“She hasn’t run. She wouldn’t, Darius,” Kalen told Darius as I heard everyone searching for me in the halls outside the bathroom. My face heated at the idea of them finding me in this state. Yet, I was in too much pain and too embarrassed to ask for their help.
I wiped my bloody tears. I knew I was smearing blood over my face, but what else could I do? The tears wouldn’t stop, just like the damn shredding wouldn’t. My stomach felt like it was twisting in knots. I would be stuck like this for at least the next twenty-four hours, although I wasn’t sure since I had avoided this for six years on the run. If this were anything to go off, maybe, it would last longer.
“Fucking find her!” I heard Darius scream angrily at someone before hearing Tobias’s voice, and my stomach dropped.
“Can anyone else smell blood?” he asked.
Darius’s yelling was cut off. I listened to the bathroom door jiggle. My heart beat frantically in my ears as the door was pushed open.
I stood up, trying to find an escape, but found none when I heard it creak open all the way. I held my hand on the cubicle door. Tobias growled, and the sound was more like a savage beast.
“Get him out!” Darius snapped at someone.
“Is she hurt?” I heard Kalen ask, and my cheeks flamed when I heard one of them sniff the air.
“Aleera, I know you’re in here. Open the fucking door. You don’t just run out of my class,” Darius growled.
“I said get him out!” Darius roared. I heard a struggle, then the door shut as Lycus was pushing who I assumed was Tobias out of the room.
My lip quivered; my vision blurred worse and tinged red.
“Aleera, open the door,” Darius snarled, pulling on the handle. A sob tore out of me as I panicked, looking between the gap that went to the next cubicle over, but I was not going to fit through it.
Darius growled before kicking the door. It flew inward, and I screamed at the bang before dropping down and trying to cover myself. Blood coated the floor and me, my hands covered in it from trying to clean it up, and Darius gasped. Yet I couldn’t even look up to meet his gaze. I was far too embarrassed.
“Is she alright? What is it?” Kalen asked.
I looked up to see Darius just staring at me before looking over his shoulder at Kalen, whom I couldn’t see.
“She is fine. Just go,” Darius told him.
“What?” Kalen asked.
“I said go. Go check on Tobias,” Darius told him.
“What? No. Aleera?” Kalen stepped closer, coming into view. He gasped as he peered into the cubicle.
Darius growled at him, but Kalen pushed past him before reaching for me. I pulled my bloody hand away from him when he tried to grab it. Kalen looked over his shoulder at Darius, and I swallowed at the pitiful look they both gave me.
“Find her some fresh clothes,” Darius murmured, putting his hand on Kalen’s shoulder, who didn’t look like he knew what to do. Hell, I didn’t even know, and it was my body. Kalen nodded before rushing off.
Darius crouched down, and I looked away from him. “This is why you wanted the devil’s bane. You weren’t running, were you?” Darius asked. I swallowed and nodded, and he sighed.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he murmured, and I looked at him, horrified at the thought of stepping out of this cubicle.
“I am not going out there. They will see me,” I panicked before pressing my face into my knees. However, the tears wouldn’t stop making this already gory scene worse.
Darius moved beside me before I felt his hand smooth down the back of my hair. Never in all my life had I been so embarrassed. I was just glad this didn’t happen in the mess hall; I thought that was the most embarrassing thing I would face.Oh, how wrong I was. Darius sighed when I felt arms go underneath my legs and behind my back, making me jump and try to move away from him.
“Stop, don’t. I’m bleeding all over you,” I cried, flustered.
Darius ignored me and just scooped me up off the floor. “It’s just blood. I’m not squeamish,” he murmured, pressing his face into my neck.
I looked at the mess on the floor, knowing someone would see it when I felt his skin heat. He moved his fingers, the tiles catching on fire. The blood staining the floor evaporated and burned off the tiles before I felt the room shudder. He turned, stepping through a portal and into the bathroom attached to our rooms. He sat me on the edge of the bathtub before turning toward the shower, just as Kalen suddenly rushed in with towels and clothes before coming over to me. He cupped my face in his hands.
“It’s fine, nothing to be embarrassed about,” Kalen whispered before kissing my forehead when I noticed Darius started stripping his clothes off. Kalen glanced out over to him, and he bit his lip.
“Find some feminine products. Surely we have something here she can use until I can take her to town,” Darius said.