Chapter 39 – YOU
Margot’s POV
The sound of the bathroom fan cut off with a soft click, followed by the squeak of the faucet being turned off.
A rush of steam billowed out a second later as Cara emerged, wrapped in a towel that clung to her like a second skin, her shoulders pink from the hot water and her hair drenched, falling down in perfect ringlets that framed her face like ivy.
She looked transformed – brighter, fresher. Human again. For a second, it was easy to forget we were still locked inside of this fortified compound…
“Oh my god, that was heaven,” she groaned, running her hands back through her dripping curls before flopping dramatically onto the edge of the bed. “Ten minutes my ass. That shower was a full-on religious experience.”
I laughed, more softly than usual, still sitting cross-legged on the floor where I’d laid out her outfit.
“I was about to call for a search party,” I teased, tossing her a sports bra and watching her scramble to get dressed under the towel.
She pulled the shirt over her damp head and poked her face through the hole, her curls now bouncing slightly with every move. She then shimmied on her underwear followed by the joggers – dropping the towel in success.
“Alright, alright. The princess is dressed,” she announced with a grin. “Now braid me?”
I raised a brow. “Seriously? What do I look like to you, your hair stylist?”
“More like my maid at this point – I think you could use a shower too,” she smirked, shuffling over and turning her back to me on the bed.
With a soft sigh, I moved behind her and began working through the slick, cool strands, combing them gently with my fingers before splitting them into three sections.
For a moment, we just sat like that, the room peaceful, the silence between us thick but easy. Her hair smelled like the same soap stocked in my own bathroom, citrusy and sharp, a scent that would somehow remind me of this experience till the day that I die…
“Remember when you used to braid my hair for school?” she murmured.
It wasn’t too long ago, but it felt like it now…
“Yeah,” I said, twisting one section over the other with a practiced rhythm. “You always made me redo it like three times because it wasn’t ‘girly’ enough.”
She snorted. “Still true.”
We giggled, as I remembered how she liked having the front pieces loose, before I quickly separated those parts from the beginning of the braid.
I proceeded on, as Cara rambled about still having three days left before our break from this place on Saturday.
“It already feels like it’s been a whole week!” she cried, as I was halfway through the braid when the door suddenly clicked open – causing us both to still.
A voice followed almost instantly, deep and smug and laced with trouble…
“Well, well, two for the price of one, I see?” it joked cockily, as I gasped a little.
I jerked so hard I nearly yanked Cara’s scalp off at the sight of his slightly bruised appearance…
Standing in the doorway, as if he’d just casually wandered back into his own damn kitchen, was Leo.
Hair tousled, hands stuffed in his pockets, that same lazy grin stretched across his face – sharp, studying the pair of us.
“You’re back already!” Cara beamed, sounding way more excited than she probably meant to. I shot her a look, which she ignored completely. Typical. My hands remained on the ends of her hair.
“Sure am baby! Miss me?!” He roared, stretching his arms out as though he was flexing to us that he still very much remained in one piece after yesterday.
Leo’s gaze suddenly flicked from Cara to me, then to the braid I hadn’t quite finished. “Coban’s gonna flip out! Guess I should get a front row seat for the explosion.”
“W–What?!” I babbled, as he chuckled.
“He’s went to the room expecting to find you waiting there, and he’s going to throw a fit not knowing where you’ve went!” Leo clarified, as my hand quivered.
My stomach instantly sank.
Oh. My. Lord.
The room…
We’d left Coban’s room in tatters this morning!
Clothes thrown everywhere, drawers half open, the bed an absolute mess. I don’t know if I had even remembered to flush the damn toilet after throwing on concealer in a panic…
I scrambled to tie off the braid, my hands fumbling, heart starting to race again.
“I–we- we were just-” I stammered.
Leo cut me off with a wave. “Save it for him, because not to be rude, but I don’t actually care, Bella! Doesn’t matter what you were doing. What matters is that you’re not where you’re meant to be and if you want him to spare you, then you better hurry back.”
Spare me?!
He looked too calm. That was never a good sign.
“We better walk your little friend back to her block, eh Cara?” he added, jerking his chin toward the hallway suddenly. “Coban might end her if we wait too long.”
We both stood up as the last hair tie was secured, racing together to follow Leo out of the room.
“I’ll clean it, Leo!” I burst out in a frenzy. “I swear I’ll go straight in there and I’ll sort it all. I didn’t mean to leave it that way, do you think he will understand? I just―”
Leo raised a hand, this time with a little more force, evidently irritated by my rants coming from behind him. “Bella. Relax. You think I honestly care about your messy fucking sock drawer? Coban’s the one with the temper so you’ll just have to wait and see what he decides… but be warned, he’s had it brewing in spades this morning.”
A chill worked up into my drying throat.
Great.
Just great.
The silence that followed on the walk back was almost worse than Leo’s teasing.
I kept seeing the room in my mind – the unmade bed, the scattered clothes, the drawer I left hanging open.
What the hell were we thinking?!
Leo whistled low as we reached the Block. “Dead girl walking,” he hummed quietly.
“Leo,” Cara tried, but he only laughed again.
He just grinned wider, like we were all in some twisted sitcom.
But when we neared the final door, Coban’s door, I held my breath…
The door suddenly flung open before we even reached it…
Coban barreled his way out of there like a large storm – massive, seething, eyes wild and searching. His chest was rising fast, his jaw clenched so hard I thought it might snap in half. And the moment his eyes found mine-
“YOU!” he roared, voice so loud it rang through the corridors.
Leo didn’t miss a beat. He shoved me forward so fast I barely caught myself before slamming into Coban’s chest.
“There she is! Safe and sound, no harm done!” he said too quickly, like throwing me to the wolves would help save his own skin.
Coban’s hand snatched itself around my waist like a vice.
I barely had time to suck in a breath before I was hauled bodily into the room – his strength effortless, inhuman – and the door slammed shut behind us with a thunderous bang, cutting off Cara’s gasp and Leo’s muttered “Shit.”
The echo of it vibrated in my ears.
And then it was just me…
And him.
Locked in the horrifically wrecked room, the heat of his fury radiating through the air like a blaze.
How the hell will I crawl my way out of this one?!