Watcher in the Darkness, Book 3: Imprisoned

Chapter 27

I almost groaned when Song came into the Sanctuary's communal bathroom. I couldn't risk acknowledging her presence, though. I didn't have the time—or the patience—to deal with her. I kept shaving my head in the sink as though I hadn't noticed her roll her chair to a stop right behind me.

"Whoever painted that meadow scene over the mirror is going to be pissed when they see how much of it you've scraped off."

"Yeah, well, they can take it up with my dick," I said as I pulled long strands of hair out of the electric razor. Cheap piece of shit. I would've been annoyed if I'd paid for it.

Song didn't seem bothered as she readjusted herself in her seat. "I'll never get used to not having a reflection," she said with a sigh.

I rolled my eyes. I missed the days when she would do nothing but stare into space.

"I'm beginning to forget what I look like. Some days, I get scared that pieces of my face were blown off in the explosion, too, and everyone's just too polite to tell me. I can't stop touching my lips and nose to make sure they're still there."

I made a noncommittal sound.

"Don't you ever sleep?" she said.

"Don't you ever smile?" Truth be told, I was exhausted. My body ached and my eyes burned. I had forty-eight hours of freedom left, though, and too much that I had to do. I'd sleep when I went back to prison.

"Fair enough." Song frowned as I brushed the stubble from my hairless scalp. "Bald is a weird look for you, but I guess it's better than mange." When I didn't reply, she said, "How did your meeting with that demon go?"

I gave her an incredulous look. "How did you know about that?"

Song scoffed. "Everyone knows everything about everyone else around here. We're all up in each other's business, even me. Besides, there's a pool going to see if you can find that necromancer before you get sent back to prison."

"What pool?" I said as I flexed my bare fingers. My nail beds were hardening and they were no longer sore, but I would be down a natural weapon for a few days. "Wait, who else knows that Karen is a necromancer?"

Song shrugged. "Aside from you, me, and Father Cooper, I'm not sure. From what I've gathered, all the other bloodsuckers assume you guys are fuck buddies." She made a face, as though something had just occurred to her. "Wait, aren't you?"

"No." My answer required no further explanation, but I said, "She's engaged."

Karen's relationship status didn't interest Song. "So, when is the priest going to show up with the cold blood? I'm starving."

"You're still on that crap?" Below my irritation, I felt a flutter of anxiety. I hadn't seen Michael since before I'd left for Gwen's place. If he hadn't been to the Sanctuary in over twenty-four hours, something was very wrong.

"What choice do I have?" Song said as I turned her wheelchair then pushed it out of the bathroom. "My options are kind of limited, don't you think?"

"No." I rolled her down the hallway toward the dusty, unused kitchen. It was just after two in the morning, so the Sanctuary was pretty much deserted. "You're a chick. Chicks don't need to hunt, especially the hot ones."

"Yeah, I'm super-hot right now."

I opened the back door. "Look, if you're fishing for compliments, fish elsewhere. I don't have time for your bullshit."

Song held out her arm to keep the door from closing. "Wait. You're going to leave me here? Take me with you if you're going to talk to the priest. He keeps all the cold blood at his place."