Page 63 of Tortured Soul
“Let go of me!” I yelled right before my forehead connected with his and he fell back again.
“For fuck’s sake,enough!”
We both stopped as Arc walked in, holding Dimitri back. Dimitri’s red eyes were swirling, fists held tight at his sides, jaw twitching as he stared at Carter and the golden blood pouring from his many wounds and his nose.
But he didn’t say anything. It was Arc who asked, “What the hell is happening here?”
Chapter 20
Lola
Alot of things were confusing me.
After admitting that this whole situation washisfault, Carter became surprisingly quiet as Arc checked his already healing wounds, yelled at him and called him a brainless pigeon.
Margaret was unusually quiet too, although she did try to knock him out with the box that fell to the ground while we were fighting.
Arc kept giving me worried glances as Dimitri was fussing over me.
Fussing. My Nephilim hasn’t been one to fuss in a really long time.
“Are you okay?” he asked, inspecting my arms, wiping away the golden blood with a towel and warm water.
“I’m fine,” I said, unsuccessfully trying to pull my arm away.
And I was. For some reason, Carter didn’t even try to fight back.
“You’re not. There are bruises on your wrists.”
I winced, looking at the slightly purple handprints on my skin. The spots felt tender to the touch, but I knew from experience that these kinds of marks would disappear within a couple of hours.
“Have you seenhim? I mean, if someone deserves to be fussed over, it’s the one who’s bleeding out.”
Dimitri groaned and pulled me to him, sitting me on his lap as he looked over the bruises carefully.
“I’ve been here for a few hours, and I already know that he tried to beat you up when you first arrived and that he’s been pestering the Guardians to send you away. He can bleed out, I don’t care.”
My eyes studied his face then. The crease between his brows. The hard line of his jaw. The way the red of his eyes seemed alive and swirled angrily as his gaze drifted from my bruised wrists to Carter.
The dark circles under his eyes.
Everytime we reunited, it was like meeting him again for the first time.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice softer as his eyes met mine. “You’re not usually prompt to violence. Did he try—”
He interrupted himself, clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth. His arms circled me to cradle me against his chest. It felt like he was reassuring himself that I was here. That I was alright.
“Please, tell me he didn’t—”
“He didn’t.” I shook my head, locking our eyes. He was so tall that even sitting on his lap, I had to look up. “He was just being an asshole.”
He let out an anxious breath, glancing toward Carter and Arc.
“You’re not the type to get mad easily. There’s something you’re not saying.”
He was right. There were very few things that made me lose my shit. Someone calling him anabominationfor being born the way he was and falling to a curse he could do nothing against was definitely one of them.
“He insulted you,” I whispered, barely louder than a breath, and choosing not to say the exact word Carter used. “You know I tend to overreact when it comes to you.”
