“Sorry,” I said awkwardly. “Aliens and babies are touchy subjects for us. They even look the same.”
At that, there was a knock at our door. Normally I would have been annoyed considering I was naked and Dex’s blood was in my hands, but I was eager to leave that conversation behind.
“Just a minute,” I said loudly and placed Dex’s hand over the tissues, motioning for him to keep applying pressure. I quickly grabbed a cushy robe from the closet and wrapped it around me before answering the door.
Ada was standing on the other side. She looked a bit wary but the minute she saw my blood-stained hands, her eyes widened maniacally. “Oh my god,” she said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I told her and looked over my shoulder to make sure Dex was decent before inviting her inside. He tugged the sheets higher over him and then gave Ada a wave. “He just has a nosebleed.”
“Ew,” she said, looking totally disgusted. “There was this kid in grade school who kept getting nosebleeds all the time. Aynsley I think her name was. Totally gross. They said she couldn’t keep her finger out of there.”
“I don’t think this has anything to do with Dex’s finger,” I told her.
“It’s true!” Dex shouted. “My finger prefers other holes.”
Now Ada really looked like she wanted to vomit. “Ugh, okay I’m going to go.”
I reached out and grabbed her arm before she could turn away. “Seriously, what’s up? How are you feeling? I know you must be all sorts of messed up because of the Veil.”
She stared down at her fingernails, seeming to examine them, something she tended to do when she was trying to appear blasé. “Yeah, I definitely don’t feel one hundred percent. I feel really spacey, like I’m drunk or high but it’s not as comforting.”
“It will pass,” I told her, though I honestly didn’t know if or when it would. I could only hope.
She cocked her head to the side. “Will it? Because it’s not just feeling like I’m walking on the frigging moon without moonboots.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and looked over my shoulder. “Should I come back at some other time? I don’t want to interrupt your bloodplay.”
“Ada,” I reproached her. “He has a bloody nose. And how do you know about bloodplay?”
“I read kinkier books than you do,” she said simply. “Actually, I’m just going to go back up to my room. I want to hit the hay before Maximus starts snoring.”
I squeezed her arm harder, my eyes searching her face. She’d already taken off her makeup, which normally made her look more innocent but that wasn’t the case here. There was a weighty quality behind her eyes, like she was beyond tired. Maybe sleep would be best for everyone, even though it was still early and we were in Manhattan of all places.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “It can wait.” She shot me a quick smile and when I wouldn’t let go of her, she rolled her eyes and gave out a heavy sigh. There was the Ada I knew. I released her and she started down the hallway toward the elevators and stairwell.
She paused a few steps away and looked over her shoulder at me. “I’ll talk to you in the morning. Oh, and by the way, stay away from the sixth floor. There seems to be a demon down there. I’d take the stairs from now on, if I were you.”
And then she disappeared around the corner.
I stared at the empty hallway and shivered. Okay, there was definitely something to talk about. I turned back to the room and Dex was now standing by the window and looking outside of it, completely naked. While I spent a second admiring his ass, there was something about the sight that brought the shiver back down my spine.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping back into the room and closing the door behind me.
He didn’t say anything, didn’t move. His hands were down at his side and the tissues were still on the bed. A drop of blood fell to the floor.
I breathed in deeply, trying to shake off the unease and walked over to him.
“Dex,” I said gently, afraid to touch him, as if he were a sleepwalker.
I stood behind him for a moment. Finally he seemed to notice my presence and turned around. A congealed river of blood had formed beneath his nose. His eyes were dark as coal and strangely blank. He blinked a few times and then said, “Sorry, were you saying something?”
“Not really,” I told him with a nervous smile. “I was just talking to Ada. What are you doing, trying to give the neighbors a peep show?”
He looked down at his dick and then let out a laugh. It sounded hollow. “I guess so, huh,” he said. He then stretched, his arms above his head and let out a yawn. “I think I’m going to turn in.”