Free Stained by Ella James Page B

his left side not twenty minutes before, there was now a large, healthy scab. "I locate the closest, easiest source of energy and absorb it."
Julia clutched the wheel.
"I get your distaste for it," he said bitterly. "But it isn't something that's easy to control."
Cayne traced the window with his thumb, silent for a moment. "I've got some friends that I would trust to keep you safe." He glanced at Julia. "We were going to see one--Andre."
Julia waited for him to elaborate, but he appeared lost in thought. Stomach sinking, she said, "So?"
"Maybe it would be better if he helped you."
"Um...are you insane ?!"
Cayne seemed startled. "I can deal with Samyaza on my own."
"That's not the point!"
"I know." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "I'm thinking of you, too."
"How so?"
"I don't know a thing about my past. It--"
"I don't care."
Cayne shifted impatiently. "I might have hundreds of Nephilim assassins coming for me."
"And I've got the king of them after me! Maybe you remember what we found this afternoon? A bunch of dead people who have the same birthmark I do?" Julia hardened her tone. "You are not passing me off like an old piece of luggage."
Cayne opened his mouth, but she talked over him. "I was bait at first, I know. And I would have probably been dead without you. But when you decided to leave and I decided to go too, things changed. You said it yourself: We're in this together." Julia took a deep breath and tried to hold on to her courage. "I think other things have changed, too. I...care about you, now. As a friend. So I want to stay together.
"But you've gotta stop with the almost killing people stuff, okay? Instinct or not, you can still make a choice."
Cayne glanced at the clouded window.
"Just let me heal you next time."
Finally, he nodded, and Julia pulled away from the curb.

Chapter 16

Cayne was picky about their night's stay. It took him thirty minutes to settle on a modest motel just off the Interstate, and ten more to circle the parking lot. Finally, after he'd patrolled all three floors three times, he sent Julia into the lobby to request one of the corner rooms on the ground floor. All three were filled, but as "luck" would have it, the occupants of room 107 decided to check out minutes later.
Cayne led her into the tiny, humid room, dropped their bags by the door, and eased himself onto one of the shabby twin beds, weariness dragging on his features.
Julia saw a stack of plastic cups by the sink and hurried to fill one. She felt Cayne's eyes on her as she brought it to him.
He took the cup, and his fingers brushed hers. "Thank you."
"No problem."
He drained the cup in one gulp, rested his head on the tall cedar headboard and closed his eyes. With his head back as it was, the scar on his neck gleamed in the light. Julia wondered what it was like for him, not knowing how he'd gotten it.
After what must have been an hour, Cayne jerked awake. His face looked stricken.
"What's wrong?" Julia leaned forward as he swung his feet off the bed and hunched to squeeze the bridge of his nose. He shook his head.
"Cayne--" She started to get up.
He pushed past her and, almost clumsily, hurried for the bathroom. Halfway there, he turned and looked at her. "Dream," he muttered. And that's when Julia realized why he was always hiding behind his hair. For a badass half-demon, the boy had no poker face.
The shower was off in less than five minutes. Julia pressed her cheek against the bathroom door and heard the soft swish of fabric. Then nothing. Cayne didn't come out for almost half an hour. When he did, he was calm and clean and shirtless. Julia nearly swallowed her tongue.
"That was nice."
She arched a brow, trying very hard not to look at his chest--which was, because of the many blots on his torso, totally impossible. "Oh yeah?"
Cayne nodded, stepping in front of the mirror to examine his wounds. The largest stretched from the soft skin above his hip to the middle of his rib cage. His fingers traveled its length. He gingerly