Bloody Claws (Camren) Book 3

Chapter 23

I could still feel the faint impression of Eris's fangs. The memory of her body clung to my hair and skin, to my lips and hands like a sin no soap or water could wash away. I could smell her and Lauren, as if I'd bathed in their respective scents. Lauren's clothes were not so destroyed that she couldn't put them back on. I picked up my shredded jeans and dropped them.

The jeans, the bra, and my underwear were completely useless, torn by Vanessa's greedy hands. The button of Lauren's jeans was broken, but she was still able to pull them on and hide the broken button by pulling her sweater down over them. She handed me a soft green throw from the back of the armchair in front of the fireplace. "I will go find some clothes for you," she said, kissing me before she left the room.

I wrapped the blanket around me, sitting back on the couch and sighing heavily. My mind still reeled.

I thought Lauren was already returning with clothes when the door opened. I turned to find it wasn't Lauren who stood in the doorway.

Dinah's gaze settled on my face after sweeping the room, her hand unmoving on the doorknob.

"Dinah?"

She turned and walked out, but not before I'd caught the look on her face. I scrambled off the couch, holding the throw around my body.

"Dinah!" I called after her, hearing her hurried footsteps as she climbed the stairs. I stumbled up behind her, speaking to her back. "Dinah! Wait." I dove forward, catching her wrist. Dinah turned on me with preternatural quickness. She jerked her arm away from my touch, recoiling as if I had burned her.

"You smell like her," she said. "You smell like them both." Her face was drawn in tight, painful lines, lines of hurt and disgust I didn't understand.

"Dinah," I said, voice small and soft. I reached for her and she put a hand up to ward me off.

"Don't touch me, Camila. Don't fucking touch me right now."

I felt my surprised expression. My lips seemed frozen in their half-parted state. That old familiar fire returned to my veins.

"Excuse me? Where the hell is this coming from? What is your problem?"

"All this time you've sworn unbending loyalty and monogamy to Lauren and"-she gestured at me with a hand-"this? Camila...really?"

"It just happened, Dinah."

"What? You just happened to slip and impale yourself on Venessa's fangs? Don't give me that bullshit, Camila. The least you could do is be honest with me."

"I am fucking being honest with you, Dinah! What the hell? Why are you angry?"

"I could hear you," Dinah said. "I could hear all of you."

"Maybe you shouldn't have eavesdropped." As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't. Dinah flinched as my words struck her and hit home. I took a step toward her. "I'm sorry, Dinah. I didn't mean that."

"Yeah," she said. "You did."

I didn't know what to do. I understood she was angry with me, but I didn't really understand why. I took a deep breath, trying to release the defensiveness I felt, trying to let go of the anger that threatened to rise in me.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," I said. "I don't know why you're so upset or how I've hurt you, but I didn't mean to."

"Well," she said. "You did. Thanks, Camila. Thanks for letting me know how much you care about me."

"I do care about you, Dinah," I said. "I care about you more than you know. Is that what this is about?"

"But you don't love me," she said.