The room smelled.

Not only was it dirty but someone had emptied a few cans of air freshener to mask the stench.

"Keep the curtains closed and stay away from the windows," Lucas ordered softly.

"What do we do now?" Eva asked him.

Lucas placed the bags down on one of the beds before he turned to look at Eva. "We lay low for a few days."

Eva's face scrunched up as she made wild gestures with her hands to indicate the room. "How are we supposed to lay low here? Look at the room! It fucking stinks but you can't smell it because you're fucking human!"

"Fuck Eva!" Lucas shouted. "Will you stop being a prissy princess and think logically."

"Prissy princess?" she gasped in disbelieve, completely ignoring the rest of his sentence. "Do you have any fucking idea how badly this place smell?"

"I can smell it and I don't care because this is the only place we have to lay low," he told her.

"Your plan sucks!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"You have a better plan?" Lucas tilted his head to the side and gestured with his hand. "Let's hear it."

Eva's arms dropped as he moved closer. "I would've circled back to get Dad and everybody else. I—"

"Would've gotten yourself killed or at the very least kidnapped!"

"Well this wouldn't have happened if Ariana had stayed at my side at the party!" Eva's eyes snapped to mine. "It wouldn't have fucking happened if she wasn't such a fucking pussy!"

I flinched and instantly dropped my eyes to the floor.

"It's all her fault!"

"Shut up," Lucas sneered. "You know nothing."

I quietly slipped away into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. The lock on the door was broken like so many other things in the bathroom. I shouldn't complain because we had a roof over our heads.

With my head hung low and shoulders slumped, I walked over to the basin and stared down at the stained marble for a few seconds before I raised my head.

My eyes instantly locked with my reflection's. Droplets of dried blood clung to my skin and some strands of my hair. I'd been the closest to Lucas when he'd killed those Hunters.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I unzipped the jacket and shrugged it off. There was nothing to use to wash away the blood, so after a moment's hesitation, I pulled the shirt off and opened the tap. Sticking part of the shirt under the water, I wet it.

I didn't realize how much my hands were shaking until I raised it to wipe my cheek. The more I scrubbed my skin, the harder it got to breathe. I tried to ignore the panic rising but my attempt only made things worse.

Bile rose in my throat.

Dropping the soaked shirt, I stumbled over to the toilet and fell to my knees. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I puked. My nails dug into my thighs as I fought the urge to grip the toilet.

It was all my fault.

All my fault.

I shouldn't have asked Ethan to call Dad.

I shouldn't have given him the number.

I should've fought Oliver.

Dark spots appeared on the edges of my vision as my body swayed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get enough air into my lungs.

I whimpered.

And then he was suddenly there, pulling me into his arms and whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

Why couldn't I be more like Eva?

***

It was raining again.

Not a drizzle like before but full on raining. Thunder filled the silence between the three of us.

Eva lay on the other bed, silently staring up at the ceiling or was she sleeping? I couldn't tell if her eyes were open or not.

Raising my head, I glanced around the room until my eyes located Lucas. I frowned and sat up fully.

"What are you doing?" I croaked.

His body jerked in fright. Blowing out a loud breath, he turned his head to look at me. "I'm making sure that your sister can't sneak out while we're sleeping," he muttered.

Lucas fumbled with the door for a few more minutes and then stood. He carried the bag back over to the bed and dropped it to the floor.

"Do you want some water?"

I hesitated and then gave him a nod.

Scooting back slightly, I crossed my legs and dropped my elbows onto my thighs. It wasn't long before Lucas took a seat on the bed in front of me with a bottle of water and a packet of something.

"We've tried this before," he said softly, "and it didn't work but I want to try this again with something else."

"No bread?"

"No bread," he repeated. "Some dried fruit."

I nodded. "Okay."

My eyes stayed glued to his face as he opened the packet. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten to the bed. All I remembered was the panic and the inability to breath.

Had I passed out?

"There's no trashcan so if you want to throw up, you're going to have to make a run for the loo."

My lips twitched. "Okay."

"Ready?"

I nodded.

Lucas reached inside the packed and pulled a piece of fruit out which he instantly popped into his mouth. Chewing, he reached inside for another but raised it to my lips instead.

They parted and a second later the fruit touched my tongue.

Lucas watched me with hawk eyes as I chewed. When it came to swallowing, we both tensed. But the fruit went down easily and surprisingly stayed down.

"Good." He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "Feel like puking?"

"Surprisingly not," I told him.

My stomach wasn't churning or trying to reject the food.

"Do you want some more or...?" he trailed off.

"I'm full." Between the two of us we've managed to finish it.

"I'm going to teach you how to eat more," he muttered as he stood.

I rolled my eyes at him.

Walking over to the window, he pushed the curtain aside and peeked outside. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to see a thing. After a moment, he turned away.

He stopped next to the bed and reached back to pull the gun from the back of his pants. Placing it within easy reach on the bedside table, Lucas got onto the bed and lay down on his back.

My eyes darted over his body and locked on the exposed skin of his stomach where the shirt had ridden up.

I licked my lips as my mouth watered.

Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his skin right above the band of his jeans. His body tensed and his hands shot down to grip my shoulders. It looked like he was ready to push me away but then his hold loosened and his hands fell away.

"What are you doing, Ariana?" he questioned huskily.

"Kissing you," I whispered.

"I can see that," he breathed. "But why?"

"Because I want to."

Sitting up, I moved closer and then climbed on top of him. With my legs on either side of his hips, I leaned forward to press my hands to his neck.

"Don't you want me to kiss you?" I asked when our faces were only inches apart.

Lucas smiled. "Of course I do, but kissing leads to sex and that's something we can't do."

The smile slipped from my face at his instant rejection. Does he want Eva instead? Was he getting sick of me? Of my constant panic attacks and my inability to eat food normally?

Lowering my upper body, I rested my head against his shoulder. A sigh fell from my lips when he wrapped his arms around me and rubbed his chin against my hair.

"I want to experience what I had with you last night more than anything, but right now isn't the right time," Lucas whispered. "Doll, I want to explore every inch of your body and kiss you everywhere I can just to find out what you like and what makes you moan. I want to experience everything with you." His lips brushed my forehead. "But I can't afford any distractions. We need to be alert in case they find us."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I thought that you wanted Eva instead."

Lucas was silent for a few minutes. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. "I do want her," he whispered. "I want to be close to her, but I supposed that it had something to do with us being mates?"

"It's the mate-bond."

"I'm not a big fan of it," he muttered. "Especially since I feel like strangling her."

I stayed silent as my mind started to wander off. Turning my head, I ran my nose along his neck as I breathed in his scent.

"I'm scared that you'd want her more than me once you find out about all the other issues I have.

His arms tightened. "We all have issues, Ariana."