Free The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele Page A

Liv to follow.
    â€œI apologize,” he said, still smiling as he shut and locked the door behind them. “But the girls here have the strangest sense of propriety. They walk around half-dressed in the middle of broad daylight, but refuse to share a common toilet.”
    Liv looked down at her own clothes, frowning. Her outfitwas perfectly respectable—tank top, jeans, and jacket, now a little worse for wear, of course.
    â€œI’m not half-dressed.”
    Cedric shrugged. He walked over to the sink and ran the water, putting a paper towel under the stream. Liv moved cautiously toward him and tried not to get too grossed out as she passed the urinals.
    Cedric reached out with the wet towel and gently pressed it against the left side of Liv’s forehead. It brushed against her torn skin, causing her to wince.
    â€œHold still just a moment, I have to clean some of the dirt away,” Cedric said, his voice gentle. He was no longer laughing, but his face wasn’t as closed off as it had been in the tunnels, either. As he moved the paper towel down the side of her head, Liv tried to sneak glances at his face. His blue eyes covered by dark—almost black—lashes, his long nose, his lips slightly parted in concentration. A spot of skin near one cheekbone seemed to be inflamed, bright purple in the middle and spreading into red as it reached his ear.
    â€œYou’re hurt, too,” Liv said.
    â€œI’ve had worse.”
    â€œThat’s . . . not comforting.”
    Cedric didn’t respond, but continued to gently wipe bits of dried blood from the side of Liv’s head. He moved closer to get a better angle, and Liv was hyperconscious of how his whole body was just a few inches away from hers. For a moment she felt lightheaded and short of breath. Weren’t people supposed to sit down while bleeding from the head?
    Cedric’s fingers pressed gently against her temple, at the worst of the cut. He leaned in even closer, so close that his features blurred before Liv’s eyes. Was it just her imagination, or was his breathing getting quicker, too?
    Liv wanted to say something to break the thick silence that had fallen between them, but couldn’t think of a single thing. Her gaze rested on a gold chain around Cedric’s neck. It extended down beneath his shirt, and she could see the outline of what looked like a ring hanging from the edge of it.
    â€œNice necklace.”
    The moment the words left her lips, Cedric stepped back from Liv sharply, taking his hands from her forehead. His left hand went immediately to where the outline of the ring pressed against his heart.
    Liv knew she had said something wrong, but didn’t get it.
    â€œWhat is it . . . a ring?” she pressed on.
    â€œYes, it is.” Cedric averted his eyes and turned to throw the wadded-up paper towel away. “It is a betrothal ring.”
    Liv laughed, sure he was being sarcastic. “You mean, like, an engagement ring?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWait, what? Aren’t you a little young for that?”
    â€œI am nearly at the proper age.”
    â€œYeah, in Kentucky, maybe. But that’s not exactly a Southern accent you’ve got. So where are you from? Eastern Europe or something?”
    â€œOr something. I think you can probably clean your hand yourself.”
    â€œOh. Right.”
    Liv rolled up her sleeve and set to washing dirt and small pieces of gravel from the scrape on her hand. Under the fluorescent lights, it looked even nastier than before. She wrapped it in a paper towel, trying not to look at the blood flecks soaking through.
    â€œOkay, I’m ready.”
    Cedric peeled himself away from where he’d been resting against the tile wall, watching her.
    â€œGood. The museum will be cleared out and mostly locked up now, so we will have to go out through a side door,” he said. “Quietly.”
    Liv nodded. Cedric had almost reached the door of the