Kissing Skulls *Revised*

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It was the shouting that jolted me awake.

Not the steam that covered everything, making me feel as though I were being boiled alive.  Not the tell-tale drip, drip, drip of water as it overflowed from the tub to splash down to the floor. 

Nope.  It was definitely the shouting, and—I winced at the sound of glass shattering—the throwing.  

Yep, the throwing was what finally pulled me from my drowsy daze. 

With a groan I sat up and fumbled for the faucet to shut off the water, even as I scrambled over the edge of the tub and hit the floor in a thud.

Note to self, I grumbled as I pull myself up by a porcelain edge.  Don’t ever fall asleep in the bathroom of the upper-rich penthouse of your sworn enemy whilst vampires are currently out to get you.  

That fact had my heart pounding like mad in my chest.  Had, despite Dustyn’s cryptic uber-caution, Serenity and Alexi still managed to track us down?

  When yet another yell cracked the wet trickle of dripping water, I was on my feet lurching for the door.

God…I just hoped Dustyn was okay.  I would never be able to forgive myself if I’d gotten him hurt.  We may have had our problems, but this—whatever violence was going on outside of the bathroom—had to be my fault. 

There was no time to worry about silly things like being naked I told myself.  But I still couldn’t help but grab a towel from a neat stack by the door as I padded out into the hall on bare, wet feet. 

My feet splashed through the inch of water that coated the floor.  I had to flail my arms out just to keep my balance. 

 I realized that I must have dozed off in the tub; long enough to send water spilling out over the wooden floor—it was everywhere.  I had to hug the wall for balance just to keep from falling as I tip-toed my way toward the foyer. 

Which brought up a very important point. 

  I didn’t know what I planned on doing, exactly considering that I was half-naked and dripped wet.  But that foyer was full of fancy weapons there for the taking—I would think of something. 

My body was tense, ears straining for Alexi’s mocking laughter or Serenity’s elegant drawl.  Instead, the piercing shatter of breaking glass exploded through the silence. 

Along with another shout. 

“WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS TO ME?”  The voice seemed familiar, but it took me a minute to recognize it.

It was Dustyn’s—but he sounded so angry that the shock stopped me dead in my tracks.

Dustyn never yelled.  Even, despite how badly as I tended to piss him off at times, he hardly ever raised his voice—and he never sounded as he did now. 

Like he was…breaking right along with that smashed glass.

If someone replied, they were so quiet that I couldn’t hear them—either way, Dustyn’s answering bellow drowned them out.

“WHY!” he yelled.  “DO YOU HATE ME?  IS THAT IT?  DO YOU FUCKING HATE ME?”

Whoa.  I had to cling to the wall as his shout ripped through me like jagged glass.

This time did I hear someone respond in a harsh growl;   “Get a hold of yourself!”

 It was a cold snarl that set my hair on end; a man’s voice, eerily smooth and calm.  It was too deep to be Alexi’s, but at the moment, I didn’t even want to consider who else it could belong to.