Page 69 of Vengeful Princess

“No doctor,” she croaked eventually. “I’ll…be fine.”

Before I could second guess myself, I pulled out my phone and called Landon. It was early, and he was probably still asleep, but I gave no shits. I couldn’t leave Thea in this state. If she had any open wounds, she was at risk of tetanus or another potentially lethal bacterial infection.

The mere thought of an infection made me shiver with distaste. I hated hospitals. Nasty, germ-ridden places.

Thea’s eyes had closed again, but from the way she winced every time her chest rose, she wasn’t asleep.

“Why the fuck are you calling me?” Landon grumbled when he finally picked up.

“I need your help with something.”

“This better be good! I was in the middle of the most amazing dream starring…”

“Thea’s room. Now.”

“Thea?” Now he was wide awake. “Why are you in Thea’s room, Milo?” He didn’t sound happy.

“Doesn’t matter why. Get here.” I ended the call and dropped my phone on the carpet. When I looked up, Thea watched me with her good eye.

“Who…the…fuck…did…you…call?” From the way she clenched her fist, I had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking. Thank God she was in no position to fight me on this, or I’d be toast.

“You can’t stay like this, so I called Landon to help clean you up.” I gestured at the state of her, trying my best to ignore theskimpy top she wore. It didn’t cover much, and underneath all the filth, her skin looked deliciously smooth, like silk.

“I’m not good at…touching girls.” Embarrassment made me want to claw my face off, but I fought against it, choosing to focus on her body instead. She might be black and blue, but it didn’t detract from her sex appeal. Not at all.

My fingertips itched to explore her curves. Test out all the ways I could make her moan and writhe for me.

It wasn’t until she stiffened that I realized I’d popped a boner.Bad Milo.

“Sorry,” I muttered, socially aware enough to know that getting hard while Thea was so badly hurt was pretty fucking terrible by any standards. She must think I’m some kind of animal!

“It’s OK,” she rasped. “And thank you…for…helping me.”

A sharp rap at the door interrupted anything else she might have said. When I cracked it open, Landon pushed in, closely followed by Kyril.

“Why’s he here?” I asked Landon, but he was too busy staring at Thea in horror. “Who did this to you?” He was at her side in an instant, reaching out to grab her small hand.

When I turned back to Kyril, his face was like thunder. Kyril never gave a shit about anyone. Certainly not a woman. Yet seeing Thea in such a state obviously bothered him.

Reading facial expressions and cues wasn’t easy for me, but even I could tell Kyril was on the verge of a meltdown. The tension in his bulky frame, plus the way he kept clenching his fists like he wanted to punch something - or someone - gave it away.

“Tell me who and I’ll kill them,” he rasped.

Thea made a good attempt at rolling her eyes. “Forget it. One dead body…is enough…for one night.”

“Um, what is she talking about?” Landon voiced what I was thinking, but neither Kyril nor Thea responded. Hmm. Kyril was hiding something. From the way his clothes stunk of smoke and roast pork when he came back earlier, I figured he’d stopped for food at some hole-in-the-wall place, but maybe the explanation was a lot darker.

“It’s not important right now,” Kyril said eventually. “We need to clean her up and check out her injuries.”

Landon shook his head. “Help me lift her. Milo, get the shower nice and hot.”

37

Thea

My whole body hurt. It had been a while since I’d taken a beating as bad as this. How I’d even made it back here to college was a mystery. The finer details of my trek across the moor were hazy at best, although I did vaguely recall falling into various ditches and wishing I was dead a few times.

Right now, all I wanted to do was swallow some heavy-duty painkillers and sleep, preferably until my body healed. But with three large guys crammed into my small bathroom, it didn’t look like sleep was going to be an option for a while.

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