hearts of metal

xx. adarlan's assassin

She climbed into the shower first thing, discarding her ruined clothes in a heap in the bathroom. Underneath the hot stream of water, she felt her muscles finally relax. She washed the blood off, watching it swirl away, and combed out all the fragments of glass.

By the time she stepped out, the mirror was foggy. She could barely make out an angry bruise forming on her jaw.

Ignoring it, Aelin wrapped a towel around herself and left the bathroom. She jumped upon noticing it was occupied.

"Rowan," she said, pulling her towel tighter around her.

He noticed her and turned red, "Sorry." Then promptly turned around. "I didn't mean to...Aedion was worried about you, so I said I'd bring the first-aid kit."

He shook the case in his hand as proof.

She slipped on baggy sweatpants and a shirt she'd stolen from Aedion, before telling Rowan he could turn around.

As he did, she glanced over him for the first time. His hair was wet, like he had also taken a shower. He had a split lip and bruised knuckles, but seemed otherwise unhurt. He gestured for her to take a seat on the bed, so she did.

He sat down gently beside her. First he dabbed anti-infectant on the cut on her neck, before placing a cotton pad there and placing a bandage over the spot. Next he dabbed a yellow cream onto the bruise on her jaw.

She was painfully aware of just how close he was. Even more so when she pried the ointment from his hands and started applying it to his hand. Her fingers traced the calluses on his palms as she did, sending a strange shiver down her spine.

After a brief hesitation, she dabbed ointment onto the split lip as well. Her finger tingled as she moved it away. When she glanced back at Rowan, he was watching her with an oddly soft expression. Then it cleared, and he stood up.

"Rhoe's probably waiting."

Aelin nodded and stood, allowing Rowan to lead the way.

He led her down the stairs to where everyone was waiting in Rhoe's office. Vaughan had been left upstairs sleeping, with Connal watching over him.

Fenrys and Lorcan took one couch, while Aedion took an armchair. Rhoe sat behind his desk, gaze lighting up as it found his daughter.

Aelin smiled and took a seat on the last remaining couch, Rowan beside her.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Rhoe said, then asked for the timeline from Fenrys.

Fenrys, who had been home when the men had first broken in. Apparently, they blindsided Connal and used him to threaten Fenrys, who managed to call Vaughan in warning.

Connal and Fenrys were tied up and deposited in the living room. Which left the question of why Vaughan had approached the house on his own?

Aedion answered that briefly, explaining that their lines of communication had been tampered with. Vaughan called for backup and tried to call Rhoe, but his calls hadn't gone through to the right source.

"We're working on fixing it right now and adding extra levels of security."

He continued on to say that Vaughan had shown up, not realizing just how many men were in the house. Though he'd taken a good number out, someone managed to hit him with the vase. According to Aedion, of course, who recited this off of security footage.

Then, Rowan and Lorcan had shown up. They had arrived coincidentally, simply intending to visit the twins. Much like Vaughan, they managed to take a few people out but were soon outnumbered.