Burning Beauty (Fire & Vice Book 8) by Nikita Slater

Author:Nikita Slater [Slater, Nikita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nikita Slater Writing Services Ltd.
Published: 2019-12-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Maria wrinkled her nose at the stale, unwashed clothing smell coming from Cassandra's room as she pushed the door open. She'd bullied Yara into allowing her to bring the supper tray upstairs. She shoved her way past the door and into the darkened bedroom, placing the tray on a side table as quickly as she could. It was quite heavy, since Maria had asked Yara to add her supper to it too. She was going to force Cassandra to accept her company, for at least an hour. If the other woman wanted her to leave after that then she would.

"Cassandra... Cass... Cassie?" she asked, walking slowly through the dim room with her arms out. She headed for the square of light trying to shine through the window blinds and opened them, allowing the light to stream through. She opened the window for good measure, letting fresh air in.

"I hate the name Cassie." The dull voice came from the lump of bedcovers piled in the centre of the bed. Maria squinted at it and was able to make out a human shape amidst all the blankets.

"What about Cass then?" Maria asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, though she ached for the other woman.

"Only Luke calls me Cass."

"Fair enough, Cassandra it is. When was the last time you ate or took a shower?" Maria picked gently at the edge of a blanket, tugging it toward her and trying to reveal the woman attached to the voice. When no response came, Maria pleaded, "Come on, sweetheart. Come out and talk to me. I promise, if you want me to go after, I'll leave you alone. I'll even let you keep my supper."

Nothing happened for a moment, and then the mound of blankets began to move. After another minute a disheveled and almost completely unrecognizable Cassandra emerged. Her hair was wild, unwashed, frizzy mess that nearly made Maria's jaw drop. But it was the outfit that actually made Maria's mouth fall open. The always put together, designer clothes loving, super-model looking beauty was wearing a unicorn onesie. It even had a hood on it with a golden horn that was currently pushed back to flop listlessly against Cassandra's back.

"Please tell me Luke didn't see you like this," Maria said without thinking.

It was the wrong thing to say. Cassandra's eyes filled with tears and her voice was anguished as she wailed, "Yes! He saw me yesterday when he came to check on me. I didn't know he was coming, and I didn't have the energy to change."

Maria shook her head and reached out to take Cassandra's arm. "It doesn't matter. That man loves you to the moon and back. He doesn't care what you look like."

"Is it really bad?" Cassandra asked pathetically.

Maria eyed a giant purple stain across the belly of the onesie that she'd originally thought was part of the costume but now believed was grape juice or something along those lines. "No, you look totally fine," Maria said unconvincingly.

Cassandra's eyes filled with tears and after a few seconds they began to spill over.

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