I was on a roll now, every pissed-off thought since I’d arrived here spilling out of me. Brandon had done more than just hurt me physically tonight; he’d shaken loose some long suppressed darkness, my past coming back to fucking haunt me.
Arms wrapped around me, gently, and then I was being lifted and carried bride-style to the shower. I wanted to fight him. I fucking hated being carried like this, but I was barely able to stand, so I let Alex baby me.
Just a few minutes.
I promised myself that I’d just take this moment of leaning on someone, and then I’d be back. The shower was turned on, but I couldn’t see anything because my face was buried in his chest. When it was warm, he stepped in, shoes on and everything, and held me under the warm spray. Spray that felt gentle, like he’d adjusted the pressure so it wouldn’t hurt my injuries. I mean, my cuts burned like bitches, but otherwise, it was almost soothing.
A sob escaped, but I sucked it back inside, hoping like fuck that Alex hadn’t heard me. It wasn’t the pain, I was well-versed in that; it was the degradation. It was submitting to that fucker. That bothered me on a level I doubted I could explain to anyone.
There was nothing I hated more than being weak.
Fucking hell, I was still in my bloody, soaking uniform, which was a total dead loss. Where I’d come up with the money for a new uniform, I had no idea. Right now, though, I just wanted it off.
“I can take it from here,” I said softly, and I was surprised when Alex’s chest rumbled.
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
Something unraveled just a little in my chest, the icy hold my emotions had on me thawing. “I’m going to be fine,” I told him, some slow breaths escaping as I got myself further under control. “I’m no stranger to pain. I just need to soak for a bit.”
Alex’s chest rumbles seemed to increase, and I wasn’t really sure what part of my statement had upset him more until he growled. “Why are you no stranger to pain? Who hurt you before today?”
My chuckle was dark. “How long do you have?”
Alex set me on my feet, and I balanced myself against the wall, wincing at the agony that shot through almost every part of me.
“Do you have pain killers?” Alex asked, and I was surprised he let the “who hurt you” thing go. “A medical kit?”
“Yeah, in that top drawer.”
I pointed it out and then sank to the floor, cradling my body as the hot water ran over me. This close, I couldn’t miss that the water that hadn’t drained yet was bright red. Blood was dripping everywhere, over all the walls and down to the floor.
Holy shit. That was a lot of blood, and I was pretty sure Claudette hadn’t dropped that much animal blood on me.
Brandon was a dead man.
Slowly, painfully, I stripped the wet fabric from my body. I was past the point of caring whether Alex saw me naked. After all, he’d see what I was packing under my uniform sooner or later. Would have been nicer under different circumstances, though.
Alex popped his head back in, a towel around him as he dried off, before he handed me a glass of water and two small pills. “I’ll be back,” he said shortly. “Someone is knocking on your door.”
My head was pounding so hard that all I could do was nod before swallowing the painkillers and praying they’d kick in soon. This would be the first time I’d been hurt like this and wouldn’t have to suffer with the pain and insomnia for days. I’d actually have some relief.
I must have passed out for a second or two before the shouting jolted me back to consciousness.
“You left her in the fucking shower like that?” Rafe demanded. “She could drown.”
“I was with her until you knocked, like the stalking fuck you are,” Alex shouted back. “Now fuck off, dude, you’re not welcome here. I can take care of Violet. She’s my girlfriend.”
Rafe’s voice lowered, but I could have sworn he said, “Not if I can help it.”
There was a scuffle, and normally I’d have dragged myself out of the shower and covered up with a towel or something. But I was still covered in blood, hurting, and I wasn’t sure I could actually move. Rafe suddenly appeared in the shower door, and I swear to god his face was built of thunder and rage.
“Hey,” he said softly when I got my eyes open. Alex stood behind him, glaring, but he didn’t move closer. “I need you to tell me everything that happened.”
There was this undertone, and I could see Fallen Angel in both his voice and face. Fallen Angel, who doubled as the bringer of death. His gaze didn’t move from my face. Not even for a sneaky peek at my tits like I’d just seen Alex do from the corner of my eye.
Maybe I was being too cynical; he could have just been looking at my injuries.
“What happened is your fucking girlfriend tried to have mine murdered,” Alex snarled.
Rafe didn’t move, his gaze still on me … or more accurately, on the blood draining into the shower around me. As it swirled, the dark, midnight depths of his irises were swirling, too. “Claudette was involved?” he said, ice coating every word.
I nodded. “Yes. She spilled blood on me so I—” A cough wracked me, and I wrapped an arm around myself when my aching ribs protested. “I was going to my room and got ambushed by Brandon.”
“How did he get the drop on you?” Rafe demanded. I blinked as the ferocity of his tone; I’d never seen him like this. “There’s no way that’s possible.”
It made me feel slightly better that he respected my fighting that much.
“He knew about last Friday,” I said softly, hoping that Alex couldn’t hear. “I think he had a camera to try to catch me out.”
Realization slammed hard into Rafe, judging by the set of his jaw and the stiffness in those broad shoulders. “He’s gone from the academy. From the Switzerlands,” he growled, and I knew without any doubt that he would follow through. “His time here has ended, and he’ll be lucky if he can find an alley to live in. I will destroy him.”
Searching deep, I found strength I previously hadn’t been able to grasp. “No,” I said, with force.
Alex protested immediately. “What? Violet, we have the power to hurt him. Let us do that.”
Rafe’s head shot around so fast, I was surprised he didn’t wrench his neck. “We are nothing, Alex. I’m not part of anything you do. This is on me. I will destroy Brandon.”
“No!” I said again.
Rafe’s fury spilled over, filling the room with an energy that almost drowned me. But it didn’t scare me. Not even a tiny bit. “Brandon is mine,” I said with steel in my voice, glaring to remind Rafe exactly who I was. What I was capable of. “He doesn’t even understand what he started, but I promise you, I’m going to end it.”
Alex scoffed. “You’re tiny. How will you destroy him alone?”
I could hear other unsaid shit in his voice. You’re a chick. You’re poor. You have no power. Blah blah blah.
Rafe didn’t say anything like that though. He just watched me with that dark-hooded gaze, gave me a nod, and then in a flash he was gone.
It didn’t bother me though. Rafe and I got each other when it came to things like this. Alex, I could already tell, didn’t understand, but that was okay. He provided something else.