’m still not sure,” I said. “If you're really here or it’s my mind playing games.”

Emery’s hand froze. “I’m really here, baby,” he answered softly.

I closed my eyes, focusing on his touch. God, how I wanted to believe it. But there was that small part I couldn’t shake that it would all slip away.

He continued to clean my face, washing away the dry blood. Afterward, he applied some kind of gel to help with the scarring. His thumb slid across the cut over my cheek, and I could just feel the lightest sting. Once he finished, he carefully covered it with a clean bandage, then moved to the cut over my eye.

“It started in Severfalls,” I continued after the long pause… “Seeing you. Right after you dropped into the river.”

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