42. Chapter 42

Chapter forty-two

W aking up covered in blood was not how Haven thought today would begin. Todays plans also did not include being naked in Niks shower, although she wasn't really complaining. Haven hadn't been able to completely calm down while still covered in blood. Nik had seen that and offered his shower seeing as hers had been trashed.

Nik had left to grab some breakfast while she showered and to get an update on what happened. She tried not to think too hard about being naked in his space. The only thing she had on was her necklace, never having removed it last night. When Nik had noticed she was still wearing his cloak, the ruined dress underneath, he'd been quick to stand in front of her so the fae gathered didn't see her naked. At the time, she'd wrapped the cloak as tight as it would go and hoped everyone would think her outfit was also a victim of what happened in her room last night.

Haven watched as blood swirled down the drain, washed away by the soap Nik had grabbed out of her bathroom. Now that her head was clearing, Haven found herself incredibly angry. She quickly figured out that her bed had been the victim of a spell, along with the slash marks and blood. That was probably why she'd passed out before she could even change her clothes. She guessed that someone snuck into her room and cast some sort of spell so Haven would fall asleep and stay asleep. Allowing them to sneak in while she was passed out, rifle through her drawers, rip up her clothes, throw blood all over her and leave a very ominous note behind.

Haven had an idea of who had done it but she had no proof.

The door to Niks bedroom opened. Haven could hear Niks light gait even over the sounds of the water, likely because she was still on edge after what happened. Haven listened to his steps as he neared the cracked door to the bathroom. Once he was directly on the other side of the door, Nik called,

"I grabbed some muffins for when you're done. I also left some clothes by the towel on the counter"

Haven cleared the steam off the shower glass and looked to the countertop by the sink. Sure enough, there was a pile of clothes next to a fluffy white towel. Checking herself over one last time, Haven thankfully found no more blood. It had taken an hour alone to get it all out of her hair. She quickly turned off the shower and got out. Upon closer inspection, Haven found that the clothes Nik left were definitely not hers. He had left his clothes for her to wear .

It made sense seeing as all of her items had probably been destroyed. Still, the idea of wearing his clothes sent heat between her legs. Heat she definitely should not be feeling this soon after basically being attacked.

After drying herself off, Haven began to dress in the dark clothes. They were soft to the touch and still warm as if they'd just come from the laundry. The pants were loose and the shirt hung down to her thighs but at least they were clean.

Walking out of the bathroom, Haven found Nik lounging on a couch. She watched as his eyes heated at the sight of her in his clothes. The muffin he had been about to bite into paused inches from his mouth.

"What did you find out?" She asked, drawing his attention away from her body.

"Not much," He said, looking away from her, "They're in the process of cleaning your room, crafting new windows for the balcony doors and getting you a new mattress"

Haven swallowed when memories of what had happened to her last one surfaced. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the tray of blueberry muffins and picked one up. She found her way to a chair sitting next to the couch and sat down in it. Beginning to snack on the muffin, Haven tried to come up with some way to thank Nik for helping her and for letting her use his shower. Haven struggled to find something that didn't sound cheesy. For some reason she didn't think he'd appreciate the thanks anyways so instead she chose to just sit in silence. That silence was broken about five minutes later when Nik softly asked,

"Why didn't you wake up when all that was going on?"

"I don't know for sure" She told him, "When I first got back to my room, something was off. I could tell someone had been there but nothing seemed different. Nothing appeared to have been gone through so I chalked it up to paranoia and started to get changed. As soon as I got close to the bed I felt so tired I probably could've passed out on the floor. I could barely hold my head up, the last thing I remember was stumbling onto the bed. Everything after that is black. I didn't hear anything, nothing pulled me from sleep. I didn't even dream. The next thing I knew, I was waking up covered in blood"

Nik nodded his head. "Someone could've placed something on your mattress to make you pass out like that. It could've been a spell or even some kind of crystal"

Haven nodded in agreement, it felt good to have someone else validate her thoughts.

"That explains why you were still in your clothes from last night" He smirked.

The tips of Havens pointy ears turned red, flushing from the memories of being with him last night. She opened her mouth to apologize about possibly making him uncomfortable when he told her that he'd never been with anyone. Before she could get the words out, Nik carefully asked,

"Do you have any idea who might've done it?"

Haven nodded her head. She had a pretty good idea but she would also guess he did not want to hear it.

"You can tell me" He told her, "No matter who you suspect"

Haven hesitated for a moment before making her decision. Opening her mouth she said,

"Your father "

A few silent moments passed, Haven expected Nik to get pissed off. Instead, he simply nodded and looked away from her.

"I suspect the same thing." He said quietly, "He couldn't have done it himself seeing as he was at the ball most of the night but he could have hired someone or had someone loyal to him do it."

His words surprised Haven. She could tell they didn't have the greatest father/son relationship but she hadn't expected him to throw his dad under the bus like that. His next words didn't so much as shock her as they did depress her,

"They found the guards body"

Haven tried to formulate a response. In her head she'd known the blood covering her had to come from somewhere. She'd just hoped no one was actually killed. Haven wanted to find out that the missing guard was injured but still alive. She should have known though, and maybe on some level she did. No one could have survived that much blood loss.

"It was stuffed in a storage closet right down the hall, throat cut" Nik finished

Haven hesitated slightly before asking,

"Why would your father do something so terrible?"

Nik contemplated for a moment, as if trying to decide if he really wanted to tell her, if he really wanted to risk confirming her suspicions. Eventually he met her eyes and said,

"He wants power. More specifically your power. To him, the life of a guard is nothing in the grand scheme of things. He can't kill you, the blowback would be too harsh. He'd be executed. But he can try to find a way to hold onto his power. A way around the rules."

Before Nik could explain more, a knock sounded at the door. Haven recognized the scent on the other side as belonging to her tutor Tasha. She was getting better and better at using her fae senses, it had been awhile since she'd run into anything on accident while trying to gain control over her speed. Her newfound control made Haven incredibly proud. Even if the only person she'd shared her pride with was herself, that didn't make it any less valid.

Tasha knocked again, not even five seconds after her first knock. They were supposed to train today but she'd thought, given the circumstances, it would be called off.

Haven walked over and opened the door, earning a glare from Nik. Before she'd gotten in the shower he had warned her to be extremely careful from here on out. He'd also handed her the dagger Binah had sent, having taken it from the wall before they left.

As soon as the door opened wide enough, Tasha bustled through and shoved a bundle of training leathers into Havens arms.

"Attack or no you still have to train" Tasha insisted, crossing her arms.

"She's had a long day. If she doesn't want to, she shouldn't have to" Nik said, immediately jumping to Havens defense. Tasha rolled her eyes and told him,

"I don't take orders from you, boy"

Nik balked, Haven imagined no one had ever spoken to him like that. His father scared too many people to have someone be so disrespectful. Nik himself was intimidating but not in the same way as his father. You look at Nik and know that if given a good enough reason, he'd kill you. His father, on the other hand, seemed like the kind of man that would kill someone because they sneezed the wrong way.

While she appreciated Nik coming to her defense, it wasn't necessary. She was actually glad Tasha had shown up. Haven needed to work off this excess adrenaline and the only other way she could think of was sex. Training sounded like a much better idea than jumping Niks bones, especially when he was still somewhat looking at her like she might break. Also, he'd probably turn her down. One night did not completely erase the anger and between the two of them.

"It's fine," She told him. Without giving him room to argue, she stepped into the bathroom and changed into what Tasha had brought. Luckily, Tasha thought to bring underwear. Haven imagined the training leathers would rub the wrong way without the barrier of the panties. Actually, Haven thought, they could rub just the right way depending on how you looked at it. She snickered at her inappropriate thoughts.

Tightening the laces on her leathers, Haven gave herself one last word of encouragement and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Alright, let's do this" Haven said, confidence filling her voice. Snatching her dagger off the side table, Haven dropped Niks clothes into empty space and followed Tasha out the door.