Ablaze Without Flames

Chapter 5, Part 2 - Thea

Smash!

Thea flung her duvet off the bed and threw open her bedroom door before her eyes opened fully. Terrifying images passed through her mind in the second it took for her to step into the living room. She imagined one of the hunters breaking through the window to kidnap her, imagined Blaise destroying all of her belongings, tearing through her furniture and ripping up her project files just to spite her. By the time her bleary vision cleared, she saw neither of these things. Blaise stood in the kitchenette with his palms up, because it hadn't taken him long to sweet talk his way onto her sofa. Surrounding his bare feet were pale blue ceramic shards that had once made up a mug.

'It jumped,' he said. He didn't bother to make himself look human when they were alone. 'It exhausts me,' he'd said.

'Did it really?' Thea rubbed her eyes and looked outside. The sun was already high. 'I'm going to shower. Clean that up and then sit there. And stop touching things.' She pointed to the tangled blanket on the sofa.

She locked herself in the bathroom before he could reply. Clawing her hair back from her face, she stared at her reflection. He was a demon, she reminded herself. She could recall all too clearly the brutal grace in which he had knocked out two men and severely injured another right before her eyes with barely a scratch to show for it. Then there was the man he had claimed to have pushed off a roof, even though the media were reporting it as a suicide.

After peeling off her pyjamas, she stepped under the showerhead and twisted the dial. Hot water poured over her, wetting her already damp hair and soothing the tension in her shoulders. She closed her eyes and thought of his glimmering eyes and cocky smirk. Some of his behaviour was odd, to say the least, but it was nothing especially alien. He hadn't hurt her.

She scrubbed soap into her skin and ran shampoo through her hair. There was nothing to be done now other than to keep her defences up and hope he upheld their deal.

She washed off the soap and rinsed her hair. After drying herself off, she donned her dressing gown and hopped two steps back into her bedroom and closed the door. She pulled on old jeans that were ripped at the knees, and an overlarge T-shirt with her university's logo on it. There was no work to be done that evening and she had no plans to go anywhere. Grabbing her hairbrush, she returned to the living room. Blaise sat cross-legged on the sofa exactly where she had told him to sit.

'You smell like flowers,' he said.

'Soap does that.' Thea dragged the bristles through her tangled tresses. Blaise watched the motion and for a fleeting moment, he looked troubled. Then he climbed lithely to his feet and Thea took a step backward, holding the brush back like a club.

'May I?' he asked, holding out his hand. She said nothing. 'Watching you tear it like that is making me uncomfortable. I can do it for you. I can be gentle.'

'And what do you get from it?'

He licked his lips. 'Satisfaction?' She narrowed her eyes and he snickered. 'I would appreciate a change of clothes.'

Thea rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, handing over the brush. She flinched under his touch, but he was as gentle as he promised. He started at the ends and worked his way up. His deft fingers teased the knots out of her hair. It was all Thea could do to keep as still as possible, little jolts of electricity zipping across her skin every time his fingertips brushed the nape of her neck.

'You're suspiciously good at this,' she conceded.

His breath ghosted the back of her neck as he chuckled. 'A friend of mine taught me.' He paused to untangle a particularly stubborn knot. 'She claimed she couldn't do it herself because it was too long.'