Chapter 140

The Prey

He set me down gently on the bed and the mattress sank under me as I stared at the floor, at nothing. My legs burned. I knew I shouldn’t be that reckless, but I didn’t flinch. I didn’t care. The part of me that cared was dead. I believed so.

I watched as he disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of water running faintly reached me. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t come back, that he’d leave me there to deal with the mess I’d made.

But he returned with a first aid box in hand but wearing a mask of indifference. He didn’t speak. Didn’t meet my eyes. Or he simply didn’t want to. Maybe I was not worth it.

He knelt before me. His dark presence pinned me against the void. I flinched when he lifted my foot with care and rested it on his knee. The sting of his touch against my burned skin sent a jolt up my spine, but I stayed silent, watching him through a haze of confusion.

Why?

Why did he care?

He dabbed at the burns