ROTTEN LOVE - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The pain is sharp and intense, but temporary. At first, I feel only his teeth at the base of my neck. Once deep enough, it's his lips I feel.
They are cold and unforgiving against my skin. The sensation is electric, sending tingles across my body.
I fall for the moment. My head tilts back only to be held uncharacteristically softly by stern hands.
My eyes are closed but the world around me seems to shift. It's like I am no longer at the cabin but back in the forest, a few moments earlier.
Trees surround me. I take the picture and observe every detail Maddox is showing me.
"Amica mea, over here," Maddox calls to me.
He is hunched over. I walk to him.
"What are you looking at? Did you find something," I ask him.
"Not sure. I was right at this spot when I lost control."
I get beside him in the same position he is in. I want to walk in his shoes. Once I'm at his level, I get chills. The hairs on my arms raise.
There is this familiar yet distinct feeling. The smell of mahogany is strong even though we are surrounded by pine trees. My heart dips.
"Mahogany," I point out to Maddox.
"This is a forest," he retorts.
"A pine forest."
He stands up, and observes around, "You are right. Didn't notice the difference."
"That's why we are here. To get a fresh pair of eyes," I reply.
"I love that smell," he replies.
"I've known you my whole life. Since when have you ever liked the outdoors or anything associated with it," I tease.
He raises an eyebrow at me with a smirk, "amica mea, I did grow up with that smell."
He gets closer to me and takes a whiff.
"What are you doing," I ask amused.
"You smell like it. Your blood does at least," he says.
"It?"
"Mahogany," he replies quickly with some sort of amusement in his voice.
Oh great. My childhood crush always thought I smelled like a tree.
I sigh, "I didn't know."
He continues, "Jason does too. I guess a family trait."
Could the leftover smell be from Jason? If that's the case, then they must have lingered in this area. I look around some more, moving branches and shrubs away.
But there is nothing. No other clue. Something must have triggered Maddox in this area.
I'm about to call it a dead end when I begin to feel light-headed.
Maddox comes to me, "I am taking too much. We need to stop."
"We have not found anything," I argue.
"We know that they were in this area for a while. That's a win. We will go back tomorrow and search the grounds in actual time," he tries to convince me.
I am not satisfied. However, I do not think I have another choice. I reluctantly agree.
Maddox's fangs ease off. Some of my blood pools at the site. I grab my head at the headache of returning to the present, stumbling back.
Maddox keeps me from falling. Still, in a daze, I did not protest as he leans back down to clean up his mess. His mouth closes over the wound. He flicks his tongue and sucks.
I distract myself from the sensation. A squeeze from my hand brings my attention to Marrisa. She hesitantly smiles at me and I half return it.
There is something not right about Maddox cleaning my wound while Marisa watches. I do not want to make her feel bad.
I clear my throat, "I think it's clean enough."
I hear a final slurp before Maddox picks his head up. He has remnants of me on his lips.
"A man cleans after himself," he straightens.
I feel lighter as I graze my thumb over his lips to clean my blood from him.
"You missed a spot," I poke.
I'm about to wipe my hand but Marisa stops me.
"It's a good thing he has a sister that picks up after him," she moves my hand to her mouth and sucks my thumb.
I would protest but her mouth has enclosed my finger already. She savors it. I make an exaggerated sigh.
Maddox flicks her forehead to stop, "you have never cleaned a day in your life."
My thumb is out of her mouth, but she holds my hand with both of hers.
She smiles then addresses Maddox, "Oh that's right."
I yawn in the middle of their back and forward. I am consumed with worry and exhausted. Maddox and Marrisa notice enough to stop talking.
"I can only assume we are not welcomed in the big estate. We will sleep here for the night," Maddox says.
I won't be sleeping under the same roof as Zain. He does not want to see me anymore.
Marisa enthusiastically wraps herself around me, "It's like a sleepover. We haven't had one in a while."
"Great," I try to match her tone.
It does not come across. She makes a displeased face.
"I'm sorry Marisa. I have so much on my mind," I explain.
"Sleep will help you. Let's go," she leads me up the stairs.
We walk up when I stop midway.
"Where are we sleeping? I am not kicking no one out of their room," I protest.
She answers, "They will be happy to give their room up for me."
I plant myself firmly on the stairs and lift my eyebrow. She sighs, "Fine. We will share a room with Adam."
I forgot to ask about him. He must be recuperated. Nothing against Adam but I don't want to share rooms with him and Marisa.
"I'm not sharing beds with y'all," I say amused.
"Don't be absurd. He will sleep on the floor while we share beds," she replies.
"You're going to make him sleep on the floor. He barely recuperated."
I notice a subtle blush. That was odd.
I probe, "How is Adam doing?"
"He is fine I suppose. He got his fill."
I raise an eyebrow, "he would need a lot to recover what he lost. Who was it? I should check on them."
"No need. I am okay. He did not need much," she answers as she resumes walking up the stairs.
I do not follow. I remain where I am at. She stops moving up. I will not let her gloss this over. It's unheard of for a pureblood to feed a vamp. They are sacred.
I say in disbelief, "I can't believe you fed him."
"Let's not make a big deal out of it. It was my fault he was down. I owed him. Plus, my blood is stronger. He got better with only a few sips," she looks at her nails uninterested.
I am not going to let her downplay this. It's a huge deal. I walk the few steps to her. I search her. I move her hair. I lift her arms but no fang marks.
"Where," I ask.
"That's not important," she slaps my hand down.
I laugh, "are you getting embarrassed?"
"Embarrassed of what? I couldn't have his fang marks on display," she counters.
Oh, this is good. Adam won't get her out of his head any time soon.
"Right. How unfortunate that you had to undress in front of him," I tease.
"Helena, I don't like your insinuation," she huffs and turns. Her hair hits my face.
"I am not sleeping in his room. I'm not interested in a threesome."
She smirks, "Not with us at least."
I grit my teeth, "Not with anybody."
The idea of Maddox, Zain, and I is nowhere in my head. Those two would never share. It's not in their nature. It never crossed my mind.
I mean, Zain would surely take charge. He would take me first. Maddox seems like the type who would get off-watching. Only temporarily. He would not be able to wait for long.
He would need me to service him even if Zain is not done. I would have my hands full with both of them. As I said, the thought never came to mind.
I hear someone clear their throat. Maddox walks past both of us. I shake my head from any lingering images.
"I already asked Adam to bunk with someone. We will take his room," he instructs. He has a cool demeanor.
"We," I question.
I have never shared a bed with Maddox. He was not part of our sleepovers. There wouldn't be much sleeping otherwise.
"I can't be more than a few feet away from you," he reminds me.
Right because I tethered him to me. We walk up. Marisa is going to be with us too but I am slightly anxious.
We get to the room. I excuse myself to take a shower. I borrowed some clothes from a member of mine. I simple nightgown. It's modest enough.
I get out of the shower and look myself once over through the mirror. I see my burned arms and new clawed back. Thanks to Jason I do not feel pain but my body is healing. I will have to keep putting ointment to minimize scarring.
I go back to the room. Maddox and Marisa are sprawled on the bed. I stop moving at the sight.
Maddox is shirtless with pants only. His arm is behind his head. He looks at me and smiles.
Marisa is fixing her nails. She has on a T-shirt. It fits her huge. It's not hers or Maddox's.
The shirt is not his style. He does not wear anything that isn't formal looking. I look at the graffiti-looking text. This seems familiar. It reads get some.
I laugh. This is Adams. I keep the piece of information to myself. Marisa might not realize it but Adam might be to her liking. I don't want to bring it up. It will scare her off.
Maddox regains my attention, "Teressa came in to drop off the ointment. It's on the nightstand."
I walk to get it. I look at it and realize I will need some assistance to put it on my back. I look at my options.
There is Marisa who will be eager to help. Too eager if you ask me. Then there is Maddox. Maddox will help but his touch may not be ideal.
I go with the lesser of evils, "Marisa can you help me," I lift the ointment in the air.
She taps the bed and I walk to it. She instructs me to lie down, belly flat. I feel her hands move the straps down. She lowers the nightgown so that my back is exposed.
I hug a pillow while she applies the ointment. She begins rubbing, "You should have allowed me to scrap with that wolf. Look at your poor back."
"It will heal. How is yours," I reply.
"You know it's not there anymore," she answers. I roll my eyes.
"You suck," I tilt my head to the side and eye Maddox.
He pretends not to hear but I see him eyeing me. He is stuck in thought.
I probe, "Penny for your thoughts."
He raises his eyebrow, "I can't believe I could have hurt you. I am sorry to the coven."
I see the distraught on his face. I grab his hand, "we will fix this. We have to. There is no other option."
"Promise me that if it gets to that point again, if I am going to cause you harm, then you will cipher Marisa and kill me," he says with ice in his voice.
It gave me chills across my body. I would never do what he is asking. I can feel Marisa's hand stop applying pressure. She closes the lid. I fix my straps and get on my knees.
She gets closer to me. We eye Maddox.
I answer, "The amount of magic I would need from Marisa, it would practically kill her. It will kill her."
"Marisa will give up her life for you," he looks at his sister.
She answers, "I die. Helena dies."
"That's why I ask for you to start figuring out how your mom did it. Untie Jason and you from us.," he requests.
There is disbelief in me. I would never do that. I feel Marisa get closer to me. She nuzzles herself to me.
I look at these two as they offer their lives for my safety.
It sets a fire in me. I will not lose anyone else. We will find Jason. We will reestablish the bonds and get them under control. We will be fine and we will go home together.
I huddle next to Maddox. He gets stiff. I place my head on his chest and wrap my arm around his torso. I lead Marisa to me. She wraps her arms around me and I smell her hair.
I see her relax as we all shift. I turn my back to Maddox and enclose Marisa. His front against my back. His arms close me in and we're outstretched to Marisa.
Despite not having my brother at this moment, I feel safe. Before I drift into sleep with my childhood friends, I answer Maddox, "I promise I won't make it easy for you to kill me. I will live and so will y'all. I promise that we will all go home or none of us will."
He did not answer but before I closed my eyes I felt a kiss at the back of my head.