Chapter 17: Stronger

I SHUT my eyes and allowed the cold water from the shower to fall over my body. My lower lip bled when I bit it once again as I struggled not to make a sound, especially when I heard the familiar sound of Alexander’s car. He was back.

Every drop of water hurt but I willed myself to remain steady. I was in a foreign land with no one to back me up if I were to get hurt. I only had myself and these shattered pieces of me. I can’t keep crumbling in front of the enemies, in front of the people who wanted me dead.

I turned off the shower knob and stared at the mirror.

“You have to be stronger now more than ever, Katriona,” I whispered at the reflection staring back at me before I gently wiped my body. “No one can protect you and save you aside from yourself.”

I put on a robe and stepped out of the bathroom only to be stunned when I saw Alexander comfortably sitting on my bed while playing with the house keys in his hand.

“You took a while. I thought you died in there or something,” he tease