Page 87 of How to Kill Your Rival

James takes the key card when she passes it across the desk. We cross the lobby and get into the lift. The doors close behind us and I close my eyes.

‘Eliza—’ he says.

‘I need you.’ The words come out in a voice that I barely recognise. Too soft. Too tired.

He puts his hand on the small of my back, and I lean into his touch. ‘You’ve got me, Sweetheart.’

And for once, the nickname doesn’t make me want to kick him in the balls.

The room is perfectly boring. Beige and basic. But the bed is big, and there’s a shower over the bathtub that looks clean, so it’s all good.

While I itch to find Fraser, I’m bone-weary. Moving into the bathroom, I strip off my bloodied clothes and climb into the tub; I’m using the last strength I have.

Looking down at my blood-streaked, trembling hands, I let out a shaky breath. I’ve had blood on me before. So often. Usually, it means nothing. But this blood reminds me that my brother is out there, possibly in the situation I just had Declan in. The thought of anyone hurting him fills me with a vicious hatred.

Twelve warehouses, spread out across the country, with the days ticking down. The trembling in my hands is spreading, and I wrap my arms around my knees to try to stop it.

Fraser is out there because of how I handled Eddie. It’s my fault.

‘Eliza.’

I didn’t hear the door. James sits on the edge of the tub, running his fingers gently along my spine.

‘I can’t stop thinking about which warehouse he’s in,’ I say. ‘We need help to find out the best routes to take. The most likely⁠—’

‘Eliza.’

‘—ones to hit first and⁠—’

‘Eliza.’ His voice cuts through my train of thought. ‘Stop.’

And I find myself sniffling. Fuck.

‘I’ve sent the info to Maggie and Roman. They’re on it. By the time we wake up, there will be a plan.’

James starts up the shower, using the handheld shower head and angling it away from me while the water warms. A pool of cold gathers around my backside, and I shiver.

‘He’s all right,’ James says, working the spray of water up my body, slowly washing away the blood. ‘He’s their leverage.’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘It’s what I would do.’

I breathe steadily as he puts the shower head down and lathers up his hands, working them over my body, massaging the blood from the cracks around my nails and the gaps between my fingers.

‘It’s okay not to be okay, Eliza. Here with me, you can let it all go. I love all of you. Not just the kickass killer side, but this too. You love your family hard. That’s not a weakness.’

I can’t respond. There’s a lump in my throat the size of a fucking ostrich egg.

Then he’s washing away the bubbles, now pink with the last of Declan’s lifeforce.

‘Tip,’ he instructs.

I obey, letting him wet my hair.

My breath stutters. I have to admit, it feels nice to let someone else take over for a little while.

The hotel shampoo smells like chemical lemons, but it’s better than the metallic scent of blood. His fingers graze through my hair, and it’s like he loosens all the knots in my body with the way he lathers my hair.