Page 15 of Savage Queen (Blood Empire 3)

“Ah, no. She's tucked away up here,” I say, tapping my head. “Had to lock her in. She didn’t need to see some of that shit,” I say, then place the head on the table. “We should put this away before Rosie sees. I normally keep this stuff for the club, but I wanted to come home. I’m hungry, tired, and Idesperatelyneed a shower. Do you know how many washes it takes to get brain matter out of your hair? Too fucking many,” I say, turning to grab a glass from the cupboard. I turn on the tap and let it run cold.

“Don’t,” Evie says to one of the guys. “Not right now.”

“But-” Axel goes to argue, but says nothing else.Smart man.

“Queenie,” Evie says from behind me. I fill up the cup and take a drink, turning to see her approach me with caution like you would a wild animal. But she has nothing to worry about, I’d never hurt her.

“What up, E?” I say, wiping the water off my lips with the back of my hand.

“Whose head is that?” she asks.

“Oh.” I laugh. “You're never gonna believe it, but guess who Ididn’tend up killing during the club fire when we escaped?”

Her brows furrow in confusion before looking back at the head. She stares at it for a moment before turning back to me with a look of pure devastation.

“Harlow.” Her voice is laced with pure fucking pity, and I hate it.

“Not in right now, but if you leave a message, I’ll be sure she gets it,” I practically sing.

“Baby, please. Please don’t tell me he...” Her voice breaks off into a sob. I step closer to her, my playful mood gone. I’m ready to drop any moment, but they don’t need to see me weak. I don’t need or want her to feel sorry for me. “Don’t,” I warn. Tears start falling from her pretty green eyes. “Just. Don’t.” I want to tell her that Harlow was safe from this, but we both know it's not true. I may have been in the driver's seat for the worst parts, but we know the stubborn bitch was watching from within. I tried to protect her, but she and I are too much of the same person. Some days we hover on the same line of insanity. One day we’ll end up merging as one. That day may be sooner than I thought.

I leave them with the body parts, heading down the hall to my room and straight to my bathroom. Turning the water as hot as I can stand, I get under and scrub my body until my skin is red and raw. But no matter what I do, I can’t get the feeling of him off me. Maybe I never will. Maybe I never have.

When my flesh is sore to touch, I grab a pair of sleep clothes. I’m hungry, but I’m too tired to eat. Ineedto sleep. But I don’t crawl into my bed. Instead, I leave my room and head down the hall.

“Mama?” her little voice asks as she blinks her sleepy eyes open, while I slip into bed next to her.

“Yeah, my sweet Posy, Mama’s home.” I pull her into my arms, and she snuggles in close, her little hand gripping my shirt tightly like I might slip out and leave again. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head as I hold her tightly to me.

Everything can wait until the morning; this is exactly what we need.

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